Automatic Frozen Fish Food Feeder

[miamijaaz]

Hi everyone. I am often away from home (and my tank) for a week or more at a time. I have an Apex automatic feed feeder that works decent enough (although boy is it loud), but it's limited to flakes and pellets obviously. Fish seem pickier these days in what they eat. For example, I love anthias, but have not had much luck getting them to eat anything but frozen (gut-loaded) brine or PE mysis. And I certainly can not feed frozen fish food 3-4 times per day like they want.

I've been looking into an automatic frozen fish food feeder fort some time, but it does not seem like a commercial product exists. It seems there are a lot of DIY versions out there. Is anyone running their own automatic fish food feeder?

I do not have space for a mini-fridge, and so I'm mulling putting together a system similar to this one:


But using this:

http://www.waringpro.com/catalog.php?pcID=144_162&product_id=582


Would love to see some of your set-ups to automatic feed our fish frozen food when we're away (or even when we're not!).

 

[tanklife3]

Wow love that idea in the video! I might have to try that

 

[143MPCo]

Interesting concept, and one that I would implement if commercially available!
In researching, like you, I've found nothing outside of DYI feeders.
My concern is longevity of the food being stored at 40/50 degrees as opposed to frozen, and spoilage.
High protein content of the frozen food fed to fish tends to spoil fast, assuming that lower temperature can mitigate that issue.
However the food in the dispensing tube would be at room temperature and might be more inclined to spoil?

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[miamijaaz]

Interesting concept, and one that I would implement if commercially available!
In researching, like you, I've found nothing outside of DYI feeders.
My concern is longevity of the food being stored at 40/50 degrees as opposed to frozen, and spoilage.
High protein content of the frozen food fed to fish tends to spoil fast, assuming that lower temperature can mitigate that issue.
However the food in the dispensing tube would be at room temperature and might be more inclined to spoil?

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

Yes, I have the same concern over spoilage. I'm thinking this method would keep the food for about as long as the food would keep in a refrigerator--so most likely no longer than a week. That would work okay for me.

As for the food in the dispensing tube spoling, the individual in the video had an ingenious idea. He uses a Neptune DOS dispenser (controlled by his APEX) to run in reverse after feeding and dispense some water back into the bottle with the food, thereby clearing the lines of any food.

 

[Duke4Life]

Interesting concept, and one that I would implement if commercially available!
In researching, like you, I've found nothing outside of DYI feeders.
My concern is longevity of the food being stored at 40/50 degrees as opposed to frozen, and spoilage.
High protein content of the frozen food fed to fish tends to spoil fast, assuming that lower temperature can mitigate that issue.
However the food in the dispensing tube would be at room temperature and might be more inclined to spoil?

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

I had the same thought in the food spoiling. I only cut up what will be used at that time. I know in 12 hours at room temperature with a cup of water that it stinks (have cut up more than needed a few times and forgot to throw away).

 

[143MPCo]

As for the food in the dispensing tube spoling, the individual in the video had an ingenious idea. He uses a Neptune DOS dispenser (controlled by his APEX) to run in reverse after feeding and dispense some water back into the bottle with the food, thereby clearing the lines of any food.

I like that idea, it would have to be run enough to remove all food from the tube. I see the tube looks like it's about an 1" in the DT?
That worries me a little, DT water in the tube might have the chance of introducing bacteria into the tube water making it's way down to the container. Not certain if that's an issue or not but something worth considering?

 

[KJ]

 

[Diesel]

Interesting.
What my worries would be every time pumping water from the tank back in the bottle.
That water is around 78 and the bottle water cooled maybe between 40 and 50.
The process that find place here must some how have a impact on the food between the feedings.

Maybe our friends in frozen food Dept here can shed some light on this @Rod's Food @ReefFrenzy

 

[143MPCo]

That's a better option!

 

[143MPCo]

What my worries would be every time pumping water from the tank back in the bottle.

Agreed!

 

[joshkirkland83]

Yes, I have the same concern over spoilage. I'm thinking this method would keep the food for about as long as the food would keep in a refrigerator--so most likely no longer than a week. That would work okay for me.

As for the food in the dispensing tube spoling, the individual in the video had an ingenious idea. He uses a Neptune DOS dispenser (controlled by his APEX) to run in reverse after feeding and dispense some water back into the bottle with the food, thereby clearing the lines of any food.

problem is Larry at LRS says the food begins breaking down in an hour after thawing. He says you start losing the probiotics and proteins.

 

[pciscott]

https://reefbuilders.com/2012/08/22/didosy-stirrex/

Did this device ever make it to market?

 

[slief]

Hi everyone. I am often away from home (and my tank) for a week or more at a time. I have an Apex automatic feed feeder that works decent enough (although boy is it loud), but it's limited to flakes and pellets obviously. Fish seem pickier these days in what they eat. For example, I love anthias, but have not had much luck getting them to eat anything but frozen (gut-loaded) brine or PE mysis. And I certainly can not feed frozen fish food 3-4 times per day like they want.

I've been looking into an automatic frozen fish food feeder fort some time, but it does not seem like a commercial product exists. It seems there are a lot of DIY versions out there. Is anyone running their own automatic fish food feeder?

I do not have space for a mini-fridge, and so I'm mulling putting together a system similar to this one:


But using this:

http://www.waringpro.com/catalog.php?pcID=144_162&product_id=582


Would love to see some of your set-ups to automatic feed our fish frozen food when we're away (or even when we're not!).

Wow!!! What a cool idea!!! Hahaha... That happens to be my feeder and the video I uploaded when I first set it up. It's worked out better than I ever expect. I'm also glad it's making it's rounds.

It's been running every day for over a year now without an issue. I use it to supplement feed baby mysis once a day at 1 PM. My fish are totally trained and will wait by the feed tube every day as soon as the first cycle kicks in I also use it occasionally to spot feed if I'm lazy during my nightly hand feeding. For that, I just hit a button to activate FeedD on my Apex. You don't want to be careful with the food size you run through it. PE mysis is typically larger mysis and may get caught up a bit at the inlet in the jar and restrict food going through the pump. I settled on Hikari baby mysis and use my PE mysis as part of my nightly hand feedings.

The DOS is the PERFECT solution for this setup. One of the keys for this working well is the ability to flush the feed tube of any food so it doesn't rot in the tube. The DOS is the only controllable pump that allows you to reverse the flow. That reversed flow allows the system to clear the line of any remaining food and send it right back the jar. A process that would otherwise require much more complex pluming. I add 3 cubes of baby mysis and a few drops of selcon to the jar along with RODI water. I clean and refill the jar every 4th day. I have mine programmed so that the reverse cycle sends just enough water through the tube to push any food back into the jab but very little tank water makes it through. I've yet to have any issues with the food going bad but like I said, I change it out every 4th day just to be safe. It could certainly go longer but I only leave enough food in there for 4 feedings anyway.

This particular wine bottle cooler that I am using is discontinued but one of the few that will actually cool down to the point that my jar of food will freeze solid. I keep it set at 37* to avoid it freezing as the next setting is 32 and that freezes the jar of food. Most wine coolers don't cool that low so keep that in mind if you decide to take on this endeavor. Just research the coolers you are looking at before you buy. I also considered one of those tiny 6 back refrigerators but they don't cool that well and typically only have a drop of 30-40* from ambient and as such, won't cool enough unless your room is extremely cold.

As for your Apex feeder, you should try some New Life Spectrum pellets. My fish including my wrasses love the NLS pellets and that's what I put in my my Apex AFS.

 

[143MPCo]

@slief thank you for the detailed explanation, have you tried any other food like LRS?

 

[den75]

@slief. Would you Mind sharing the apex code you used to get this to work?

 

[slief]

@slief thank you for the detailed explanation, have you tried any other food like LRS?

I have used some LRS Reef Frenzy in it but there are some chunks of meat that tend to block the inlet. Not a huge issue but they inhibit the pumps ability to suck food. As such, I stick with the mysis in my feeder and keep my LRS food for my nightly hand feedings.

@slief. Would you Mind sharing the apex code you used to get this to work?

Sure.. Here is my programming. The profiles are what each step doses and includes the pump speed, pump direction and dose amount. I have several feet of tubing between the jar of food and the tank which in part was included in my thought process when I decided how much each step transfers. DosMix is the first step in the process and really isn't needed but my logic was that it would help stir the food on the bottom of the jar. Again, not really need but that was my thought process at the time and since it's worked fine, I never found a good reason to justify changing it.

This is the DOS Pump Head outlet programming. Not the EB8 outlet but the outlet for Pump head one:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 13:00 to 13:01 Then DosMix
If Time 13:01 to 13:03 Then DosFeed
If Time 13:03 to 13:04 Then DosFlush
If FeedD 003 Then DosFlush
If FeedD 001 Then DosFeed
If FeedD 000 Then DosMix


These are the profiles:

DosFlush:

DosFeed: (Note that I have the feed going forward at 250 ml/minute which is fast to create maximum suction to draw as much food as possible. A slower speed wouldn't draw as much food.)

DosMix:

 

[den75]

Thank you!

 

[The-Russ]

I bought a small fridge to build one of those. I will one dat

 

[slief]

This is video of full feed once I got it dialed in to my liking. This gives you a better idea of how much I feed now from it. Also I want to mention again that I no longer use salt water contrary to what I mentioned in the video when I was testing this solution. I now use RODI water with some Selcon for added nutrition.

 

[miamijaaz]

Slief, thank you for jumping in here and providing such great information! Your method is ingenious, particularly flushing tank water back into the bottle. I am going to give this a try, but will check how low this wine chiller can go:
http://www.waringpro.com/catalog.php?pcID=144_162&product_id=582

Edit: Seems like the lowest temperature this particular model will go is 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Do you believe that is low enough to keep the food?