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Post by murdock6701 on Jan 11, 2009 22:54:43 GMT -5
when I bought my loach, I wnr there strictly for him and cichlid pellets and told myself I woas not going to buy anything else! however....I saw these white tablets that looked like they were wondershells only round for $2 and bought one - got it home and actually read they are 7 day fish food feeders by TopFin - it has krill and sipulina, vitamins and minerals and contains salt to suppoert a healthy slime coat - also copper, magnesium and calcium proteinates - protein, fat and fiber levels are ridiculously low IMO....min. crude protein = 4%, min crude fat = .01% and min crude fiber = .01%.......any thoughts? question is, can I use it as a supplemental feeder? I don't leave the farm on vacations.....I'm home every day so I would continue to feed them but mayb less than usual? they're not harmful I wouldn't think - it's up for grabs and opinions....
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Post by brenda on Jan 11, 2009 23:32:06 GMT -5
I perosnally don't like these John...Maybe you'll have better luck...The reason being is they make such a mess of the water, maybe these one's are different or better...Just my opinion, I am curious to see what others have experienced.
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Post by eve on Jan 11, 2009 23:40:46 GMT -5
NO NO NO NO NO NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
absolutely NO !!!!
those feeders are absolutely junk !!!
dont' use them, not even in an emergency
rather fast your fish, then waste your money on that junk
they can ruin an established tank
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Post by brenda on Jan 11, 2009 23:45:54 GMT -5
Ok, Eve is on the same page as I am....
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Post by eve on Jan 11, 2009 23:48:33 GMT -5
oh yes i'm i have learned that the hard way myself and have seen many other new aquarists learn it the hard way too  i just hate those things every time i go in a petshop, i just wonna tear them off the shelf and stump on them |
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Post by brenda on Jan 11, 2009 23:50:44 GMT -5
I learned the hard way as well, used them once and never again...That is why I didn't know if maybe there were different, better ones ot there or not.
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Post by eve on Jan 11, 2009 23:54:17 GMT -5
nope, it's still the same junk as before
over on yahoo answers, people still recommend them
whever i see that, i could just go hay wire
however, when i do see those q's and answers i always counter them
i don't even recommend the automatic feeders, i had used one once, which was also junk
however, i have heard, that by now they at least have gotten better
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 12, 2009 16:27:46 GMT -5
I tried them once and never have since. Not only did the goldfish I gave it too not like it and clamp their fins but the tank got very messy. I had to clean the tank solely to clean up the weekend feeder. I really do not like weekend feeders. It makes me wonder though, what you are supposed to feed fish if they need food at least once a day and you are on vacation...
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Post by Carl on Jan 12, 2009 16:47:04 GMT -5
I have used these too, & I am not a big fan of them, HOWEVER personally I am not quite so absolute as to the negatives.
I do think that there are ingredients in these that are used as much to feed bacteria as to feed the fish, admittedly the nutrition is also second rate.
BUT when filtration is good and water parameters are where they should be before one goes away I have used these with clients with no problems.
I would look at these as a fish feeder generally of last choice when away, but if you do things right, they also will not harm your fish.
I will also add that I generally do not recommend that aquarists even worry about their fish in weekends under 3 days and often 4 days (depends on fish of coarse).
I will also even qualify my earlier comment of "fish feeder generally of last choice when away" by stating that if your other alternative is your Great Uncle Humperstink and this guy always pours in the whole container of fish food while you are away, I would opt for this 7 day feeder over him.
My point is that although this may not be the greatest product in the world, there are many points that need to be qualified before we simply dump on this product totally.
Carl
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Post by bikeguy33 on Jan 12, 2009 18:13:42 GMT -5
i agree with you all....i don`t like these either.....but before i had an auto feeder, i used these and in fact still have them....they are second rate nutritionally.....but i would personally rather eat crap like mcdonalds than to starve to death. the ingredients you listed do sound better than the old formulas tho. but use these only as a last resort. the feeders are excellent now tho. when in aquarium maintenance i usually opted for these rather than trust clients to feed their own fish.....in fact i often padlocked the lids so clients didnt have access to their fish. too many people "kill with kindness"
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 12, 2009 20:15:30 GMT -5
I actually still have some weekend feeders from the time I bought them. I kept them since I am a packrat. lol They've been sitting around for 2 years now though so I wouldn't count that they'd be good after that long unless they have a long shelf-life. Still, my fish didn't like them and I had to clean the tank afterwards so I would only use it in an emergency.
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Post by kagome on Jan 13, 2009 0:38:33 GMT -5
I tried them once and never have since. Not only did the goldfish I gave it too not like it and clamp their fins but the tank got very messy. I had to clean the tank solely to clean up the weekend feeder. I really do not like weekend feeders. It makes me wonder though, what you are supposed to feed fish if they need food at least once a day and you are on vacation... That's crazy! Renee, you have finally discovered something that goldfish will not eat! I thought they would eat tin cans if you threw them in there! lol You know, I was in Petsmart the other day looking for a net and checking to see if any more angelicus loaches had come in and they were putting those in the tanks to feed the fish. Maybe they're different but they looked just like the ones you see on the shelf. A lot of the fish were going crazy for them, especially the catfish and Chinese algae eaters. I have never used these. I always rationed out food in a pill organizer and then hid the rest of the food from whoever was pet sitting. I have so many animals that I could fly to Jamaica for how much it would cost me to kennel them so someone always stayed over and took care of the babies. |
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 13, 2009 11:20:13 GMT -5
Actually the goldfish did eat it, just not much at once. They would sit there clamping their fins and trying to digest the stuff while the feeder started to dissolve and make the tank messy. They would eat some of it every so often but with the amount of time they spent sort of looking like they were chewing on it.
I actually also found something my guppies don't like (they devoiur basically everything). They aren't fond of Neomycin that you feed for internal parasites. I think they didn't like the medicane flavor to it. lol But then again, they're normally spoiled with really nice food. Neomycin is actually a very good/effective fish medicane, my fish are just picky. lol
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Post by Carl on Jan 13, 2009 11:30:42 GMT -5
I actually also found something my guppies don't like (they devoiur basically everything). They aren't fond of Neomycin that you feed for internal parasites. I think they didn't like the medicane flavor to it. lol But then again, they're normally spoiled with really nice food. Neomycin is actually a very good/effective fish medicane, my fish are just picky. lol Renee, Neomycin is for internal bacteria, primarily of the intesitinal tract. Metronidazole is more commonly used for internal parasites, usually flagelletes (although it is antibacterial as well). As to eating these treatments, look at it this way, I know I find many oral medications taste like yuk  Carl |
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 13, 2009 17:15:41 GMT -5
Sorry, I wasn't saying it was bad. That's why I said "Neomycin is actually a very good/effective fish medicane" in my post so there would be no confusion. I was just commenting on my what my guppies liked.
Renee
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Post by kagome on Jan 13, 2009 23:20:20 GMT -5
Hey, I know this is totally off topic but ya'll talking about medicated food made me think of something. Since the loaches are almost all wild caught a lot of them have internal parasites when you buy them.
What would be a good medicated food to give them to help clear up any undesirable passengers in their digestive tract?
They're usually good eaters so I bet they wouldn't even be picky.
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Post by Carl on Jan 14, 2009 1:04:18 GMT -5
Hey, I know this is totally off topic but ya'll talking about medicated food made me think of something. Since the loaches are almost all wild caught a lot of them have internal parasites when you buy them. What would be a good medicated food to give them to help clear up any undesirable passengers in their digestive tract? They're usually good eaters so I bet suspected internal parasites just as you said hey wouldn't even be picky. I prefer Metronidazole, in fact I got a couple Clown Loaches that an importer in LA gave many two months ago, due to progressive thinness I suspected just this. Treated with Metronidazole in the bath and in tank and he fattened up within a week. Metronidazole can be added to a food mixture as well. Carl |
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Post by kagome on Jan 14, 2009 9:44:13 GMT -5
I know you're really busy Carl, but you should think about making a blog article about that clown loach. There are a lot of cases of "skinny disease" among the clowns and angelicus and people are unsure of what to treat them with. Since you had some success it would be good to post that under the heading of "skinny disease". Sorry to get so off topic on your thread murdock.  |
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Post by Carl on Jan 14, 2009 10:24:19 GMT -5
I know you're really busy Carl, but you should think about making a blog article about that clown loach. There are a lot of cases of "skinny disease" among the clowns and angelicus and people are unsure of what to treat them with. Since you had some success it would be good to post that under the heading of "skinny disease". Sorry to get so off topic on your thread murdock. I agree, I have many new ideas for Aquarium Answers as well as my many blogs I use for SEO and support of these sites, but unfortunately I have had no free time to write something new (I try and spend a lot of tiem researching so as to prevent having too many errors). I need a clone or a 48 hour day. Maybe after this weekends trip to LA for business I will have more time  Carl |
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Post by Carl on Jan 14, 2009 13:41:42 GMT -5
Kagome; I added a little information to the Clown Loach profile as per your suggestion (admittedly a full article is best, but this will help a little for now) Fish Profiles; Clown LoachCarl |
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