Auto feeder with lid options

[SlothMartin]

Hi so bought a plank mini to use with my cade 1200 v3. this has the eurobracing and a tight fitting mesh lid. Ill post a pic below of what i was hoping would work but obviously the gap is too big, and a fish could jump out.

So i am trying to brainstorm solutions to use an autofeeder. i wanted to use the feeding ring so i could use reef jerky, which tends to float when i just dump it in.

1. just rest the plank mini on the eurobracing and let it dump into the mesh lid.
- downside is id have to move it to remove the lid which sounds annoying, and i lose the feeding ring

2. 3d print a plate cover to close the gap
- may be the "easiest" option, and i could make the gap just big enough for the food to fall in

3. find a company that can make a custom lid with a cutout
- at this point i may as well get the full size plank. so im into it for the cost of the lid plus $200 for the plank, but then i get the mixing action, could throw frozen food in there.

4? i have tried to read every thread i could find on the plank, and some people talk about "moving it to the sump"
i guess they are saying put the entire plank plus the tube in the sump and let it dispense food into the return pump, and out the return nozzles. if this works like it sounds like, it would distribute the food evenly so i wouldnt have my bigger fish eating everything before the shy guys can get to it. i could use it for frozen food instead of doing that manually. I also wouldnt have to buy a lid, and i wouldnt have to look at the auto feeder. harder to refill, do i even have room for this in the sump? not sure.

might start with option 1 and move onto option 4 if i think it could work

what started this is i have some anthias in quarantine and i have read they need to eat many times a day, and im not here all day to do it. Also a wrasse (qt) firefish (current resident) which i have read require the lid have no gaps

any thoughts? thanks for any input

here was the test setup which will not work. nori for scale. excuse the crappy color correction was just trying to make it easy to see instead of all blue

 

[Saltyreef]

If you look into the custom lid option, check out krakenreef.com

 

[DmitryB]

This is first I'm hearing about putting the Plank into the sump. Has anyone done this and said the food ends up in the DT???

 

[Saltyreef]

This is first I'm hearing about putting the Plank into the sump. Has anyone done this and said the food ends up in the DT???

It should work. I would not want to put food through my returns though.

 

[jonelder68]

I run mine through return pump along with Ind AF4 frozen feeder. Been a year and a half in use? Works perfectly. Actually I believe it’s the best way. It’s broadcast through the tank and the fish go crazy for it. On the tank they just sit below like little puppies staring and waiting.

 

[jonelder68]

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[SlothMartin]

I run mine through return pump along with Ind AF4 frozen feeder. Been a year and a half in use? Works perfectly. Actually I believe it’s the best way. It’s broadcast through the tank and the fish go crazy for it. On the tank they just sit below like little puppies staring and waiting.

Yes yours is the setup i found and then went down the rabbit hole. others have done it too. Thanks for posting :)

 

[rowenaad]

I have mine sitting on the light mounting arm and dump onto mesh lolll

 

[SlothMartin]

I have mine sitting on the light mounting arm and dump onto mesh lolll

i dont know why i just threw this idea out because i dont have a cross brace to hold the lights, but i could potentially just mount on the short mount arm. thanks for the additional idea!

this would remove the feeder from the lid which might look cleaner, and then i wouldnt have to move it to remove the lid for cleaning

 

[rowenaad]

i dont know why i just threw this idea out because i dont have a cross brace to hold the lights, but i could potentially just mount on the short mount arm. thanks for the additional idea!

this would remove the feeder from the lid which might look cleaner, and then i wouldnt have to move it to remove the lid for cleaning

i did it for that exact reason. i dont want to move it when removing my lid and risk knocking over the unit