Juwel Automatic Feeder [Misc.]

I have a Jewel Rio 180 with fancy goldfish. Shortly I will be going on holiday for two weeks and needed a feeder as I am unable to leave someone in charge of daily feeding, I looked around at the various feeders that are available but decided to go with the Jewel feeder as the reviews were pretty good. I really liked that it comes with the mount, I wasn't happy about leaving the hood open with a unit bolted to the side so this seemed a really good feature.When I received the feeder the first thing I noted was that it feels like a really sturdy unit, the feed chamber whilst plastic feels strong, the feed control is easy to use (however gauging the actual feed quantity is tricky.) I use sinking pellets and they dispense with no spill and whilst noisy it does exactly what it should. I like that you have a variable dispense schedule, once per 24hrs or once per 12hrs and it is so simply to set, you simply press the on and that sets the 24hr cycle or you can press the second button once on to change it to twice. There is also a manual override button to feed on pressing although I find this feature unnecessary. You can also attach a line from your air pump,to help keep the food dry but I would think this would be more beneficial for flake food. I have been using the feeder for the last week or so as a test prior to going on holiday and it has worked fine the whole time, I have a timer set for the lights and the feeder dispenses just after the tank lights come on. My fish have already twigged the cycle and actually anticipate the feed when the lights come on and circle the drop zone waiting for it to go.Fitting the mount was a little more tricky, I used a multi tool similar to a dremel to cut the hole and it wasn't the easiest of jobs, but after some work I have managed to get a pretty decent fit, though a tad rough around the edges. Once the mount was fitted it looks is absolutely fine and I like that you can just leave it on as there is a little fold over cover that keeps the dust out when not in use. I can't yet comment on battery life as I haven't had it long enough but I can see that the promised months life off two AA batteries would be about right.If you are looking for a feeder then whether or not you have a Jewel tank I would recommend you consider this feeder as it does the job just fine and whilst other feeders have more feed options etc. For the price this is a good piece of kit.

The only reason that I don't give this 5 stars is because I had to fix it myself when I got it. Otherwise, I use medium Hikari Cichlid pellets and it works well, it dispenses a good amount, I would have preferred more, but I suppose to little is better than too much. The feed amount is adjustable. I am very happy with the feeder, I'm just not so happy that I had to fix it before it worked!Quick tip: Leave the little flap on that opens for the feeder, as this helps to direct all of the food into the aquarium and not all over the lid.Please excuse the excessive use of the things name on my headings, I have tried to put keywords in so that people can find this from google as I couldn't find anything to help me fix it other than to turn the barrel.Sarah's DIY feeder troubleshooting guide:1) Juwel Automatic Fish Feeder won't turn on. No amount of button pressing will turn it on, LED's don't work:If you have tried fresh batteries, it's probably broken, although you can try the steps below to see if you can work out why. If it's as simple as a loose wire inside, you can possibly fix it with some solder.2) Juwel Automatic Fish Feeder Red LED Flashing:The red LED is telling you that the motor won't turn, but you already know this! Try and re-position the barrel by gently turning it until it clicks. Use the picture of the feeder on the box for reference to make the barrel align correctly. If it still won't work, continue below.3) Juwel Automatic Fish Feeder motor won't turn, led flashing:Find a micro Phillips head screwdriver. A micro flat head will do if that is all you have. Take the casing apart. Put the screws safely to one side. Inspect the cogs, make sure they all line up, see if they will turn manually, but be careful as the cogs are plastic. Try the manual button again with the casing off, inspect for smoke coming from the resistors. If you see smoke but no movement, stop pressing the buttons and don't worry. Continue with my below instructions if it's still not working.4) Juwel Automatic Fish Feeder not turning, even with the casing removed:Turn the device off, do not remove the batteries as you will need to test it later on. Remove the screws from the circuit board and put them safely to one side.Carefully move the circuit board away from the device, making sure not to pull on the wires or you might pull them out of the solder.Remove the screws underneath the circuit board and safely put them to one side. It can be helpful to take a photo here so that you can remember how the cogs go back together, I realised that once I had already disassembled it!Remove the whole assembly from the plastic casing carefully, making sure that you don't drop any cogs. Be careful here, as the cogs will come apart now and you must keep hold of them.Test it without the cogs. The spindle should turn, otherwise, it's the motor that's gone. Mine smoked here, something got knocked underneath and I had to re-position the wires going into the motor so that they weren't touching.Reassemble the cogs, making sure that they are tight. Hold it together and turn it back on. Test the manual button. It should now work.Slot the assembled gears and motor back into the casing, making sure that the large cream coloured bit at the front slots into the two groves, if it doesn't, you won't be able to screw it back together.Holding it in the case, add the food barrel and test again. If it doesn't work, repeat the disassembly and keep trying until it does. A little WD40 won't hurt at this point to lube the gears and prevent water from entering the electrics.Screw it all back together, the screws with built in washers go on the innards and the plain screws go on the outer casing. Screw it back together and test again.Congratulations, if you have fixed it, you have now done Juwel's job for them! If you haven't fixed it, try repeating step 4, if you still can't get it to work, send it back and get a replacement, as they are worth persevering with!

I don't have a Juwel tank, I have a Fluval Flex. And this still works perfect 👌Only one very minor set back, there was no user manual on how to program the feeder. But a quick youtube search and I figured it out. Also, there was a CD/dvd that came with it, I can only presume that maybe the user manual was on disc form.Apart from that I'm very happy with the over all product. Definitely the best option for a automatic feeder on a hooded tank. Stop using these holiday "drop in tank" feeders when you go away and buy one of these.. better for the fish, better for the tank, better for you !!

It certainly kept the fish fed while I was on holiday, but it got pretty damp, which congealed the food a little (connecting it to the air pump helped) and it was a little random as to the amount of food it delivered to the tank. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. It also sometimes missed the feeding hole (using the insert supplied) so I came back to a little pile of flakes on top of the aquarium. I maybe wasn’t using it perfectly and need to improve setting it up. The seller was first rate - the kit arrived well-packaged, safe and on time in perfect condition.

Works very well, nice and simple to use and fits well on my fluval flex 57l aqurium