DIY fish feeder

[Djoko Sauza]

Hi everyone.

Due to work I travel quite regularly (around half the time I'm not there, usually going away for 1 week but sometimes for up to a month). I know this is not a good situation to be in when you want to grow plants and fish in a glass box but I won't give up easily. 1st thing I'd like to find a solution for is feeding.

Most automatic feeders out there will only feed for around 15 days and I need just the extra 10 or so days to feel comfortable. Even then, I hear they get clogged up with all the moisture. So I plan on building my own.

Ideally I would be keeping 2 rams, ~10 small tetras, a few ottos, shrimp and maybe a pleco. However, I'm flexible when it comes to stocking and would be satisfied with keeping 1 betta if that's my only option.

I have some ideas already on how I want to build my own fish feeder, but I won't divulge for now.
What I would like to know is if anyone has any kind of experience in this matter. All advice is welcome, wether you were succesful with your project or not! Thank you

 

[ian_m]

I've used the Hydor feeders for years, in fact use all the time so I don't have to remember to feed the fish...
http://www.hydor.com/eng/prodotti-tecnici/feeders/automatic-feeder.php

You set one, two or three feeds a day.

Left mine for over 5 weeks before, dropping food twice a day. No problem.

They have a monster food capacity and an air line inlet to stop the food picking up moisture. I also extra seal mine with a short length of insulating tape as using an air pump (to keep food dry) seems to splash up tiny drops of water up via the tank lid feeding hole, that can get into the food container bottom seal. I suppose if I had placed the feeder away from the air bubbles it would be fine.

Got mine connected to my tank controller so can feed one or two times a day varying 7 days a week. Currently on "holiday" setting feeding at 11am every day and 5pm every alternate day as I need it to last over 4 weeks whilst away during the summer.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-plc-to-control-your-fish-tank.42993/

 

[Djoko Sauza]

I've used the Hydor feeders for years, in fact use all the time so I don't have to remember to feed the fish...
http://www.hydor.com/eng/prodotti-tecnici/feeders/automatic-feeder.php

You set one, two or three feeds a day.

Left mine for over 5 weeks before, dropping food twice a day. No problem.

They have a monster food capacity and an air line inlet to stop the food picking up moisture. I also extra seal mine with a short length of insulating tape as using an air pump (to keep food dry) seems to splash up tiny drops of water up via the tank lid feeding hole, that can get into the food container bottom seal. I suppose if I had placed the feeder away from the air bubbles it would be fine.

Got mine connected to my tank controller so can feed one or two times a day varying 7 days a week. Currently on "holiday" setting feeding at 11am every day and 5pm every alternate day as I need it to last over 4 weeks whilst away during the summer.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-plc-to-control-your-fish-tank.42993/

Wow thanks for the detailed answer!

 

[ian_m]

Picture taken this morning with air line and control cable from PLC controller. This has been hacked as per my PLC controller article, thus buttons and LED's do nothing. If I was doing it again I would hack it so that PLC could control it, but leave LED's powered up as they flash (infrequently) indicating the batteries are OK. Batteries typically last over a year of more.

Stuck to the tank flaps using Velcro so easy to remove to fill with food.

The white plastic strips are reinforcing bars around the cut out I made, as the flaps started sagging after I cut the hole. Plastic cut from electric ducting and bolted in place using plastic nuts and bolts.

Note the white tape sealing the container joint to stop water splashes from tank getting the food wet. Bit of a mess around the whole, most of it water scale and crusty food.