AquaChef Automatic Aquarium Fish Feeder 3 in x 5 14 in x 3 in
Going out of town? Don’t rely on out-of-date feeding blocks when you can use the AquaChef. It’s easy to give your fish up to eight feedings a day of flake, pellet, or crumbled food. Schedule single feedings for up to four different times, use the double-feeding feature to make any of those four two feedings, sixty seconds apart, or manually override the settings if you decide to give one more feeding yourself. The AquaChef also has an adjustable hatch to control the amount of food fed and to serve as a mixing stir bar to make sure the food isn’t clumped, just like you would. The moisture-resistant hopper is easy to clean and fill. Why let your fish starve when they can have their very own AquaChef?
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars VERY easy to set up. Does everything it needs to and does it WELL.
Excellent product. Simple, reliable. It will do everything you except from it and do it well.
Don’t listen to people who say it’s hard to set up (no offense). It’s terribly easy, even boring. Set it up one time and forget about feeding your fish.
5 Stars Works just fine but experiment with food types and quantity
I needed something for an upcoming trip and selected this based upon the reviews. And it works just fine and it’s nice to just be relieved of having to manage/monitor for daily feedings even when I’m around. So it’s become a permanent fixture on the tank. This is problem though cause I’ve got a nano cube and have the hood propped up for the time being until I use the supplied velco pads to attach to the hood with it closed.
I tried the small Spectrum pellets (which my fish don’t like anyways) but even at the smallest setting of the door opening it dispenses too much for my sized tank. I’ve tried the flakes and you need to make sure to break them up into smaller sizes so as to not block the opening when dispensing. Once figured out it’s perfect.
Like everyone’s said, programming isn’t that intuitive but once figured out it’s not a big deal. Shipping from Marine & Reef was quick too (shame that super saver shipping wasn’t applicable cause S&H was nearly 50% of the unit’s cost).
2 Stars Good but not that good
I bought this product to feed my fish on vacatioon. I thought I woould test it before I left on my vacation. The set up is very complicated. As others have said do not lose the instructions. I tested it manually to see how much feeding it would deliver and every time it would deliver a different amount of food. So your fish are left out for luck. I guess you get what you pay for. But for the week I am gone I am hoping it would at least keep my fish alive.
5 Stars FISH FEEDER
SEEMS TO WORK GREAT. EASY TO PROGRAM. DOES NOT DISPENSE A LOT OF FOOD SO IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF FISH YOU WOULD HAVE TO PROGROM MORE FEEDINGS
5 Stars Works well with some adjustments
I am happy with the AquaChef feeder. I like the simple design: at each programmed feeding time the clear plastic drum slowly rotates for one full turn, and the plastic door at the top of the drum falls open by gravity when it reaches the bottom, releasing the food. The door shuts again as it rotates back to the top position, preventing water from (easily) getting into the drum. A small plastic paddle is set to control how much food is released each time. The feeder works on two AA batteries (included). Mine has been working regularly for about two weeks now, with only these minor adjustments needed:
1. My aquarium has a metal lip around the top edge of it on which rests the glass aquarium cover. Even though the lip is not very wide, it was wide enough to prevent the clamp from clamping properly. However, the clamp is removable (it slides off), and the feeder comes with a square of velcro to attach the feeder’s base directly to the top of the aquarium cover. I wanted the feeder to be a little higher above the water level, so I sawed off the bottom of the clamp and rubber-banded the top part of the clamp to a handle on the glass aquarium cover.
2. When I first tried the feeder out, I set the plastic paddle to a medium setting, but because the fish food I use is small pellets, it dropped an ENORMOUS amount of food into the aquarium. I would recommend doing some practice runs into a bowl to make sure it is releasing the right amount of food.
3. Once I had the right amount set, I let the feeder do its job for a few days, but because the airstone was right under the feeder, the bottom of the plastic drum was staying wet because of the bubbles rising to the surface. After a few days, some water did seep through a seam between the drum and its plastic backing, and the pellets began to get a bit damp. However, I moved the airstone to the other side of the aquarium, and now the feeder is staying dry and working fine.
Programming the feeder wasn’t too difficult (as other reviewers have said, it’s like setting an alarm on a digital watch), though I had to read the instructions a few times and experiment to figure it out. You can program up to four feeding times per day, and each of these can be a single feeding or a double feeding (in a double feeding the drum turns twice at each feeding instead of once, with 60 seconds between turns). I like the fact that there is also a button you can press to feed immediately (though this doesn’t cancel any of the programmed feedings). This was helpful in testing it out.
So, I find that once it was mounted and adjusted properly for my aquarium and food, it is pretty dependable.
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Technorati Tags: Aquarium Fish, Automatic Feeder, Daily Feedings, Different Times, Fish Feeder, Flake, Food Types, Hatch, Hopper, Nano Cube, Pellets, Sixty Seconds, Spectrum, Tank, Velco
