Automatic 21-Day Pond Fish Feeder by Fish Mate

It's closer to 4.5 stars. I've used the drum autofeeders in the past and hated them because it's so hard to guess the opening for the right amount of food to dispense, and the moisture makes short, moldy work of flake food. I have 4 tanks, I bought one to try out: it was a bit frustrating at first because the tray moves/lifts off so easily that it took me 3 (irritating) tries to get the food in and the feeder situated on the aquarium. I learned it's very helpful to stick a fat pen (sharpie, etc) into the opening to keep it from spinning. The aquarium I tested it out on is 55 gal, and that has the LED light inserts - I just removed one of the lights, pulled back the plastic cover that protects the light, and set the feeder so that the opening was over the exposed water. It was too close to the water for the flake food, and I was not interested in hooking up an air pump, so I elevated it by putting some cut wood paneling pieces under it to raise it about 4". That helped tremendously, but sometimes the flakes still got too moist and wouldn't dispense because it stuck to the sidewalls of the tray. So rather than raise it anymore, I just opened the cover - viola! That did it. I have several different kinds of fish, so in addition to flakes, there are shrimp pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, and algae tablets (broken into pieces. What makes this great is that it dispenses exactly the amounts of the different foods rather than random mixture from the drum-style feeders and this is what sold me. I have ordered 3 more for my other tanks - all of which I can make work in a very similar fashion. Do test it out before you go on vacation - make sure you've worked any of the bugs out and that you're confident it will work while you're gone. I was ready to get rid of my tanks because it was so stressful trying to arrange someone to come over to feed them while I was out of town, but now this has removed the stress and I'm glad that I can keep my fish tanks:) The cons are the irritation at how easily it is to mess up the food you so carefully distribute into each cell, just by a little bump (thus having to do it all over again), and the price - I don't see how in the world this thing should cost almost $25 - that's highway robbery for such a simple gadget (no LCD display or anything - just a simple clock mechanism and all plastic parts). But I'm obviously willing to pay it because it's a simple solution that works really well. *Update, I'll bump it up to 4.75 stars (still the price factor is ridiculous), but I did order the other 3 and have them all on my tanks. They work so well, I use them as everyday feeders (they were originally intended as vacation feeders only). Using them creates less wasted food because it dispenses a little at a time over an hour, so the fish have time to get it all rather than having some of it get sucked up in the filter. I have it feed them 2x a day - so once a week I fill all the feeders (it's helpful to remove the feeder, set it on a table, stick a fat pen (or something comparable) into the opening to stop the wheel from spinning, and use a small funnel when adding food to the chambers.)

First off one caveat wasn't mentioned by anyone yet: The food gets dispensed very slowly for over an hour due to the way the mechanism works (more about it below). In certain cases of fish combinations this causes problems where some fish get more food while others none and you should really know how your fish function in the community tank before getting this type of feeder. In my case I have a Black Moor (well not black anymore since it went all red earlier this year being a mass-market genetic cull from Petco) which is known to have a poor vision and is always behind the other two fancy goldfish in finding the food. Thus normally when I feed them I make sure to drop more pellets then the other fish can catch as the pellets sinks to the bottom thus making sure that Black Moor gets a chance. This works. However the feeder only dispenses a few pellets at a time due to it's design. This feeder is very unique from EVERY OTHER feeder I have seen on the market today in a way that it does NOT use a digital clock and electronic circuitry with servo motor to drive some kind of a drum. This feeder uses a very basic quartz clock mechanism similar to one found in every one-AA-battery powered wall clock except this one is a 24h cycle (not the usual 12h). Effectively as the clock rotates one of the four removable little red notches (you see in the product photo) catches onto one of the 15 slots (14 available for food and one is always empty) and starts to slowwwwwwly drag the food carousel around. As the next pre-loaded slot moves over the opening the food starts falling down into the fish tank. Depending on the granularity and "flowability" of the food it will be dispensed over one and a half hour time (24h / 15 = 1.6h). This simplicity of the mechanism has it's cons and pros: Cons: - Very slow dispensing of certain foods especially small qualities (e.g a bit of small granulated pellets) so if you have many fish some may get it all and overeat while others get none - If any of the foods or has tiny particles (dust from dried shrimp or flakes) and gets sticky the feeder with clog and stall. The driving force of the clock mechanism seems pretty limited - The device is more sensitive to humidity. See above point. - You are limited to 14 days at 1 meal per day MAX load capacity - Loading food needs practice as to fit it into each of the 14 compartment and not to spill it onto the rotating clock PROS: - Simplicity of mechanics and electronics makes it beautiful design and easy to program - Allows you to think in terms of means and not foods. You can mix and match foods that goes into each meal compartment and/or alternate foods each meal. Basically if it fits it feeds. - Can take almost any kinds of foods. See point above and also the CONS section. - There are very little limitation on how large each food item can be. I can fit massive dried shrimp in it (especially if I don;t close the top lid. Something that would never fit into a drum feeder. - Runs on one AA battery what looks like forever! I had a Petco digital timer drum feeder drain fresh brand new AA in under two weeks. This thing keeps going and going. Bonus thought: - This one looks like it works best in cold-water tanks where humidity is less of an issue. - Two to mount it high enough where it;s out of the reach of evaporation while the food still drops into the water. I have mine on top of the lights about 10 inches above water level. - AMA in the comments and I will try to help you out

Going on a holiday,? who is going to feed the fish in the pond? This little device works well I use small pellets for goldfish and they survived me going away for 2 weeks.

Ottimo prodotto, semplice, fa il suo dovere alla perfezione. Se siete indecisi tra una mangiatoia a tamburo o questa, prendete questa senza pensarci due volte... PRO Scegliete voi la dose esatta di cibo da inserire negli scomparti, eroga 14 pasti totali, max 4 pasti al giorno, è predisposta per installare il tubo dell'areatore ed evitare così che il cibo diventi umido. MIGLIORABILE L'installazione sulla vasca è semplice ma a mio avviso un po' "a qualche modo"; i morsetti, a meno che non si mette un pezzo di cartone o gommapiuma per aumentare la presa sul vetro (che comunque avviene), sono di gran lunga migliorabili. Anche il sistema di posizionamento della stessa mangiatoia sui morsetti è altrettanto migliorabile... Sta in posizione ma sembra sia li lì per sbilanciarsi dato che sporge piu di 10cm dal bordo, ed è solo appoggiata a questi morsetti, nessun incastro od aggancio. Comunque obiettivamente fa il suo dovere. CONTRO Il manuale non è in italiano. È corredato di immagini ma se una persona non capisce una delle lingue disponibili (anericano, tedesco,francese, spagnolo o olandese), potrebbe comunque faticare a capire come impostare la mangiatoia. Per me comunque è un ottimo acquisto e lo consiglio!

Necesitaba un comedero que vertiera cantidades pequeñas, y este era el único que encontré. Lo he probado durante 2 semanas y no se me ha muerto ningún pez. Es sencillo y puedes poner la cantidad y variedad de comida que quieras para 14 dosis. Para mi es perfecto, lo recomiendo. Ahora voy a intentar decir puntos negativos. El mecanismo de giro es el de un reloj y si estás atento y la sala en silencio se escucha el tic-tac, aunque en teoría no estás presente, estás de viaje... Es un poco voluminoso, estéticamente queda mal, aunque estás de viaje... Es bastante más caro que los demás, pero esto lo conoces de antemano. Pero insisto, para mi es perfecto.

Product works very well. Have been using it for more than a year, whenever everybody in family is travelling out. Useful product for Aquarium hobbyists. A bit expensive, but serves purpose very well. Flat type is suitable for aquariums with lid.

Eenvoudig en gemakkelijk in gebruik.