Auto brine shrimp hatchery and feeder

Paul B

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I often have to go out of town and with pipefish that only eat live newborn brine shrimp that is always a problem. I have a tank sitter that can feed the fish but I can't ask her to hatch brine shrimp every day and sit there while the pipefish eat for an hour so I designed this device which is not quite finished.
The internal mechanism is now sitting on top of the white box that will sit in the tank. (this is just for the picture) Once a day a trap door will open on top of the container and an auto fish feeder will deposit brine shrimp eggs into the container. The door will close keeping it dark inside and aeration will start inside the box. After 36 hours the eggs will hatch and the aeration will stop, a tube on the side will open allowing light in and the shrimp, who are attracted to light will swim out into the tank or I can direct them to my brine shrimp feeder. After a few hours, the tube will again close and the trap door on top will open allowing more eggs to be deposited inside and the process will repeat. All that is required for power is a small air pump which aerates and circulates the eggs and opens and closes the valve controlling the tube where the shrimp swim out. I tested the mechanism and all I now have to do is put it together and position the auto feeder on top which also opens and closes the trap door on top allowing eggs to enter.
Of course it works great on paper but I still have to test the entire thing.
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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I hope so also. Last night as I was getting an MRI I figured out how to get the eggs into it and still keep it dark
 

Mike in CT

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Paul, have you ever thought about setting up a wireless IP camera so you can watch your tank over the internet while your away? They are a bit of a pain to set up, but after that you pretty much just plug the camera in when you need it and it will connect with your router. You could set it up so you could see if your feeder is working properly when your away. (Especially if you know exactly when the feeder will activate, you can just hop on a smartphone or computer and have a looksie) .
I set mine up when I am away and have it pointing at the tank and sump, and also have a cheap remote thermometer I can view with it so I know the pumps and everything else is working with just quick glance every once in a while. Less then a $100 bucks.
Can't wait to see how your feeder works out. I can't believe you have time to work on it during prime boating season! ;)
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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I actually have two different types of cameras I can put on the tank and had both of them running when I went to hawaii so the tank sitter could show me things she was concerned about. The tank is old and if it crashes while I am away, it has had one heck of a run. I am not sure if I would set it up again as we are thinking of downsizing and moving. I doubt that will happen for a few years, if at all. If I ever did set up another tank it would be the same way with a RUGF. That is probably how my tank will crash, while I am away as it has little idiosyncrisies that I know about but would overwhelm many tank sitters.
 

Mike in CT

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Your right, things that seem simple can turn into pages of instructions real quick! I am fortunate that our babysitter who lives a couple houses away also comes over and checks on the tank when we are away... with the added bonus that her father also has a reef tank and will help her if anything is amiss.
 

Chris Aldrich

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This is very interesting, Paul! I look forward to seeing how it comes together for you.
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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I also look forward to that. I know it will work, I just don't want it to be to complicated in case I have to explain it to a Supermodel. Sometimes I have Supermodels take care of my fish because many Supermodels love fish. Not to eat because they would only eat a fin. Supermodels like to split an M&M with another Supermodel for lunch.
 

fishroomlady

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not to be too nosy but why are you getting an MRI? I hope nothing serious is going on.
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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I got 2 MRIs to fix a problem from my last shoulder surgery. Part of the deltoid muscle detatched from the bone. If you had an active life, you tore, broke and smashed things and I try to keep my parts up to date by repairing them when I can. It is not as serious as a hair tranplant or anything but if I want the full use of my arm with full strength, I need to get it fixed. My arm works good now but not very strong. You need a tune up occasionally. :usa2:
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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I abandoned that design because the eggs kept clogging the tiny air vent that would let out air from the float and allow the valve to open. I also thought it was to complicated and hard to change the water. This is a much simpler design and so far is passing the tests. It is a much larger version of my normal feeder except this one allows for the water to be constantly renewed. There is an auto dry food feeder on the rim of the tank (above the funnel) that I tweeked a little so it only lets about 1/4 teaspoon of brine shrimp eggs into the funnel at the top of the tube just at the waters edge twice a day. There is a small tube (3/16") that disperses water into the funnel from the tank. That comes from my algae trough but an air bubbler would work. The water flow provides 2 services. It aerates the eggs and pushes them down the tube to the feeder and even if it doesn't, after the shrimp hatch, they will be forced down (I hope). I may have to tweek this a little but I have an other design in my head for that possibility. There is a stocking over the feeder to allow the shrimp to exit. The water being pumped into the device also changes the water in the device. "most" of the eggshells will stay under the mesh (stocking) but not all. The eggs are slightly larger than the mesh and most of them sink anyway. When I come back from vacation I will run my diatom filter if there are any visible eggs to remove from the tank but I don't think it will be a problem in a few days. Right now the 3 pipefish, 2 mandarins and scooter dragonette are all around this thing and the rest of the fish come by for a snack. I will get the fish used to feeding in this place for a few days before I go anywhere and I will be using it now. The powerheads will turn off a couple of times a day to allow the pipefish to feed without searching all over the place for new born shrimp. I like this idea even better than how I am feeding them now as it keeps shrimp in the water continousely and that is how pipefish and mandarins are supposed to eat. I will update with any problems and maybe a video.:shocked:
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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The first batch of eggs hatched in the feeder and the pipefish and mandarins are all over it like a cheap suit. I love it. There is a dragon face pipe laying on the thing but he is white so hard to see, then there is a multi stripe pipe and the pregnant mandarin.
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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I took a video of the thing working. The mandarins also hang out on it but they are afraid of me and run away as soon as I get near the tank. You can see the male mandarin to the left at the start but he leaves when he sees the camera because he got up on the wrong side of the tank today and doesn't like his picture taken.
The two pipefish just stay on it all day and every minute or so they can grab a shrimp. This works differently than my normal feeder in that the shrimp are expelled a little faster but more spread out during the day. They do that because they hatch all day long. The fish don't have to sit on it as they can constantly eat shrimp all around it.
It is a very natural way of feeding such fish and the large copperband also visits on every trip around the tank. You can see the funnel at the top with some water running into it to push the eggs down which they all do. The auto feeder is missing the hopper for the video.
 
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Paul B

Paul B

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A better video
 

fishroomlady

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as always, ingenius Paul. I would love to see more details of the setup as well. I have difficulties hatching live brine in a separate setup and would love to know how this works so I could set something similar up (or maybe at least try :)).
 

dre7606

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Paul I salute your DIY skills...I plan on trying both the brine shrimp hatchery as well as the frozen vacation feeder...
 

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