FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I have been going thru a cancer battle and i have been in the hospital a lot.my prolem is getting people to feed my fish. Im wondering has any body ever rigged something up to get the feeder up away from the tank so the food doesnt mold. If anybody has had any luck with this i would like some advice. thanks steve

Well, there are automatic feeders made which are basically blocks of food that are bound together with calcium carbonate (CaCO3). You just plunk those in the aquarium, and they are supposed to work for a couple days. The problem with these, however, is that usually the biggest, most aggressive fish dominates the whole thing, and it WILL raise your pH.

Several companies also make mechanical feeders, such as this one. I myself have never used one of these, but I bet there are some people on FP that can give you their experiences with them.

There is also the DIY option, but I am in no way qualified to be answering questions about that. I'm sure there are more industrious members who have the engineering knack to come up with a DIY feeder.

HTH

I'm sorry to hear about your health trouble.

Joe Potato

i never liked those "weekend feeder" blocks. most established tanks should be okay for at least a few days without a feeding.

sorry to hear about the cancer.

First off, damn. I can't think of too many people who'd be going through what you are and still be worried about some fish. But either way, congrats on being so tuff, and I hope everything works out ok for you.
However, there is the question of the feeding, you could go for a few days without feeding them, and I'm sure they'd be fine, but there is also the question of what you feed them. I'm hoping you feed them flake or pellet food, or some type of processed meal like that. But, if you do feed them live food, there may be another option, just get some really small thing, like rosies, or ghost shrimp, and get someone to plop them right in the tank, and right there is a few days food that wont build up your ph, and you won't have to think twice about. I really don't know what kind of fish you have, but it's quite possible that you might be able to do this.
Hope I could help ya a little, and good luck with everything else.

-tankster

If anyone will stay at the house, or is around the place, you can always place designated amounts of food in those little daily pill container things and keep it in a cool and dry place to save it from becoming mouldy/soft.

Hi Steven,

If you are talking about ways to feed with one of those automatic/timed hang-over the tank type feeders, I guess there is always the option of dropping the water level in the tank a bit (filtration allowing)... That way the unit should be further from the surface.

If it's just humidity etc that is the problem though, I'm not sure how much this would help, but may reduce condensation a little (and will cut back on any splashing from agitation/aeration).

In my experience pellets are somewhat more resilient to atmospheric moisture than flakes, if you have a chance while your still at home, maybe experiment a bit to see.

Good luck with the health problems, I'm sure everyone will be thinking good thoughts for you round here

Dex

Last edited by dextroze at 20-Oct-2004 15:10

thank you for all the replies and good thoughts. I have 100 gallon with angles micky mouse plays, zebra danios, clown loach. Its planted and i do let them go for 3 days and they are fine but i will be gone for a while this time, and need to get some kind of feeder i wiil try the droping water thing . I spend time with my fish before i go to work and they are the first thing i do when get home so they are very important to me. thanks steve