Neptune Aquatics

DIY Refrigerated Auto Feeder

Matt showed off one of these during his macna talk for feeding NPS tanks that need to be loaded with food. Always wondered why they put the doser in the fridge instead of drill holes for the tubing, would think any condensation would destroy the electronics

That said, mini-fridges use almost as much energy as a full size fridge.

I've also seen people use wine bottle chillers to hold food, although not sure how much power those use as they're not meant to be continuous.
 
I've never fed food like that. Is there benefit to having a tiny amount of food in the water column at all times? Seems like much of it would end up going uneaten.

Also he says in the comments that the fridge only gets down to 45-50 degrees which isn't that cold. I don't know what kind of humidity there is in there though. Sounds like he tries to keep it dry by adding silicone to each hole.
 
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There are some setups that benefit from having food in the water column almost consistently, the obvious example is a non-photosynthetic coral tank, as they are the cleaners. However there's nothing to say you have to dose food constantly, many fish are consistent grazers/hunters (lots of anthias fish come to mind) so throwing food in the tank 4+ times a day can be useful, not to mention corals do like food too, they don't just need light to live. But a draw back of something like this is you need to go a bit further to keep the water clean than the average reefer.
 
Wouldn't a really well stocked (somehow) refugium help in keeping food in the water? And wouldn't your skimmer take out a bunch of it too?

V
 
Vincerama2 said:
Wouldn't a really well stocked (somehow) refugium help in keeping food in the water? And wouldn't your skimmer take out a bunch of it too?

V
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Food yes, enough food? Probably not. Little critters in a fuge are usually clinging desperately to a ball of chaeto or what not, they're not going to be free swimming to get swept away by currents and through a pump.

And yeah skimmer could, which is why a skimmer attached to a similar timer to shut down is preferable.
 
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