Is there an Automatic Feeder that doesn't have bad review after bad review?

[ZoWhat]

Here in about 4-5 weeks I will be going on a 2 week vacation.

Looking at possibly relying on a AFS to feed Spectrum Pellets daily and have a family relative come over every 3rd day to feed nori on a clip

I have an Apex controller unit

I've read the reviews for Apex AFS and it's one bad review after another

I've read reviews for Eheims battery powered model.... again bad reviews straight down the line.

Is there an AFS out there that has halfway decent reviews?

 

[FishyFishFish]

I haven’t read the reviews on the Eheim but I’ve had one before and I’ve just bought another. I’m not sure how you can beat it for the price.

The Avast Plank appears to have good reviews but it’s pricey and looks quite big.

 

[leepink23]

I really like the eheim feeders, 2 of them flawlessly for a year. I have an apex feeder as well, it works fine for 3 years

 

[cweye2005]

Ha- I faced the same dilemma...I think reviews tend to be biased negative. In any case, I got the Apex one a couple weeks back despite reviews saying how loud it is. I’ve been happy with it so far...while it’s a bit noisy, it’s not like I’m running the tank in a library! Good luck..

 

[68 Stang]

My Apex AFS has run flawlessly for over a year now at three times per day.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I’ve never had an issue with my Apex AFS. It is definitely loud, but I only use it when on vacation and the cat hasn’t complained.

 

[ZoWhat]

I’ve never had an issue with my Apex AFS. It is definitely loud, but I only use it when on vacation and the cat hasn’t complained.

 

[DowntownJosh]

So i use this one from amazon. Its not battery powered, but is wifi. Easy to control and set several daily feedings. I mix pellets with flakes and a bit of reef roids mixed in. Its also cheap. Ive been using it for 2 weeks now and like it a lot.

 

[ZoWhat]

Apex is so loud the fish are forming an insurrection

 

[ReefBeta]

It would be hard to find anything without some bad reviews nowadays. It's more helpful to actually read into the review to see if it's just bad luck, or if the situation apply to you at all. Some people just use it wrong or have wrong impression and then leave bad reviews.

I personally prefer battery operates feeder though, because if bad things happen to it, like serious water splash or it drops into the tank, the worst thing is just the batteries and the unit got tossed. Wired power one has additional danger of short circuiting and cause fire. The risk of it actually happening is properly very low that I'm more of paranoid that logical though.

 

[Hermie]

the only problem I've ever had with the eheim is probably the same problem with many auto feeders, you have to have very small food and only open the container a small amount so too much food doesn't spill out. But if you account for that, I totally am happy with the eheim auto feeder. It's easy and does the job. I've had one for about 3 years.

 

[Zakery Murray]

Depends how much you wanna spend, I have the avast marine plank which I got a deal on and have no issues with it at all. If you wanna watch a video on it the inappropriate reefer has a good video on it to watch.

 

[ZoWhat]

the only problem I've ever had with the eheim is probably the same problem with many auto feeders, you have to have very small food and only open the container a small amount so too much food doesn't spill out. But if you account for that, I totally am happy with the eheim auto feeder. It's easy and does the job. I've had one for about 3 years

What dry food do you use?

 

[Hermie]

What dry food do you use?

seaweed extreme but if I was going to feed more often I'd get some reef nutrition foods like tdo chroma boost

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Following

 

[Tcook]

I bought the plank but haven't set it up yet so I'm no help there. Nicely made though.

 

[sixline]

I've had pretty good luck with the Eheim. And when I say "pretty good luck" I mean that it's always worked, but I've only traveled 5 or 6 times since my reef was set up.

The only downside I've discovered is the routing hardware. The model I have has a clamp that works on a single pane of glass, but does not really mount easily on a tank with a rim. In my case a Red Sea Max S400. Because of this, I actually set it up to sprinkle the food pellets into the sump (in the return chamber), and the return put then spits them into the tank. This may be better anyways, because they shoot out of the return quickly and get distributed widely around the tank so the slower fish get some.

 

[FishyFishFish]

I've had pretty good luck with the Eheim. And when I say "pretty good luck" I mean that it's always worked, but I've only traveled 5 or 6 times since my reef was set up.

The only downside I've discovered is the routing hardware. The model I have has a clamp that works on a single pane of glass, but does not really mount easily on a tank with a rim. In my case a Red Sea Max S400. Because of this, I actually set it up to sprinkle the food pellets into the sump (in the return chamber), and the return put then spits them into the tank. This may be better anyways, because they shoot out of the return quickly and get distributed widely around the tank so the slower fish get some.

I don't know what your tank is like but Eheim also has this as an accessory, which may or may not help.

Eheim feedingSTATION (4001020) (eheimsupport.com)

 

[DowntownJosh]

Oh and i forgot to mention, but pair it with a feeding ring, so the food doesnt get sucked right in to your overflow.

 

[AlexG]

I have used multiple Eheim feeders for years. I just keep them on year round to give the fish some pellets a couple times a day. The only caution I would have is that once the fish really get to know where the feeder is they might splash enough to hit the feeder and water has clogged up the pellets once or twice but thats a minor issue. Before i tore down my big tanks for my move I had the feeders attached to the light rack beyond the reach of most of the splashing from fish.