Thanks PaulB- Mandarin feeder

[Maximizer]

You don't think a mandarin could be properly maintained in a 20 or 30 gallon with this feeder?

 

[Paul B]

what really? that sucks I was thinking of a lb. so I don't have to pay shipping every month. no LFS here...

I think you may lost a lot of money like that.

If you want to keep a tang in a small tank, I assume you can but need an awful lot of shrimp eggs. Mine eat from the feeder every day for a couple of hours, then find "wild" pods for the rest of the day. I would think wild pods offer them something they may need in their diet that maybe brine shrimp don't have. Just a thought and I may be totally wrong.

 

[Devaji]

OK I will take your suggest and get BBS eggs in small quantities I'll check amazon and see what they have. Anyone else having problems with a low hatch rate?

 

[Paul B]

If you want to keep a tang in a small tank, I assume you can but need an awful lot of shrimp eggs.

I don't know why I said Tang. I meant mandarin. I guess because they are spelled almost the same.
Just buy 3 small batches of shrimp. They are about $4.00 a portion and the shipping isn't mush because they don't weigh anything. They usually come in small foil pouches even though the picture shows a bottle. I remove them from the pouch and put them in a small bottle because you can't seal the silly pouch.

 

[Devaji]

so I was thinking about this build. It would seem that spry painting the tube black would be the way to go. my theory is if I use a clear acrylic tube the BBS would not go to the light in the feeder as well? also a cap might be a good idea too, to keep them moving down.

does any one know if spray paint stick to acrylic tubing? also thought on the ID of the tub, dont want it to big to small. I am thinking 1/4" ID and 3/8" OD...

 

[Paul B]

Mine is clear and the shrimp stay in the feeder. No need to paint it but you can if you like.

 

[Devaji]

I was more thinking the tub going down to the feeder. If it's clear they may not swing down to the feeder?

Turns out the place us plastics would charge 20 to shipping a 1.50 tube so what migjt just go with PVC from ace.

How are you guys keeping it attached to the tank?

 

[Paul B]

Mine has a clear tube going down to it. I keep it down with flat lead weights that I glued to the bottom of the feeder then I encased the weights in "Goop" glue. Been working for years.

 

[code4]

Devaji, nice to see you here again! Here is how I use Paul's feeder. Clear tubing also. Bought some from brine shrimp direct. I bought their eggs also, SB. I use a funnel from a hobby store made for co!ores sand designing. The brine shrimp go down pretty easily. I chase them with a little extra tank water! . The hatching dishes came with a nice amount of sample eggs. My experience with the eggs was great. I bought way to many! I keep them in the freezer and have not bought any for going on over 2 years. I gave away lots. I had no idea how many I was buying!

Shelley

 

[code4]

I also use a plastic clip with a suction cup to keep the tubing from falling over in my tall tank.

Shelley

 

[Benny Gyger]

Does anyone have a piece of pvc tubing going straight into the feeder? Where do you find a spring to put in the end to melt and bend? Do you use a regular hair dryer to bend?

 

[Paul B]

If your gentle, you don't need the spring. Just pinch the sides of the tubing as you slowly bend it. A spring will make it bend neater. I have that tubing and if you were here I would give you a piece. You can get gray tubing at Home Depot. They use it for hooking up bathroom sinks. A regular hair drier may work if it gets hot enough.

 

[code4]

I use a regular hair dryer. It takes awhile to get hot enough, but it does. I also use a Qtip, cut the soft end off, to put in the rigid tube while heating and bending. Bought my rigid tubing online. It was sized as 3/16" thinwall. Good luck!

Hi Paul!

Shelley

 

[foxt]

Would it work to load the feeder directly with decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, and let them hatch directly in the feeder?

I could rig up an air hose to the feeder to aerate the eggs. Or just try it as is and see what happens ...

 

[code4]

Would it work to load the feeder directly with decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, and let them hatch directly in the feeder?

I could rig up an air hose to the feeder to aerate the eggs. Or just try it as is and see what happens ...

I have been wondering this myself. If you do attempt it please post your results. Though I would be interested in knowing if it would work without aeration.

Thanks, Shelley

 

[Benny Gyger]

If your gentle, you don't need the spring. Just pinch the sides of the tubing as you slowly bend it. A spring will make it bend neater. I have that tubing and if you were here I would give you a piece. You can get gray tubing at Home Depot. They use it for hooking up bathroom sinks. A regular hair drier may work if it gets hot enough.

I had no luck at Home Depot. All they have is plastic tubing that will not be able to have a 90* angle. Anyone have a link to it online

 

[Benny Gyger]

Also is this mesh too small. I don't think anything could swim out of this but nylon seems the same?

 

[code4]

You can get the rigid tubing from Lee's thinwall tubing online.

Benny I just did trial and error with the netting. But it is small! I use old fishing nets, the really fine ones. So that might work. After you get everything together just give it a try. You should see some of the BBS come out of it slowly. But not all at once.

Shelley

 

[Paul B]

Also is this mesh too small. I don't think anything could swim out of this but nylon seems the same?

Actually it looks like that mesh is perfect. Remember, those shrimp are smaller than the eggs.

 

[Glasswalker]

Hey Paul, first thanks for the awesome design.

I've recently acquired a Ruby Red Dragonet, which I'm trying to feed. He eats frozen food, but during QT protocol I'm trying to keep him healthy, he looked healthy at LFS, but did have a sunken belly, so hoping your design can fatten him up before introducing him to my display system which should have plenty of pods (but I'll continue feeding with BBS feeder).

I'm having a few challenges, read through this thread and saw a couple suggestions. But I'll summarize them here in case you have any other things to add etc.

1. Mesh... Clearly this is one of the "secret ingredients". I'm using pantyhose just stretched enough to be flat/firm. Hoping this works.
2. Air... When I pour the BBS water into the funnel, some air bubbles seem to inevitably make their way down to the bottom, and get trapped under the mesh. I'm assuming this will prevent the BBS from making it to the mesh, and "block" feeding. I've "poked" it with my target feeder tube, to no avail. I can suck out the air, but a lot of water comes with it, which I am concerned is sucking out the BBS too... For this one I see you added a small hole, near the bottom for air to escape. You didn't find the BBS made it out this hole too?
3. Hatching... I bought this hatchery, it seemed easier/cleaner with limited "work space" than the pop bottle method: https://www.amazon.ca/San-Francisco-Bay-ASF66170-Shrimpery/dp/B006OOO7V4 so you basically put the brine water, and shrimp eggs in the black box. Let it sit, when they are hatched, put the cup upside down (it has a small 2mm hole in the top) using fresh water, the shrimp swim up to the light in the cup, separating them from the unhatched eggs, and empty shells, etc. Then remove cup, and feed. So I tried this with the first "packet" that came with the feeder, there had to be 10,000 eggs in the packet, but I only got like 50 BBS. (yes I counted). after 36 hours. I did attempt aerating the water, but the design of the feeder meant that the bubbles caused it to overflow. So I'm moving it to a larger "outer" container, will aerate with lid off, and add heater and water to the outer container. Hoping this will increase my hatch rate.

The good news is it was an easy build. I actually 3D Printed the whole setup, so I could buy tubing at LFS, and just plug it in, no need for the bend. Allows me to customize it's size, etc as well easily.

The Dragonet took to it immediately, he did pick at it once or twice, but I haven't really seen him feed at it much. He just "hangs out" at it frequently (like it's his new bed or something lol).

Here is a pic of the new feeder and it's "eager customer"


You can see in the pic the air bubble problem I was talking about.