Hobby Easy Feeder Automatic Fish Feeder

Hobby Easy Feeder Automatic Fish Feeder is a programmable feeder that holds up to four feeds a day, with a rechargeable battery that keeps it running for about six weeks if the mains goes off. That last detail is the one that matters: a mains-only feeder is useless in exactly the situation you bought it for.

Key Features

• Up To Four Feeds A Day, each programmed separately.
• Battery Or Mains: a built-in 650mAh lithium-ion cell gives roughly six weeks of operation, or run it from the mains. Hobby note the power supply is not included.
• Extra-Large Drum: holds up to 100g or 300ml of food, so it does not need topping up mid-holiday.
• Takes Granules Or Flake, and the drum is ventilated so food does not cake and stick - which is how cheap feeders fail.
• Compact: 15 x 7.5 x 12cm and 219g.

Before You Go Away

• Test it for a week while you are still at home. Set it running, watch what it actually dispenses, and adjust. Every automatic feeder over- or under-doses on the first setting, and discovering that from a hotel is no use.
• Underfeed rather than overfeed. Fish cope with a fortnight of lean meals far better than with the ammonia spike from uneaten food. Set it lighter than your normal hand-feeding.
• Humidity is the enemy. Moist air gets into the drum, the food swells and the mechanism jams. Mount it clear of the water surface, and in UAE humidity consider a desiccant sachet taped near the drum - never inside it.
• Do a water change before you leave, clean the filter a week beforehand rather than the day before, and have someone look in if you can.
• Keep the drum well below full if your food is fine flake. Densely packed flake bridges and stops feeding.

Good To Know

• This listing is the feeder. The mains power supply is not included - it will run on its internal battery, but order a supply too if you want it mains-powered.
• Dry hands, and a drip loop. Let the cable hang below the socket so water running down it drips off rather than reaching the plug. Unplug before you put your hands in the water.
• Charge it fully before you rely on the battery.
• It feeds dry food only. Frozen and live foods still need you.
• An automatic feeder does not replace checking the tank. If nobody can look in at all, feeding less is safer than feeding more.