ReeferAl Fish Feeder!

[Fishcrazy06]

Allen I was wondering if this little system is still up and running? How are things working? Maybe you could post some of the info here?

Eric

 

[ReeferAl]

OK. Here it is. This is the inside of the dorm fridge that functions as the food holder.

On the outside I have a controller box which contains the timers and relays. It uses 2 of these timer boards:

The food is kept suspended by the magnetic stirrer. It is then pumped into the tank using a DIY peristaltic pump (not a recommended project). The pump uses 1/2" tubing to allow big food particles (mysis, brine shrimp and small krill) to be fed.

About once every couple of hours the pump goes on for about 15 sec and feeds the tank. That is then followed by a short blast of RO water into the tubing beyond the pump to flush out the food.

The container shown contains 1 gal and the timer is set such that it lasts about 3 days. Every 3 days I mix up a new batch and rinse out the container. I mix up about 30 small cubes of frozen food (mix of mysis, krill/plankton, brine shrimp, cyclops, and daphnia- in descending order of quantity) plus a chunk of Nutramar prawn ova and a chunk of Cyclopeeze to last the 3 days. That's for a 400 gal tank with the following fish in addition to corals:

yellow tang
sailfin tang
kole tang
regal/hippo tang
3 swallowtail angels
red hawk fish
ocellaris clown
5 anthias

Although I keep making modifications to the details of the feeder, the basic concept has now been in use on the tank for over 1 year.

Allen

 

[customcolor]

how much was that timer?

 

[PrisonCityReef]

VERY cool setup!

 

[ReeferAl]

how much was that timer?

The lowest I've found them was 17.99

 

[Bri Guy]

Awesome feeder!! And nice write up too!

And I thought he was talking about those plastic rings you have in your tank, keeping the dry flake food in place, boy was I wrong.

 

[Fishcrazy06]

No I love this setup and not to mention think it is a very good thing to help keep the coral and fish happy. I personally think its an awesome way to have a healthy system by having the numerous small feedings everyday. More natural than walking up to the tank and dumping the food in. I will more than likely being this with the new setup as well. I love the idea and love how it works. Not to mention have you ever seen his Sun corals that are open pretty much all the time!

Eric

 

[ReeferAl]

Not to mention have you ever seen his Sun corals that are open pretty much all the time!

Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Initially they were open all day long once I started the auto feeder. I quit target feeding them however. Over time, the food they were able to catch from the water column was not enough to sustain them and they have been wasting away. Undoubtedly, if I had continued occasional target feedings then they would have had the best of both worlds and still be doing well. It was just too time consuming though.

Allen