# Auto-Feeder Warning: Never do this!



## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

Well since school has started I haven't had time to feed my goldfish their 3 square meals per day so I invested in an auto-feeder. It's an Eheim one, the kind that sits on the hood of your tank. When I was cleaning this week I noticed that the food was kind of moist so I moved the unit further over the open water so that the little fan in the back could better ventilate the hopper. Then I left to go to my parent's for the weekend. Bad idea.

I got a call today from my landlord who noted that the tank looked cloudy, and also that there was a weird container inside the tank. Yup, my brand new auto-feeder fell into the tank. 50 bucks down the drain, big ammonia spike, and lots of dead fish if not for my landlord!!!

I got lucky and hopefully the rest of you can learn from my experience and make sure your auto-feeder is securely fastened to the tank... nobody wants to come back from a nice vacation to a big tank of dead & dying fish.

Well... time to eat and then bus it 2 hours back to my place in Kerrisdale. I'm still counting my blessings that I didn't come back on Monday morning to 2 dead goldfish an hour before class on the day of my french midterm!!!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

OUCH~ Sorry to hear!

But this is also the reason why i dun use auto feeders! The evaporation and moisture owns it! =) as well... i can't stop feeding my fish! LOL~

But lesson learnt =) I will take ur advice if i ever go that route~


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## rescuepenguin (Apr 21, 2010)

you were very lucky, thank you for the warning. Good luck on your French mid term


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Yikes!!!!!


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## ninez (Apr 21, 2010)

They should be ok without any food for the weekend.


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## davefrombc (Apr 21, 2010)

Auto-feeders are a disaster waiting to happen. Your fish can easily go two weeks without feeding. Adult fish in good health can go longer than that if necessary. The only ones affected by short term lack of feed are new fry which are growing fast and have no reserves to call on .. Those can suffer severely from even a couple of days without food.
You are far wiser to put aquarium lights on a timer for planted tanks , and not use an auto-feeder , or fish sitter if you are going to be away for two weeks or less.
Far more fish have been killed by over feeding by well meaning fish sitters or failures by auto systems than have been harmed by them not being fed for two weeks.


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## ninez (Apr 21, 2010)

davefrombc said:


> Far more fish have been killed by over feeding by well meaning fish sitters or failures by auto systems than have been harmed by them not being fed for two weeks.


I am a good fish sitter 

Is the eheim completely dead? Let it sit in the furnace room until it's completely dry and try again.


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

lesson to be learned here: fasten the auto-feeder

I left for 2 months last year and I used an auto-feeder (the one that plugs into power). I started using the auto-feeder a month before I left so that I can observe and tweak it for the amount of food dispensed and rotation speed etc. 

When I came back, I was expecting some losses, but to my surprise, there were baby fish in the tank...the population had increased without human intervention...


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## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yeah my fish are goldfish so they don't fare too well even if I only feed them once per day... I'm gonna try and save the eheim, maybe put it in rice or something. The fish don't look any worse for wear thankfully. Time to start the water changes!


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

ouch...glad things turned out well.

I have one of those feeders too, I've never used it. Lent it out a few times though.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

well..thats no good..
i feed my big goldfish very sparingly..or they eat too much...weekends no food. the other tropicals i go in and feed and discus..but the goldfish you need to be careful or they could bloat . once a week i move all duckweed etc over to their tank so they can munch . hopefully you can get it going again.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

I learnt the lesson that no matter how fool proof you make it, a fool who doesn't know the hobby will screw up your fish tank. So I just let the fish starve if im away for less than a couple weeks.

Just what happened? i went on vacation for two weeks to nova scotia (not much of a vacation place). I bought two pill dispensers meant for a week each. So i rationed out the food, wrote the days on it, and left a big sign saying IF YOU MISS A FEEDING, THROW IT OUT OR WASH IT DOWN THE DRAIN! THE FISH WILL BE FINE! DO NOT DOUBLE FEED!

needless to say, i came home to green water and algae everywhere. Got so pissed off the tank sat there for over 6 months without even a water change, just the odd top off when it evapourated 4 inches from the top. I even only fed the fish once every 5-7 days.

so ya, sitters = eww. unless you have a good friend who knows more about the hobby than you do


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

Goldfish or not, you don't need to feed 3 times a day at all.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Yup, my wife's goldfish and now our koi get fed at most once a day. Skip the weekend in the future or grow some duckweed in a separate container and add a couple handfuls on Friday night.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

i learned a similiar lesson last summer, went to europe for 3 weeks and had my wifes cousin come to fill the autofeeder after 2 weeks and change the batteries, when he put it back on though he didnt realize where the food came out and put it sideways, i came home to a big messy pile of flakes behind my tank and on the canopy and one of my plecos was completely gone, not even a skeleton remained, while all the other fish looked larger than they were when i left


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