Greg's 75g

[Rice Reef]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Disappointing update for me, but maybe it'll help someone else ...

The home-made food is going to have to stay in the freezer for now

FM

Greg, maybe your fish don't like your cooking?

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Rice Reef

Greg, maybe your fish don't like your cooking?

Ya, that's it

I've had the Flu since Sat, so I stayed home Mon thinking about the auto-feeder, and Tues afternoon I got lucky with a wandering RBTA. I poked it a bit and it floated, so off to J&L I went for a store credit

Tonight my brains were still scrambled from a left-over fever so, once again, no studying
Next week, I promise myself, I'll hit the books HARD

So, I got the auto-feeder mounted tonight
Thanks to my wife, Donna, for suggesting the final location

It's an Eheim, with the little fan. If you're familiar with it, you know it's best not mounted inside a canopy as it can, besides getting splashed etc, cause the food to clump as the fan will draw in moist air from the tank

Well, after weeks of thinking about it, this is what I came up with

A 3/4" Forstner bit for the hole and some bent acrylic for a mount




Some fibreglass bugscreen to keep the fan clean, and some foam to keep it airtight, so there's no tank air entering the container
In the first pic you can 'just' make out the red fan on the feeder
I used 2 layers of 3/16" foam, so there's lots of room for air to enter
The foam holds the mesh in place against the door




Another piece of acrylic covered in sunscreen to keep the feeder from getting too much Sun from the lights. Could cook the electronics, or cook the food ?




Mounted and ready to go (forgot to re-position the light-blocking foam around the hinges before this pic)
I used the factory screw to mount the feeder through the acrylic
You'll see I made the mount a bit sloped (food is heavy near the end of the container)
This is so the container doesn't run out of food when it's still partly full



Easy access for re-filling or re-programming



Many online have complained about this particular feeder being too touchy, and I agree
After some testing, I decided to tape the trap door in the position I like, and then I taped some paper over the end so I could get the 'perfect for me' amount of food
I was careful not to leave any tape exposed to food so there is no clumping



I will adjust the food as needed, but for now it seems to work great for our small fishies and Donna can now not worry about the poor guys going hungry @ lunch if she's tied up with work

[FishyFishy!]

Great work! Love how you can just open the door and re-program/re-fill.

[lastlight]

that's awesome.

[Delphinus]

I love the door idea!

[gregzz4]

Thanks guys
Sometimes I think I like playing around with hardware more than actually having the critters

[Coralgurl]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Thanks guys
Sometimes I think I like playing around with hardware more than actually having the critters

Soooo funny, I was kinda thinking the same thing I'm jealous of your talent, seriously very clever!!

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Thanks guys
Sometimes I think I like playing around with hardware more than actually having the critters

I already pointed that out few posts before

I haven't seen anyone putting so much effect on what's outside the tank itself