Current USA Aquachef Auto Fish Feeder
by ADVANCE AQUA TANKS
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List Price: Our Price: $23.89 Availability: Usually ships in 4-5 business days Buy Used: from $22.99 (click here) Category: Pet Products See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Current USA Aquachef Auto Fish Feeder
Customer Review: Why pay $45 for an Ehiem?
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very well designed and reliable feeder that has only a few design flaws. With a bit of wear, the battery cover pops off easily resulting in the batteries falling out and the feeder programming getting lost. To prevent this I simply added a bit of tape :) The mounting bracket is also pretty useless unless you have a rimless tank with less than 1/2" glass, but velcro or double sided tape works just as well for mounting. The feeding is also pretty dependent on how full the hopper is if you use flake food. To get more consistent feeding amounts, I would recommend using pellet food. The battery powered operation is also kind of a problem IMO, but you can fix that easily by simply replacing the batteries with NiCad rechargeables and wiring in a 3V solar cell in parallel (edit - MAKE SURE YOU USE A DIODE!)(I don't see why feeders aren't solar powered yet - they're low power machines in high light enviornments and it would only be like a 20 cent increase in manufacturing cost... maybe this will be common in a few years?). The only other problem I can think of is that it's kind of bulky, but that problem probably seems amplified to me considering I'm running it on a 2.5 gallon nano. With these few modifications, you'll get a feeder that's more reliable than an Ehiem with a larger food capacity for half the price. Enjoy!Customer Review: Works but has some drawbacks
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought one of these so that we could go away on a long weekend and not kill my daughter's goldfish ($1 carnival prize goldfish--$25 feeder). It took me three tries to figure out the programming instructions--I agree with the others that encountered problems. I am fairly computer literate and the steps required to program the thing were ridiculous. I basically got it to work by accident. It is also not attached to the "adjustable" mounting bracket--it simply slides off. I found this out after carrying it across the room by the mounting bracket--it fell off and smashed into about a dozen pieces on my tile floor. So . . . it seemed to be reliable for the few days that we used it and it is relatively quiet, but if you lack technical ability or interpret "adjustable" as "attached, but movable" this may not be the feeder for you.Customer Review: Works good, but it is very hard to program
Summary: 4 Stars
Works good, but it is very hard to program but if you follow the instructions it does work. I bought two units. One for the fish and one to drop pellets for the lobster. The feeders also have a problem that the processor locks up. They give you instruction on how to reset it. It did it on one of the first times I programmed them up. I reset them and they work fine. I used them several times sense and they have not failed me. The units are larger than I pictured and have no way to clean them out except rinsing.Customer Review: Works just fine but experiment with food types and quantity
Summary: 5 Stars
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).
Customer Review: Works well
Summary: 4 Stars
I am pretty amazed that it works very well. The wheel turns 360 degrees to release the food, and the adjust door works just fine. Though two (minor) complaints:
1 There's no way to feed two kinds of food.
My daughter has 4 turtles live in the same tank as some tropical fishes, they eat
different kind of food and food are of different size. The adjust door works for only
one. I wish it has two compartments and can distribute two different size of food
2 The whole thing is a little bit bulky, I can't install it on the back of my tank,
have to put it in the front and leave the lid open.
Otherwise it does its job very well.