DIY Frozen Food Feeder

[Dweaver]

Started working on this last week. Using a Megiu portable freezer and a 2 Milkwaukee dosing pumps. So far I've been able to wire in a thermocuple from inside the freezer to my controller to track temperature and stop feeding if the freezer fails. Got the freezer off amazon and the pumps from saltwater aquarium.
The temperature inside the freezer holds pretty steady with a variation of 1.8 °F. Hoping to get some power monitoring intergrated with the freezer so I can see how many Kwh the freezer is using.

 

[EnterName]

Following to see how this project progresses. I like the idea!

 

[BeanAnimal]

I have a similar setup. (2) of them but bit different brand. One for frozen the other above freezing for phyto, artctipods, whatever. Dosing pumps to feed and RO to flush.

 

[Submerge]

Are you making a slurry and keeping it just above freezing to dose?

 

[Dweaver]

Are you making a slurry and keeping it just above freezing to dose?

Yes it will be a slurry, I'm gonna try both mixing it with salt water from the tank and RODI water. Using saltwater from the tank would allow me to keep it colder in the freezer but would eventually start increasing salinity.

 

[ElZesto]

Nice.

 

[afboundguy]

Yes it will be a slurry, I'm gonna try both mixing it with salt water from the tank and RODI water. Using saltwater from the tank would allow me to keep it colder in the freezer but would eventually start increasing salinity.

Why not just use RODI only? I know @WallyB made a DIY frozen fish food feeder and just uses RODI mixed with the slurry.

I have been trying to build a DIY automatic feeder but life and work keep getting in the way but I would think using RODI would help keep the lines cleaner longer.

I just got various Hydros controllers to upgrade my dinosaur RKE setup and plan to try and make a bunch of DIY drive ports with some Kamoer dosing heads to test out to see how accurate it is since I was having a lot of issues with Arduino programming for some reason...

 

[WallyB]

Sorry for late reply.

I use RO water mixed in with the Frozen Food (Which I rinse from frozen in a brine shrimp net).

I tried initially SALT water however since it's more dense the frozen slury tends to not SINK as well (Kind of why it's easier to swim/float in ocean vs swimming in fresh water lake), which is important since the food is taken from bottom of source Container..

I don't think it really matters that much which you use. All food will sink eventually or reach bottom as container liquid/food contents get lower down to last drop.

 

[WallyB]

Started working on this last week. Using a Megiu portable freezer and a 2 Milkwaukee dosing pumps. So far I've been able to wire in a thermocuple from inside the freezer to my controller to track temperature and stop feeding if the freezer fails. Got the freezer off amazon and the pumps from saltwater aquarium.
The temperature inside the freezer holds pretty steady with a variation of 1.8 °F. Hoping to get some power monitoring intergrated with the freezer so I can see how many Kwh the freezer is using.

Very interesting that you found a Cooler Type Freezer. I orginally used a Coolatron 12 V, but it never really kept the food that cold. This one you got looks much better.

I ended up rebuilding my Frozen Feeder Setup using a ICE CUBE Maker. Now the Food lasts Fresh Much longer. The whole setup is much more compact too.

This setup feeds all 3 tanks. Tubes run to Nearby Tank, Nearby Sump, and Far Sump. In the case of sump, the output tubes are placed close to Return Pump. That way food get sucked in and feed even my tank which is ONE floor above.

I use a Upside down Gatorade bottle filled with the Slury. Tube go to bottom of Bottle to get the sunken food. I do have to wedge the bottle in between the walls. It will float up once bottle empties.

Works perfect to feed my 3 tanks for approx 1 week before needing refil. The ice maker water never needs refill since what melts is made back into ice cubes.

 

[kboogie]

Very interesting that you found a Cooler Type Freezer. I orginally used a Coolatron 12 V, but it never really kept the food that cold. This one you got looks much better.

I ended up rebuilding my Frozen Feeder Setup using a ICE CUBE Maker. Now the Food lasts Fresh Much longer. The whole setup is much more compact too.

This setup feeds all 3 tanks. Tubes run to Nearby Tank, Nearby Sump, and Far Sump. In the case of sump, the output tubes are placed close to Return Pump. That way food get sucked in and feed even my tank which is ONE floor above.

I use a Upside down Gatorade bottle filled with the Slury. Tube go to bottom of Bottle to get the sunken food. I do have to wedge the bottle in between the walls. It will float up once bottle empties.

Works perfect to feed my 3 tanks for approx 1 week before needing refil. The ice maker water never needs refill since what melts is made back into ice cubes.

This is what I want to do! I have an old Opal Nugget ice maker that I want to repurpose. I also bought a large bore (6.4mm ID) perastalic pump to use with it. I have a bunch of ESP32 laying around to use for control.

If you have a project page I would love to see the details of what you did from a controller perspective.

 

[WallyB]

This is what I want to do! I have an old Opal Nugget ice maker that I want to repurpose. I also bought a large bore (6.4mm ID) perastalic pump to use with it. I have a bunch of ESP32 laying around to use for control.

If you have a project page I would love to see the details of what you did from a controller perspective.

I will reply soon. I do have an article on my first version of frozen feeder but it's out of date since the coolatron workedbut not ideal...plus the old distribution and controller was goid but not great. The New ice cube maker model works way better...and I made a new controller. I will share the design....updating my frozen feeder article. give details.

stay tuned.

 

[Submerge]

I will reply soon. I do have an article on my first version of frozen feeder but it's out of date since the coolatron workedbut not ideal...plus the old distribution and controller was goid but not great. The New ice cube maker model works way better...and I made a new controller. I will share the design....updating my frozen feeder article. give details.

stay tuned.

Following

 

[afboundguy]

I will reply soon. I do have an article on my first version of frozen feeder but it's out of date since the coolatron workedbut not ideal...plus the old distribution and controller was goid but not great. The New ice cube maker model works way better...and I made a new controller. I will share the design....updating my frozen feeder article. give details.

stay tuned.

Can't wait to see it sir! I will post my progress here as well once I get off my rear end and setup the Hydros system and hook up the kamoer pumps!

 

[WallyB]

I will reply soon. I do have an article on my first version of frozen feeder but it's out of date since the coolatron workedbut not ideal...plus the old distribution and controller was goid but not great. The New ice cube maker model works way better...and I made a new controller. I will share the design....updating my frozen feeder article. give details.

stay tuned

This thread is another OP. I would like to see this thread continue with OP and his design.

My original Article and Follow Up Discussion is here. Many details to digest. Many of your questions may already be answered.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-auto-frozen-food-feeder.753039/page-8#post-12271054

I will provide answers, and details there.

 

[WallyB]

I just made an update with Diagram and Logic. For the newer 3 Tank Controller.

I explain (The Setup, Automation and Scheduling) + New Purge Pump Design.

-> How I stir the Food before Distribution
-> How I use an Extra Pump to Flush Tubing Clean
-> How I control the feeding of any 1 tank, or all three with Ardiuno Pump Controller and a SMART Wifi Outlet (to boot controller, and run 1 feed cycle)
----> The reason for this extra logic is so I can feed Tank 1 (3 times a day), Tank 2 (Twice a day), etc, by just starting the feed cycle at any 15 minute mark on Clock.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-auto-frozen-food-feeder.753039/page-8#post-14096447

Basically This is it.

One Last comment:

If you notice Tank 3 setup with the Extra Purge Pump. You could get away with no FEED Pump "Reversal control" requirement for your design.

The only thing you loose with no pump reversal on the FEED PUMP is stirring food by air bubbles feature.

The "Purge Pump" does not need reverse since it only does forward flush.

The tubing is cleaned each time so no food left to rot in warm part of distribution tubing. Only the SHORT section between the bottle and dosing pump will contain trapped un-distributed food, in between feedings. So design your setup with Dosing pump as close as possible to COLD Storage.

The other reason Tank 3 has a "extra purge pump" is I have the tubing endpoint under water (SUMERGED In my sump). End-Point Tubing attached close to Return pump input. The return pump sucks in the food and sends it to my tank 1 floor above in kitchen. I couldn't do reverse pump control since that would DRAW tank water back towards the Food Source bottle and contaminate it.