Automatic Frozen/refrigerated food dispenser

[rynosreef]

So much great information here! I did have a question about the peristaltic pump. It looks like the high flow pumps are rated for 400 - 500 ml/min, which equates to about 6 - 8 ml per second respectively, right? For me this might be too much. Just trying to match the pump speed to the feeding needs.

 

[rynosreef]

I should add that the design I was thinking of using might not use a magnetic stirrer to keep the food in suspension, but instead use a funnel with the dosing line connected to the bottom. The idea being to let gravity keep the food concentrated. If the food was fully in suspension, I imagine 6-8 ml per second wouldn’t be so bad. But that much of concentrated food could be too much. Any other issues you guys came across with using a funnel?

 

[Stevorino]

Automatic DIY refrigerated food dispenser

I've been looking at the various solutions out there and I think this is the one I am going to attempt building.... great design and execution!

2 questions:

1) Without adding any preservatives, how long would this solution keep well? A week?

2) If I didn't want to go through the hassle of making my own food, could I use frozen food (like Rod's) and add in the preservatives in the solution?

I'm toying with the idea of having this run and refreshing the food each week.... but I would also like to have the ability to let it run a full 2 weeks when away on vacation.

Thanks!

 

[Rick Mathew]

I've been looking at the various solutions out there and I think this is the one I am going to attempt building.... great design and execution!

2 questions:

1) Without adding any preservatives, how long would this solution keep well? A week?

2) If I didn't want to go through the hassle of making my own food, could I use frozen food (like Rod's) and add in the preservatives in the solution?

I'm toying with the idea of having this run and refreshing the food each week.... but I would also like to have the ability to let it run a full 2 weeks when away on vacation.

Thanks!

I have essentially this setup... I keep my frig at between 30 and 34 F, keeping my mean kinetic temperature around 32F My food slurry consists of regular frozen food cubes...Brine, Mysis and a measure of Reef Chilies---Rod's food should work ok... I would say the food without preservatives for a week would be iffy...I change mine every 8 days using preservatives and the food is already starting to break down.

I have been using this method for over 2 years and it works very well. It does take some playing around with to get it balanced and dependable...but it was well worth the time

Rick

 

[ReefFrenzy]

I've been looking at the various solutions out there and I think this is the one I am going to attempt building.... great design and execution!

2 questions:

1) Without adding any preservatives, how long would this solution keep well? A week?

2) If I didn't want to go through the hassle of making my own food, could I use frozen food (like Rod's) and add in the preservatives in the solution?

I'm toying with the idea of having this run and refreshing the food each week.... but I would also like to have the ability to let it run a full 2 weeks when away on vacation.

Thanks!

I can tell you with 100% certainty that any of the LRS foods left in a refrigerator for more than 24 hours are starting to break down. After two weeks in the fridge it would smell horrible and be spoiled. Trying to keep previously frozen fish food in a refrigerated state for several days is asking for trouble. You have no idea how long the seafood ingredients were already out of the ocean and kept on ice BEFORE they were processed and frozen as prepared fish food. Other high lipid foods like PE Mysis start to break down as well. Think about it this way.....if you went out and had fresh sushi on a Monday would you put it in the fridge and eat it 7-14 days later?

There is a big difference between what is optimal and "I've been doing it this way for a while without any issues."

It's really easy to pre-portion your food out in little salad dressing cups and leave it for your tank sitter.

 

[Stevorino]

I have essentially this setup... I keep my frig at between 30 and 34 F, keeping my mean kinetic temperature around 32F My food slurry consists of regular frozen food cubes...Brine, Mysis and a measure of Reef Chilies---Rod's food should work ok... I would say the food without preservatives for a week would be iffy...I change mine every 8 days using preservatives and the food is already starting to break down.

I have been using this method for over 2 years and it works very well. It does take some playing around with to get it balanced and dependable...but it was well worth the time

Rick

Awesome - thank you!

 

[Stevorino]

I can tell you with 100% certainty that any of the LRS foods left in a refrigerator for more than 24 hours are starting to break down. After two weeks in the fridge it would smell horrible and be spoiled. Trying to keep previously frozen fish food in a refrigerated state for several days is asking for trouble. You have no idea how long the seafood ingredients were already out of the ocean and kept on ice BEFORE they were processed and frozen as prepared fish food. Other high lipid foods like PE Mysis start to break down as well. Think about it this way.....if you went out and had fresh sushi on a Monday would you put it in the fridge and eat it 7-14 days later?

There is a big difference between what is optimal and "I've been doing it this way for a while without any issues."

It's really easy to pre-portion your food out in little salad dressing cups and leave it for your tank sitter.

Appreciate the insight!

Here's the problem: We just bought a second home and will be away from the tank for 3-4 weeks at a time, multiple times a year..... The coordination and expense of having tank sitters come twice a day for 120+ days a year is really not an option.

The alternatives I'm considering is switching the tank to dry food (it's been primarily frozen cubes for 4+ years), doing a liquid option like Reef Nutrition, or doing something like this...

I mean, I'd eat sushi after 7 days before I ate dog food LOL....

... but in all seriousness, is there a major upgrade in quality going dry or Reef Nutrition over frozen that gets thawed and preserved once a week?

 

[Rick Mathew]

Awesome - thank you!

The key is you need to keep the temp of the slurry at or near 0 degrees C...I make my slurry with 35ppt salt water which does not freeze at 0 but somewhere around -2 C...I also use preservatives

Rick

 

[Harpo]

Awesome video

 

[Mickey]

I realize this is an old thread and I found this thread very interesting, but I'm confused with how much preservative is being used so I hope some of you are still following. In some places it says "by weight" - is that the weight of the food going into the container? I assume the preservatives are going into the water that is used with the food.

Can someone provide appropriate amounts to add to say a liter of saltwater?

I'm also a bit concerned about the issues raised by ReefFrenzy. I'm thinking when I use LRS I'll defrost and add it daily, and I'll use the cubes with preservative when I travel. Does that make sense? Don't some of the food that comes in cubes have some preservatives already?

 

[Rick Mathew]

I realize this is an old thread and I found this thread very interesting, but I'm confused with how much preservative is being used so I hope some of you are still following. In some places it says "by weight" - is that the weight of the food going into the container? I assume the preservatives are going into the water that is used with the food.

Can someone provide appropriate amounts to add to say a liter of saltwater?

I'm also a bit concerned about the issues raised by ReefFrenzy. I'm thinking when I use LRS I'll defrost and add it daily, and I'll use the cubes with preservative when I travel. Does that make sense? Don't some of the food that comes in cubes have some preservatives already?

This is what I have been using doing for over 3 years and it has done fine for me.

3650 Grams of 35ppt salt water (About 1 gal or 3.785 L)

18.3 Grams of Citric Acid
18.3 Grams of Ascorbic Acid
1.8 Grams of Calcium Propionate
1.8 Grams of Sorbic Acid

I mix all of this until it is dissolved and then use this to make my slurry of mixed frozen food. I usually mix up about 600mL batches that last me 8 days or so...I usually add 8-12 cubes of the frozen food to the 600mL I keep this slurry at a mean kinetic temp of 32 or less. I feed about 50-70 mL/day with my current fish population which is small...I mostly grow corals. I also add Reef Chilies to the mix for the corals...

 

[Mickey]

Thanks, Rick. This really helps. I assume you store the gallon mixture then use about 600 mls at a time. Do you think storing in a clear container is fine or should it be opaque?

If you happen to have that information, any idea how much the frozen food you add to the 600 ml weighs? And how many fish with approx sizes for the 50-70 mls you feed? If you don't know, then no worries.

I'm trying to determine the appropriate amount of food to add. No matter when I add food or how often there always seems to be a feeding frenzy and it's all gone in less than a minute. Right now I feed a mixture, crushed flake at 11:00 and 1:00, seaweed extreme at 1:00 and 5:00, frozen slurry at 3:00 and 7:00. I can add more at a time and cut out some feedings, just trying to figure out how much is too much.

Tank is roughly 240 gal total and is 72 x 30 wide x 24 high with about 25 fish: anthias, chromis, wrasses, 2 blue chin triggers, clowns, cardinals, foxface, coral beauty, kohl tang and a hippo that I've had for 12.5 years that is over 6 inches. He's the largest and oldest and looking very skinny the last few months so I'm a bit worried about him.

No algae problems at the moment and I suppose if I keep upping the food I can add an algae scrubber or something for more nutrient export.

 

[Mickey]

@DBR_Reef - in going back through this thread I see you have the proportions of preservative for 1 liter in post #44 on page 3. I missed that originally. Thanks for this write-up. As this thread is quite a few years old, any updates to your design?

 

[Rick Mathew]

Thanks, Rick. This really helps. I assume you store the gallon mixture then use about 600 mls at a time. Do you think storing in a clear container is fine or should it be opaque?

If you happen to have that information, any idea how much the frozen food you add to the 600 ml weighs? And how many fish with approx sizes for the 50-70 mls you feed? If you don't know, then no worries.

I'm trying to determine the appropriate amount of food to add. No matter when I add food or how often there always seems to be a feeding frenzy and it's all gone in less than a minute. Right now I feed a mixture, crushed flake at 11:00 and 1:00, seaweed extreme at 1:00 and 5:00, frozen slurry at 3:00 and 7:00. I can add more at a time and cut out some feedings, just trying to figure out how much is too much.

Tank is roughly 240 gal total and is 72 x 30 wide x 24 high with about 25 fish: anthias, chromis, wrasses, 2 blue chin triggers, clowns, cardinals, foxface, coral beauty, kohl tang and a hippo that I've had for 12.5 years that is over 6 inches. He's the largest and oldest and looking very skinny the last few months so I'm a bit worried about him.

No algae problems at the moment and I suppose if I keep upping the food I can add an algae scrubber or something for more nutrient export.

My system is a 150 gal mixed reef. I only have 6 fish at the current time...I feed frozen slurry at 8am and dry pellet food at 7 pm...all the fish are healthy 2 clown 1 file 1 marine betta 1 blue tang 1 anthias. My slurry is 8-12 of the frozen cubes usually Hiakri Brine + Squid + Mysis + 1/8 tsp of reef chilies in approx. 600 mL of preservative water

I had to experiment with the dosing amount based on what the fish would eat in 2-3 min...It ended up being 50-70 mL/ dosing (about 10-12 seconds of dosing on my system)

Given the information about your system your slurry would need to be a lot more concentrated and/or your dosing times would be longer...This will take some experimenting...

 

[Mickey]

I am making it more concentrated, just experimenting with the timing. Gone right now in less than 30 seconds. My "boys" are hungry I guess.

 

[Rick Mathew]

I am making it more concentrated, just experimenting with the timing. Gone right now in less than 30 seconds. My "boys" are hungry I guess.