Auto feeder options

[w8lifts]

I bought one of these Avast Marine Plank Feeders as well based on overwhelming reviews here. Just got it and looks amazing but have not yet installed. What are you guys using for timers?

I’m using a regular Wi-Fi plug, after watching it feed for a minute, it was clearly needing more time. 3 minutes for me 3 times a day with 1 minute times throughout the day. The tank worm screw is very very slow.

 

[vlangel]

I have used the Eheim for a few years now. It is very reliable. I am comfortable enough to do a 3 week motorcycle road trip to Alaska using that as my auto feeder.

 

[907_Reefer]

I have used the Eheim for a few years now. It is very reliable. I am comfortable enough to do a 3 week motorcycle road trip to Alaska using that as my auto feeder.

Don't forget to swing by Alaska Coral & Fish in Anchorage on your way through!

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

ehiem is good have had mine for 2 years no hiccups just remember day light savings time and reset the times. i have had 2 neptune auto feeders fail and they are really loud

 

[vetteguy53081]

My new tank will have a DD jump guard with a couple of feeding portals added, none of this has been made yet, we are going to have a couple of trips this year ( no more than a week) and as such I’ll need to get an auto feeder , the tank is fish only, what’s the recommended reliable type to get, ideally one that suits the feeding portals, I assume they are all hung on the side glass which will obviously interfere with the jump guard

thankd

Battery -
Eheim
underwater treasures
Fish mate

Electric:
Avast feeder

 

[vlangel]

Don't forget to swing by Alaska Coral & Fish in Anchorage on your way through!

Oh wow, would love to but we are only going as far as Skagway. It's already a 6000 mile+ trip (from Pittsburgh, PA) and my husband is not retired yet so will be at least 21 days. Then there is bringing fish or coral home on a motorcycle, LOL.

 

[Hemmdog]

No one has mentioned it yet, so I will put in a vote for the Avast Marine Plank feeder. It's on the pricier side but super quiet and addresses the problem of the food getting dropped onto the surface of the water and then running straight down the overflow. It comes with a small nano pump that mixes the food when it is added to the tank. It is super quiet, easy to dial in the amount of food, and allows you to feed small amounts multiple times a day. You just need a timer that is capable of settings for seconds. Check it out: https://www.avastmarine.com/products/autofeeder

Christ on a bike! You sold me but $210 sheeeesh.
I’m heading to Sandal’s for a week in the Bahamas and am in the market for an auto feeder. Hopefully eheim can feed very small amounts for my two clowns.

 

[Joj]

I have 1 ehiem, 1 'knockoff' ehiem, and 5 if these (Automatic Fish Feeder for... Amazon product)

The 5 I bought worked great. Can feed up to 3 times a day X up to 3 quantity each time. Super easy to program and works great with pellets.

 

[907_Reefer]

Oh wow, would love to but we are only going as far as Skagway. It's already a 6000 mile+ trip (from Pittsburgh, PA) and my husband is not retired yet so will be at least 21 days. Then there is bringing fish or coral home on a motorcycle, LOL.

The motorcycle fish transport would be interesting LOL. The southeast is beautiful down there as well, enjoy the ride!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

There seem to be a few replica versions of the eheim wifi one for a lot less money, they clearly look to be the exact same thing so likely made in the same Chinese factory without the brand name on it

Yup, they all do the job!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

No one has mentioned it yet, so I will put in a vote for the Avast Marine Plank feeder. It's on the pricier side but super quiet and addresses the problem of the food getting dropped onto the surface of the water and then running straight down the overflow. It comes with a small nano pump that mixes the food when it is added to the tank. It is super quiet, easy to dial in the amount of food, and allows you to feed small amounts multiple times a day. You just need a timer that is capable of settings for seconds. Check it out: https://www.avastmarine.com/products/autofeeder

If I had one LARGE display without a canopy, I'd buy it... But man it's a high initial investment.

 

[w8lifts]

If I had one LARGE display without a canopy, I'd buy it... But man it's a high initial investment.

With the feeding tube that makes the food sink you could put it in your sump in front of the main DT pump, something to ponder.

 

[Jasongtr]

With the feeding tube that makes the food sink you could put it in your sump in front of the main DT pump, something to ponder.

Good idea in principle just could end up straight back down there in the roller mat

 

[vlangel]

Christ on a bike!

Nope, just me on a Suzuki and hubby on a Yamaha.
But I bet Jesus would ride a bike if they had them in His day! LOL

 

[vlangel]

The motorcycle fish transport would be interesting LOL. The southeast is beautiful down there as well, enjoy the ride

Thanks!

 

[w8lifts]

Good idea in principle just could end up straight back down there in the roller mat

Depends on the type of food, a few YouTube videos on it being in a sump

 

[BCSreef]

Look at the Super feeder --- Super-feeder.com - I have been using multiples of these for about 10 years.

You can mix a variety of foods in the bin - Flakes, poweder, various sized pellets and adjust how much feeds with each feeding. And then you can use any kind of timer you want so you can feed as many times a day as you want.

I have over a dozen friends using these and they don't fail.

My Dad dropped his into his Koi pond and that is the only time in 10+ years I have heard that one has failed.

Dave B

I have one too. Agree 100%.

 

[Thetankdoctor]

Without hesitation I can say the avast plank is the best feeder out there. It is expensive but dead quiet, does exactly what it is supposed to, and reliable. I have them on all my tanks. I can't say enough about them. To me there is no other choice for a feeder.

 

[epidemos82]

I bought one of these Avast Marine Plank Feeders as well based on overwhelming reviews here. Just got it and looks amazing but have not yet installed. What are you guys using for timers?

While the Plank could be easily programmed using digital timers, I ended up using two Apex Energy Bar (EB4) plugs. The feeder can be programmed as follows:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 07:30 to 7:31 Then ON
If Time 18:00 to 18:31 Then ON
Defer 001:20 Then ON

This will run the feeder agar for 40 seconds twice a day at the stated times. You can add move as need or change the duration of the feeding. Since the If Time statement has a 2 minute minimum, you can use the Defer statement to get second level resolution. Basically, as stated, wait 1 minute 20 sec before turning on the feeder.

The pump can be programmed as:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Output Feeder = ON Then ON
Min Time 020:00 Then ON

This will set the pump to turn on when the feeder is on and then run for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can change the min time as you see fit.

 

[David_CO]

While the Plank could be easily programmed using digital timers, I ended up using two Apex Energy Bar (EB4) plugs. The feeder can be programmed as follows:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 07:30 to 7:31 Then ON
If Time 18:00 to 18:31 Then ON
Defer 001:20 Then ON

This will run the feeder agar for 40 seconds twice a day at the stated times. You can add move as need or change the duration of the feeding. Since the If Time statement has a 2 minute minimum, you can use the Defer statement to get second level resolution. Basically, as stated, wait 1 minute 20 sec before turning on the feeder.

The pump can be programmed as:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Output Feeder = ON Then ON
Min Time 020:00 Then ON

This will set the pump to turn on when the feeder is on and then run for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can change the min time as you see fit.

I use 2 Apex outlets too but I use OSC commands. My pump turns on 3 mins after the plank drops food, I noticed depending on what you have in the barrel it would get blown down then pop back up if I didnt give it a soak period.

This code runs 4x a day for 25 seconds each.

Plank

Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/000:25/119:35 Then ON
If Time 19:59 to 10:59 Then OFF

Pump

Fallback OFF
OSC 003:00/005:00/112:00 Then ON
If Time 19:59 to 10:59 Then OFF