auto dosers and liquid feeds

[prime8reef]

Anybody here use an auto doser with liquid foods on a timer?
I'm thinking about installing a mini fridge in my stand with an auto doser hooked up to a couple diff liquid foods such as mysis feast, R.O.E. and arctic pods.
I'm worried about the food in the tubing not refrigerated going rancid in between cycles.
Anybody have any issues with nitrate spikes from the liquid feeds sitting stagnant in the piston of the tubing NOT refrigerated?
Should I insulate the line with foam or some other type of covering?
What are your methods to prevent this potential problem?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I keep it all refrigerated.

I dose a 50/50 mix of Arctipods and Reed ROE with a BRS 1.1 mL/min doser on a timer for 10 x 1 minute periods through the day.

I house it all inside two nested fish coolers with 2 x `1 gallon frozen blocks of ice to keep it cool. The ice lasts a few days, then I replace it. I have about 10 days worth of food in a small plastic bottle with a hole in the top for the tubing to suck out food.

The dose comes out tubing through the bottom of the styrofoam and into my sump to be returned to the main tank.

So nowhere does it get warm, unless I forget to replace the ice for too long.

 

[Electrobes]

That's pretty cool!

 

[prime8reef]

Awesome, thanks for sharing. What I'm more concerned with is the length of tubing that is coming out of the refrigeration unit or cooler to the sump. I will probably have about 2-3ft of tubing running from out of the fridge to the sump. The food in this section of tubing is what I'm concerned about going bad. With this length of tubing full of mysis blend, or pods blend, will it start to rot before the next feeding cycle starts and fresh cold food is pumped through the tubing?I was wondering if anybody that has a long run of tubing has experienced any bad odors or foul food being pumped into their display...and any negative effects thereof?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

In my case, the cooler sits atop the sump and there is less than 1/4" of tubing protruding from the styrofoam. So little of the liquid is exposed to warm air.

I agree it is a concern if you have the liquid food sitting at room temperature for extended periods between doses.

 

[prime8reef]

Yes I'm thinking that, even with the bottles of food and the doser being inside the mini fridge, I'll have to devise some method of insulating the tubing coming out of the fridge and to the sump. My experiment will probably consist of taking temperature of a liquid coming out of the tubing after sitting for several hours. Then insulating the tubing with some type of foam and repeating the process, taking the temperature of the liquid coming out with an IR temperature gun.

If anybody else out there has done this, please share.....the insulated tube thing that is...

 

[clsanchez77]

Yes I'm thinking that, even with the bottles of food and the doser being inside the mini fridge, I'll have to devise some method of insulating the tubing coming out of the fridge and to the sump. My experiment will probably consist of taking temperature of a liquid coming out of the tubing after sitting for several hours. Then insulating the tubing with some type of foam and repeating the process, taking the temperature of the liquid coming out with an IR temperature gun.

If anybody else out there has done this, please share.....the insulated tube thing that is...

Hey guys, Im late to this party but hoping you have an update @prime8reef on this.

I am looking to use a 6-can beverage cooler to setup a liquid feed doser. My plan is to fit a BRS 1.1 ml/hr doser inside the cooler along with a 6 oz bottle of prepared food. I will be dosing a combination of ROE and acrtipods as well as phyto, oyster feast and rotifers. All of these items are included in my frozen food recipe but I prefer to break them out and dose throughout the day. I may also throw a temp probe in there as well and monitor temp with the Apex. The cooler is thermoelectric and is stable at 35 degrees below ambient from what I have read. My idea is similar to Randy's in that I plan to include some frozen ice chest coolers in there to help out. I would then rotate the cool packs and top off the food each day.