inD Aquatics aF4 frozen feeder

[VintageReefer]

@ind.aquatics joined!

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I think it may have started more than 4 years ago. 2020 was the original delivery date and was a year or years late. Somebody mentioned somewhere that the owner is so committed that he mortgaged his home for money to complete the project.

The math just does not add up for me. $42K collected in kickstarter funds.
Let's just say he spent $100K total and ignore the years of time spent working on this. But that is not even a reasonable number given the prototypes, injection molds, and other custom parts and electronics. If you look at the history there are numerous complete design changes.

How many potential customers of this thing are there, and of those how many can afford it, let alone actually buy it?

It is a highly technical/mechanical item that will require significant support and there is no RMR plan. How does he afford to support the customers long term for ONE TIME purchases that should last many years?

I could be very wrong, but I don't see any reasonable business plan here other than hoping a larger player will buy the rights and produce them at lower cost with distributed overhead based on other products and RMR.

In all, it is a simple enough concept. Keep food cold enough to not spoil by mixing it with water in a chilled container. Use a pump or two to push water through and carry food to the tank.

I hope it works out and the product is viable and produced, but like the majority of kickstarter's I have don't have a lot of faith. Maybe I am wrong.

A mini fridge and a programmable dose pump. Done for way less than they want and it didn't even take any research. It's what I use when I vacation. I also didn't have to wait 4+ years

Amazon took 1 day to get both components to my door. There was a learning curve. Dosing consistently means thining the slurry with water. But not so watered down that the food settles at the bottom. But a little water for sure.

 

[braaap]

A mini fridge and a programmable dose pump. Done for way less than they want and it didn't even take any research. It's what I use when I vacation. I also didn't have to wait 4+ years

Amazon took 1 day to get both components to my door. There was a learning curve. Dosing consistently means thining the slurry with water. But not so watered down that the food settles at the bottom. But a little water for sure.

And even then I don’t think they have this thing perfected. They for sure don’t have marketing perfected. Because their marketing sucks.

 

[braaap]

lol this is a inventory sale. They don’t even have the inventory on hand. They are taking your money and hoping the manufacturer can get them made and sent over to ship in 3-4 weeks. Yikes. I’ve seen how this ends. People lose lots of money when they get hit with an extra $10,000 dockage fee and can’t cover it.

 

[ind.aquatics]

@ind.aquatics joined!

They’re not letting us post yet!

 

[JonoH]

A mini fridge and a programmable dose pump. Done for way less than they want and it didn't even take any research. It's what I use when I vacation. I also didn't have to wait 4+ years

Amazon took 1 day to get both components to my door. There was a learning curve. Dosing consistently means thining the slurry with water. But not so watered down that the food settles at the bottom. But a little water for sure.

I have been thinking about setting up something similar with like a single Versa module (have a few lying around).
How do you prevent food from sitting in the tube and going off?
I dont think the versa has a back flush option.

lol this is a inventory sale. They don’t even have the inventory on hand. They are taking your money and hoping the manufacturer can get them made and sent over to ship in 3-4 weeks. Yikes. I’ve seen how this ends. People lose lots of money when they get hit with an extra $10,000 dockage fee and can’t cover it.

Hard to judge them without any reviews or feedback on the design/funtionality yet - i have my fingers crossed that its good.

 

[David_CO]

Mine gets delivered tomorrow. I’ll provide some feedback asap. I’ve used a DIY frozen feeder (mini fridge, stir plate, diy wired kamoer pump, wired into apex for control) for my copper band going on two years for up to 10 days at a time. It works well but always looking for something better.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I have been thinking about setting up something similar with like a single Versa module (have a few lying around).
How do you prevent food from sitting in the tube and going off?
I dont think the versa has a back flush option.


Hard to judge them without any reviews or feedback on the design/funtionality yet - i have my fingers crossed that its good.

Multiple small doses throughout the day. Instead of one or two big feedings, I do 8 small doses. I make sure to dose off the bottom of my reservoir because food does tend to settle.

As mentioned above by @David_CO a stirrer would be a great thing also. I've never added one to my little rig. But I absolutely see the benefit of it.

 

[rg18]

Well they also claim it is some sort of chilled saltwater system. They have 2 hoses running to the tank. So I don't understand how it even works. Nobody does because there is ZERO info on this new system.

I found this information helpful on the YT channel https://youtube.com/@ind-aquatics?si=e71IiBO7V-56Deif

 

[Dr. Reef]

I have been feeding semi frozen mysis brine shrimp mix to my tank forever.
All I did was use a wine chiller from amazon that goes as cold as 34F. I keep airtight bottle with a tubing in it that goes to a doser. Program your controller to come on so many times a day and feed your tank.
I can keep food slushy at 34F for several days. 5-7 days. Only wish there was a stirrer somehow.

Comes in handy when going on vacation for a week or under. Or feeding Anthias many times a day while you are away at work etc.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I have been feeding semi frozen mysis brine shrimp mix to my tank forever.
All I did was use a wine chiller from amazon that goes as cold as 34F. I keep airtight bottle with a tubing in it that goes to a doser. Program your controller to come on so many times a day and feed your tank.
I can keep food slushy at 34F for several days. 5-7 days. Only wish there was a stirrer somehow.

Comes in handy when going on vacation for a week or under. Or feeding Anthias many times a day while you are away at work etc.

That's clever.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

I have been feeding semi frozen mysis brine shrimp mix to my tank forever.
All I did was use a wine chiller from amazon that goes as cold as 34F. I keep airtight bottle with a tubing in it that goes to a doser. Program your controller to come on so many times a day and feed your tank.
I can keep food slushy at 34F for several days. 5-7 days. Only wish there was a stirrer somehow.

Comes in handy when going on vacation for a week or under. Or feeding Anthias many times a day while you are away at work etc.

the food doesn't go bad keeping it thawed for that amount of time?

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

@Mattiejay6 the tank water is used to clean the inner workings and the feed / rinse lines, it doesn’t really go into the food reservoir.

There was a lot to cover here - but I think I covered everything!

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions - I’ll try to answer stuff here as much as I can! I randomly found this thread searching for something unrelated!

if the device uses tank water to flush, how has salt creep been? and how often is the recommended cleaning of unit?

 

[ind.aquatics]

if the device uses tank water to flush, how has salt creep been? and how often is the recommended cleaning of unit?

Salt creep has been non-existent, it’s a closed loop system with no splashing.

The unit self cleans most of the components (rinses) during every feed cycle but we still recommend running a deep cleaning cycle on it between loads. It’s mostly automatic and takes about 3-5 minutes.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Salt creep has been non-existent, it’s a closed loop system with no splashing.

The unit self cleans most of the components (rinses) during every feed cycle but we still recommend running a deep cleaning cycle on it between loads. It’s mostly automatic and takes about 3-5 minutes.

thanks.

 

[ind.aquatics]

the food doesn't go bad keeping it thawed for that amount of time?

It does go bad eventually. But by keeping it at 0C or just below 0C you can extend the freshness quite a lot.

Depending on storage temp. and your food prep technique you can get durations as short as 5 days to as long as 21.

 

[RoanokeReef]

Excited to see some reviews out there. Price is reasonable for something that currently doesn't exist without DIY. I also like it can be hooked up to the Apex which is a nice touch.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Keeps giving an error

 

[thecodingart]

Back linking here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-a-frozen-food-auto-feeder-a-thing.1003878/post-12684228

 

[thecodingart]

Keeps giving an error

They had an issue when selecting different region power cables. This should be resolved and I was able to purchase mine.