Best Automatic Fish Feeders for Aquariums

Years ago, I had a good friend that offered to take care of my fish for me while I went on a week long vacation.

I was grateful for the offer because I wanted to visit family I hadn't seen for a while and I was worried about my fish getting fed.

I had tried the small blocks that slowly time released fish food in the tank but I had a problem with them clouding up the tank.

I showed my friend how to properly feed my fish and was confident that my fish would be well taken care of while I would be away.

When I returned home, I found my fish tank was full of dark brown water that smelled terrible and all my fish were dead except for my large green Cory Cat.

I later asked my friend about it and found that he had an emergency and was called out of town shortly after I had left on my trip.

Not knowing anything about how to take care of tropical fish. My friend made sure my fish would not go hungry by pouring the entire container of fish food into my aquarium.

My fish could have lived through my vacation if only I had an automatic fish feeder.

• AC or battery powered

If you have a battery powered automatic fish feeder you don't have to worry about the power going out or the possibility of electric shock however you do have to worry about making sure the batteries don't go out.

• Types and size of food

Because there are several types of fish food on the market, you need to make sure that your automatic fish feeder can use the appropriate food for your fish.

Some feeders only feed flakes, pellets or sticks while others may be able to accept all three types.

There are even specialized feeders that are designed to feed your fish with very special types of food like brine shrimp.

• The number of feedings per day

There are some automatic fish feeders that can feed your fish several times a day. You may have a special situation that this may make this a valuable option.

• The amount of food dispensed per feeding

The amount of food fed to your fish at each feeding can vary depending on the size or number of fish in your tank.

• Mounting Method

The way the automatic fish feeder mounts to your aquarium can vary. Some have special brackets for mounting your feeder to the tank while others utilize suction cups to secure it to the tank.

Suction cups may become brittle and lose their ability to hold on to the tank over time.

• Does the automatic fish feeder have separate chambers?

Having separate chambers makes it so you can feed different types of food at different times. For example you may wish to feed your fish flakes at one feeding and pellets during another feeding.

• Overall quality of the automatic fish feeder

One thing to watch for when purchasing an automatic fish feeder is if it can allow moisture into the food chambers causing the food to clump together and go bad.

This is a common problem when using low priced automatic fish feeders.

If possible always check any reviews you can find about the feeder before you purchase it.

In addition to all of the great automatic fish feeders available for purchase there are some great ideas available to help you build one your self. Here is one of my favorite Do it yourself (DIY) automatic fish feeders:

If you have large fish such as Koi or Goldfish this easy to make homemade prototype "On Demand" fish feeder might work great for you! I would probably make the feeding rod long enough that it comes very close to touching the bottom of the tank or pond to make sure the fish don't get injured by the end of the rod.