Frozen food auto feeder

[Treefer32]

So, I was brainstorming today around adding additional fish to my 340. I only have 12 so far and would like to have a harem of Anthias. However, I've tried in the past and failed miserably with an auto feeder, feeding flake and / or pellet food 2-3 times a day. They just never took to it.

I was thinking about being able to feed neutrient rich frozen mysis and Brine shrimp suspended in RODI with a selcon mixture to provide more nutrient rich food and something more tasty to the anthias.

Here's what I'm thinking. using a 16 oz water bottle, filled with RODI and anywhere from 6-10 cubes of frozen food, with 20-30 ml of Selcon that it soaks in.
Drill out the plastic lid. Place stiff airline on the inside of the bottle with a dual airline port. Run airline out the top of the cap. Set upright in the cheapest mini fridge one can find. Run the airline out (maybe drill hole in the fridge door seal and run hose out the door to a Peristaltic pump. Plug into an EB8 on an Apex. Run airline tubing to the display and let Frozen mysis drain. Turn on for 5 - 10 seconds, several times throughout the day?

Would mysis plug up the tubing is my first question. Second question. would frozen shrimp after 5 days of being at 35 degrees be viable to eat or would it go bad?

Last question, I don't remember the distance on those pumps, so, Would the pump work to pump the food to the display with 4-6 feet of head (if the fridge were on the ground).

I would prefer to build something cheaper, but anyone done anything to auto feed frozen food suspended in a liquid for active fish like Anthias? I'd also like to keep NPS, so auto-feeding meaty foods also sounds awesome for them as well. Thoughts?

 

[Deiblerj]

Might be easier to just set up a mini fridge/freezer next to the tank. Keep some cold brews in there along with your frozen food mix!

 

[Aaron Stone]

Two issues that I see:

1. Likely clogging the air line. I would try to find a way to do this with a larger diameter feed tube.
2. The unrefrigerated section of tubing might cause spoilage issues before it can be dosed to the tank.

 

[Devaji]

WOW we are on the same brain wave good sir! I was just thinking of doing the same. almost identical idea. even found a small mini fridge I like

I really do think it would work. with a little experimenting on the fallowing:
tube size so the shrimp dont clog it.
getting all shrimp out of the tube ( might not be as issue ,I hope) other wise it would rote and foul the fresh new food coming in.
magnetic stirrer VS air line to keep it mixed.
cheap aqua lifter VS something more robust like the avast dosing pump/apex DOS
best food to add and how much before it goes bad but I think we can get 3 days worth.

lets do it! there is a video on YT where a guy did just this worth a watch. not sure how it worked out. but i feel if we can get a group of us trying it out I bet we can make it work!

 

[Treefer32]

Two issues that I see:

1. Likely clogging the air line. I would try to find a way to do this with a larger diameter feed tube.
2. The unrefrigerated section of tubing might cause spoilage issues before it can be dosed to the tank.

yep, I see there's many other posts on this of those that have successfully done it. $500 for a setup and requires reverse peristaltic pumps, which only the Apex controlled pumps do. Well, Auto feeding frozen food isn't worth $500 to me. A better research topic is how to keep anthias alive? ? ?

 

[Devaji]

Might be easier to just set up a mini fridge/freezer next to the tank. Keep some cold brews in there along with your frozen food mix!

haha that is great! if you like beer that is...myself I cant stand the stuff I have no idea why ppl drink it??

 

[wesman42]

You can use a peltier unit like the ones found in plug-in coolers to cool the mixture as well.

 

[Devaji]

here is the video I was thinking about:

 

[JoshH]

I'm going to be doing the Exact same thing on my new build, granted it will be a while before it's done. FWIW most peristaltic pumps can run in reverse, not just the apex ones. I feed my current corals brine with a syringe and 1/4" airline tubing so I don't see any issue with it fitting. It's mostly just comes down the cost vs benefit. I will be using my GHL 2.1 Doser for my auto feeder, you can plug there magnetic stirrer directly into the doser and it can control it on its own without a controller. It will be set to feed for x amount of ML at a time and then reverse to clear the line of food to prevent spoiling.

 

[Meara]

So, I was brainstorming today around adding additional fish to my 340. I only have 12 so far and would like to have a harem of Anthias. However, I've tried in the past and failed miserably with an auto feeder, feeding flake and / or pellet food 2-3 times a day. They just never took to it.

I was thinking about being able to feed neutrient rich frozen mysis and Brine shrimp suspended in RODI with a selcon mixture to provide more nutrient rich food and something more tasty to the anthias.

Here's what I'm thinking. using a 16 oz water bottle, filled with RODI and anywhere from 6-10 cubes of frozen food, with 20-30 ml of Selcon that it soaks in.
Drill out the plastic lid. Place stiff airline on the inside of the bottle with a dual airline port. Run airline out the top of the cap. Set upright in the cheapest mini fridge one can find. Run the airline out (maybe drill hole in the fridge door seal and run hose out the door to a Peristaltic pump. Plug into an EB8 on an Apex. Run airline tubing to the display and let Frozen mysis drain. Turn on for 5 - 10 seconds, several times throughout the day?

Would mysis plug up the tubing is my first question. Second question. would frozen shrimp after 5 days of being at 35 degrees be viable to eat or would it go bad?

Last question, I don't remember the distance on those pumps, so, Would the pump work to pump the food to the display with 4-6 feet of head (if the fridge were on the ground).

I would prefer to build something cheaper, but anyone done anything to auto feed frozen food suspended in a liquid for active fish like Anthias? I'd also like to keep NPS, so auto-feeding meaty foods also sounds awesome for them as well. Thoughts?

Hello I have just ended up with a school of Anthias and I am rather desperately trying to find a way to manage the feedings. Did you get your idea here to work?

 

[Treefer32]

No, I didn't try. I found a company that's mass producing a frozen auto feeder. It's still in the testing phases of release. They're hoping 2nd quarter 2021 for a release. I'm on the pre-release list once testing is completed. I may need 2-3 of them for the volume of frozen food and fish I have but, at this point anything is better than nothing on the market. Once something is out it can be revised with further functionality.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

No, I didn't try. I found a company that's mass producing a frozen auto feeder. It's still in the testing phases of release. They're hoping 2nd quarter 2021 for a release. I'm on the pre-release list once testing is completed. I may need 2-3 of them for the volume of frozen food and fish I have but, at this point anything is better than nothing on the market. Once something is out it can be revised with further functionality.

Care to share what company is making it?

 

[Treefer32]

Care to share what company is making it?

They have videos on their website that's making progress. In my talks with them, due to Covid, they're now looking at a 2nd quarter release of 2021 to presales. Then, possibly general public release 3rd / 4th quarter 2021.

The website is www.indcreation.com

 

[Colton.]

I would like to know what they are up for sale,cost & where.

 

[Treefer32]

I would like to know what they are up for sale,cost & where.

The last update I got from them, they found issues in their prototypes and have chosen to completely redesign the product. I doubt anything will be released this year.

 

[Colton.]

Oh