10. Advance feed (serving the next Set Meal early)
If you would like to bring a programmed set meal forward, press the ‘FEED’ and ‘-’ buttons together. The
feeder will dispense the next programmed meal due and you may now release both buttons. Once the
advanced set meal (e.g. MEAL 2) has been served the next programmed meal indicator (i.e. MEAL 3) will
flash on the display and food will not be dispensed until that set time.
You may only advance meals programmed for the same day.
11. Manual feed (dispensing controlled feeds on demand)
This function allows you to serve a predetermined amount of food without programming meal times. Proceed
as follows:
11.1
Calculate the number of feed units you would like to serve per meal (sections 5.1 to 5.4).
11.2
Set ‘MEAL 1’ with the number of feed units (sections 5.5 to 5.7). Press the ‘FEED’ button.
11.3
Whilst the ‘MEAL 2’ setting is flashing, press and hold the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons together for 5 seconds
until ‘OFF’ is displayed (Fig. 8).
Each time you now press and hold the ‘FEED’ button for 5 seconds, the programmed ‘MEAL 1’ will be
dispensed.
To turn the feeder back on:
11.4
Press and hold the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons together for 5 seconds.
The LCD will flash until clock setting is restored.
12. Frequent feed (small feeds at regular intervals)
The Frequent Feed function allows the daily feed requirements to be served over the course of a day,
dispensing a single feed unit at a regular interval between a programmed start and finish time. The function
is designed for fishkeepers using professional feeding methods or if you wish to regulate the speed of your
fishes’ food intake.
Firstly determine the total required daily feed units by following sections 5.1 to 5.4. The start/finish times and
the feed units can then be programmed as follows:
12.1 Press and hold the ‘TIME’ and ‘FEED’ buttons together for 5 seconds until the Frequent Feed indicator
(‘F’) appears on the LCD (Fig. 2).
12.2 Press and hold the ‘TIME’ button for 5 seconds until the hour figure on the clock starts to flash.
12.3 Press the ‘TIME’ button twice - the hour figure and the ‘MEAL 1’ (start time) indicator will flash.
12.4 Set the start time in the same way as setting the clock, by pressing the ‘+’ or ‘-’ buttons to adjust the
hours, then pressing the ‘TIME’ button again to adjust the minutes.
12.5 Press the ‘TIME’ button. The ‘MEAL 3’ (finish time) indicator will flash. Repeat 12.4 to set the finish
time.
12.6 Press the ‘TIME’ button, the letter ‘F’ next to two zeros (‘00’) will appear and flash on the display
(Fig. 7). Press the ‘+’ or ‘-’ buttons to set the total daily feed units (see sections 5.1 to 5.4).
12.7 Press the ‘TIME’ button to save these settings.
The LCD will return to displaying the clock with the ‘Frequent Feed’, ‘MEAL 1’ and ‘MEAL 3’ indicators
displayed.
To review, press the ‘TIME’ button once to view the start time and again for the finish time. Press again to
view the feed units and press finally to return to the clock.
To return the feeder to standard operation, press and hold the ‘TIME’ and ‘FEED’ buttons together for 5
seconds. The ‘Frequent Feed’ indicator will disappear and the clock indicator will be displayed along with the
meal indicators of any previously saved settings programmed.
13. Turning the feeder on and off
During prolonged periods of low water temperature when your fish do not require regular feeding, the feeder
can be switched off. Once suitable water temperatures have resumed, the feeder can be turned back on
again with all the programmed settings still in place.
13.1 Press and hold the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons together for 5 seconds until ‘OFF’ is displayed on the LCD
(Fig. 8).
To turn the feeder back on:
13.2 Press and hold the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons together for 5 seconds until LCD displays the clock and the set
meal indicators.
14. Changing the batteries
When the Low Battery indicator (Fig. 2.) flashes on the LCD, the batteries need replacing.
IMPORTANT:
• To keep the clock and all the meal settings, you must remove and replace all of the batteries within
60 seconds! The low battery indicator should extinguish when the next meal is served.
• DO NOT press any buttons during the removal or replacement of the batteries. Doing so will reset
the unit and you will need to re-programme your settings.
15. Securing the feeder to a board
For increased stability and to prevent interference from animals, we recommend the feeder is screwed to a
suitably sized weather durable board. If securing to stone or concrete, a masonry drill bit and screw fixings
will be required. By the following method, the feeder is easily removed from the board without tools when
required:
15.1 Place the base unit in the desired position on the board. With a pencil, draw around the footprint
(Fig. 9).
15.2 Draw a centre line on the base unit outline and mark the screw position as shown in Fig. 10.
15.3 Select a suitable screw (Fig. 11) and screw it into the board, leaving a distance of 25mm (1”) between
the board and the base of the screw head to enable the feeder to be removed for battery replacement
and cleaning.
15.4 Locate the base unit on to the screw and slide it in to the fastened position (Fig. 12).
15.5 Line up the base unit within the drawn outline and mark the front screw positions at the narrowest end
of the screw holes (Fig. 13).
15.6 Remove the base unit from the board. Apply 2 further screws (as specified in 15.3) and locate the base
unit back on to the board (as 15.4). If necessary, these 2 screws may be screwed down further to
secure the feeder more firmly.
16. Cleaning
The hopper, hopper lid and feeding mechanism (F) are made from food-safe materials that may be washed
in a dishwasher. Clean the base unit using a cloth dampened with water only - detergents and polishes may
cause damage.
The feeding mechanism can be removed by releasing the retaining clip, as shown in Fig. 14.
17. Troubleshooting
17.1 Feeder Blockage
Your Fish Mate feeder has been extensively tested with a variety of dry foods but in the unlikely event
that the feeder becomes jammed, the base unit is programmed with an automatic clearing function. If
however the feeder is unable to clear the blockage, the whole LCD screen will flash. The blockage will
need to be cleared manually, as follows:
• Lift the hopper out of the base unit.
• Rotate feeding mechanism by hand as shown in Fig. 15 until food is moving freely again.
NOTE: Before reassembling the feeder, we recommend the batteries are replaced (see section 14).
Also consider the use of a different feed that may be less prone to blockage.
• Reassemble the feeder and press the ‘TIME’ button to stop the display flashing and resume normal
operation.
17.2 Display non-responsive
In the unlikely event that the display becomes non-responsive, wait 3 minutes before attempting to
press any buttons. If full function is not returned remove batteries for 5 minutes. Then replace batteries
and re-programme feeder.
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