Is a Frozen food auto feeder a thing?

thecodingart · Feb 23, 2024

Stevorino said:
I don't worry about the food in the tubing, as it is all in the fridge up until it is fed into the main return plumbing (this is my main reason for having DOS pumps in the fridge).

Once it is in the return pump plumbing it, the food is in the display in ~10 seconds.

I'm not sure if I'm understanding this question, but the tubing from the DOS connects to my return pump plumbing using one of these bad boys

I used wadded up paper towels to clog the hole for weeks until I saw it work consistently well and then I used some of that insulation-in-a-spraycan to truly seal it.

Ah yeah I gotcha. I thought the piping were just tubing conduits, now I realize they’re an actual return line.

thecodingart · Mar 7, 2024

Dannyboy402 said:
How's it working for ya?

Alright, so I’ve moved on from this initial setup that has temporarily serve me well.

Meet the new setup.

This guy seems to keep much cooler than the other fridge and the handle holes were perfect for piping the tubing through (perfect fit).

I put a pot lid handle on the other side and still need to figure out how to get a perfect seal with the power cable for the Hanna mixer in there making sure the food is caught and evenly distributed by the tubing.

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thecodingart · Mar 7, 2024

shakacuz said:
build log/thread?

https://www.astroai.com/mini-fridge-4liter-6can-white/ap/100056343

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thecodingart · Mar 8, 2024

thecodingart said:
Alright, so I’ve moved on from this initial setup that has temporarily serve me well.

Meet the new setup.

This guy seems to keep much cooler than the other fridge and the handle holes were perfect for piping the tubing through (perfect fit).

I put a pot lid handle on the other side and still need to figure out how to get a perfect seal with the power cable for the Hanna mixer in there making sure the food is caught and evenly distributed by the tubing.

Northair 1.1 Cu ft Electric Party Cooler, Barrel

Northair party cooler with 32 quart/8 gallon capacity is compact enough for the modern homes, prefect for parties, BBQ and other events. Electric party cooler makes it possible to cool your drinks without any ice cube like conventional coolers. Easily change the temperature from 32℉-16℉ by...

northaircool.com

I am now using a bubbler for this guy hooked up to a smart outlet thanks to an idea someone gave me on Facebook. This has resulted into a much nicer end product IMO.

TX_REEF · Mar 8, 2024

littlefoxx said:
Hey all, got into a spat with my BF, he doesnt want to take 60 seconds to dump a cup of defrosted and ready to go frozen food from the fridge and poor it into the tank. Like okay whatever, so my question is are there any auto feeders out there that I could put a helping of frozen food into and have it release around their normal feeding time? (11-1230 usually). Got some tangs he doesnt even want to put nori on a clip for and have two triggers planned (male and female blue jaw) and want them to get their food they need. All I see are pellet auto feeders. I guess I can make this a snack if need be between their two meals of frozen food if I need to but worried about the triggers getting cranky because they are hungry

what a lazy BF... my wife LOVES to get involved with the tank however she can!

braaap · Mar 8, 2024

Stevorino said:
I do a high level breakdown of it in my Tank Thread here

The only thing I would change at this point is that the food gets disbursed ~40ft of piping before it hits the display. In retrospect, I wish I put this right under the tank. The food oftentimes looks pretty pulverized by the time it makes it to the display lol

How do you pump it into the return without the tank water leaking out? I would be really curious to see that fitting setup. Seems like you would have lots of back pressure on those pumps.

littlefoxx · Mar 8, 2024

TX_REEF said:
what a lazy BF... my wife LOVES to get involved with the tank however she can!

He is actually more involved now that I let him get a puffer !

Stevorino · Mar 9, 2024

braaap said:
How do you pump it into the return without the tank water leaking out? I would be really curious to see that fitting setup. Seems like you would have lots of back pressure on those pumps.

In the picture above, you can see the T fitting going into the top of the fridge... on the end of that T fitting is a quick connect fitting like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/John-Gu...nector-Fitting-10-Pack-PP011624W-US/320639305

The apex tubing goes right into it.

I've run some version of this for ~3 years now and never had a leak or a DOS pump go down.

The only 2 issues that I currently face are:

1) The food seems to get pretty 'chopped up' on the way from my basement (where the fridge is) to the display. I would like to try it right under the display, and actually have the room to do so, but I haven't tried it because....

2) While I like Reef Nutrition products a lot, it seems like when I really crank these things up my nutrients shoot through the roof. I have had a hard time dialing in an amount that both satisfies my fish, but doesn't blow up my nutrients. This not to say it cannot be done, but rather that I haven't figured out how to dial it in yet.

All that to say, I am really hoping hte aF4 from InD Aquatics that is slated to come out soon works as advertised. If so, I would likely shut down my DIY approach and just go straight frozen again.

braaap · Mar 9, 2024

Stevorino said:
In the picture above, you can see the T fitting going into the top of the fridge... on the end of that T fitting is a quick connect fitting like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/John-Gu...nector-Fitting-10-Pack-PP011624W-US/320639305

The apex tubing goes right into it.

I've run some version of this for ~3 years now and never had a leak or a DOS pump go down.

The only 2 issues that I currently face are:

1) The food seems to get pretty 'chopped up' on the way from my basement (where the fridge is) to the display. I would like to try it right under the display, and actually have the room to do so, but I haven't tried it because....

2) While I like Reef Nutrition products a lot, it seems like when I really crank these things up my nutrients shoot through the roof. I have had a hard time dialing in an amount that both satisfies my fish, but doesn't blow up my nutrients. This not to say it cannot be done, but rather that I haven't figured out how to dial it in yet.

All that to say, I am really hoping hte aF4 from InD Aquatics that is slated to come out soon works as advertised. If so, I would likely shut down my DIY approach and just go straight frozen again.

That makes sense. Do you have 4 of those fittings going in or just 1?

Stevorino · Mar 9, 2024

braaap said:
That makes sense. Do you have 4 of those fittings going in or just 1?

Just one that goes into the PVC.

The 4 DOSs in the fridge all connect with various T Joints that all lead to that one output

Jiri Kocourek · Sunday at 2:49 AM

thecodingart said:
Alright, so I’ve moved on from this initial setup that has temporarily serve me well.

Meet the new setup.

This guy seems to keep much cooler than the other fridge and the handle holes were perfect for piping the tubing through (perfect fit).

I put a pot lid handle on the other side and still need to figure out how to get a perfect seal with the power cable for the Hanna mixer in there making sure the food is caught and evenly distributed by the tubing.

Northair 1.1 Cu ft Electric Party Cooler, Barrel

Northair party cooler with 32 quart/8 gallon capacity is compact enough for the modern homes, prefect for parties, BBQ and other events. Electric party cooler makes it possible to cool your drinks without any ice cube like conventional coolers. Easily change the temperature from 32℉-16℉ by...

northaircool.com

Hello, look perfect. How long does the feeding (mysis, artemia) last before it starts to degrade please? Thank you

Townes_Van_Camp · Sunday at 3:24 AM

littlefoxx said:
Hey all, got into a spat with my BF, he doesnt want to take 60 seconds to dump a cup of defrosted and ready to go frozen food from the fridge and poor it into the tank. Like okay whatever, so my question is are there any auto feeders out there that I could put a helping of frozen food into and have it release around their normal feeding time? (11-1230 usually). Got some tangs he doesnt even want to put nori on a clip for and have two triggers planned (male and female blue jaw) and want them to get their food they need. All I see are pellet auto feeders. I guess I can make this a snack if need be between their two meals of frozen food if I need to but worried about the triggers getting cranky because they are hungry

Feels like recently I saw a DIY unit. Koamer FI on a small fridge that couldn't fit a 6 pack. Fellow was dosing defrosted brine shrimp cupes out of a small reservoir with rodi water.

I don't know about the food safety side if this.

toi_ss · Sunday at 3:46 AM

check out dbr_reefs design for an automatic frozen feeder, not too expensive and relatively simple to set up. Saved me from having to manually feed a stethojulis wrasse 12x per day.