Feeding Stations

[Paul B]

All fish in the sea know how to find their food and in a tank it is even easier for them. The problem is that in the sea Mother Nature supplies food all day, every day. We as humans have other lives and usually don't want to feed our fish continousely. At least I don't. Also some fish are just designed to eat a tiny bit all day because that is just the way their digestive systems were designed. Fish like pipefish and seahorses don't even have a real stomach, just a short tube that acts like a stomach and intestine. These types of fish can not store food as other fish can. Other fish with similar digestive systems are mandarins and any other fish that normally lives on tiny food such as pods. These fish can not even eat a large meal if it were offered to them which is also the reason for their tiny mouths.
For this reason I am a big advocate of feeding stations.
My tank is old and loaded with pods so I really don't have to do this but sometimes a certain fish needs a little help even if the tank is full of pods.
I recently aquired a baby female mandarin that is very skinny. I am hoping she matures to mate with my large male.
I hatch and feed live baby brine shrimp to my tank every day and most of the fish eat them, even the larger gobies but this food disappears in a few minutes. Some of it gets skimmed off or caught in powerheads and the rest migrate to the surface because baby brine shrimp are attracted to light.
Most fish that would eat pods, live on the bottom so that food is lost to them.
This feeding station is designed for baby brine shrimp. It is just a plactic container with a mesh over it that barely passes baby brine.
It also has a tube running to the surface so I can fill it with shrimp.
I fill it in the morning and fish just hang around it all day sucking out shrimp.
Many shrimp also escape to be caught by the corals.
About 15 years ago I designed and patented this type of feeding station for adult brine shrimp.
http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/v4_i3_paul_b/paul_b.htm (I do not sell these)
I have also used a different type of feeding station to feed moorish Idols.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Feedingstation002.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1659.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1656.jpg

[tebstan]

That is very cool! Thanks for sharing.

[Paul B]

I love this stuff. I modified it a little by adding a better funnel on the top so I can just pour in the baby brine and I added a tiny hole at the bend at the bottom of the acrylic so the air comes out of the tube before it goes in the feeder container.
I also sealed a couple of lead weights in it just for the heck of it.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1663.jpg

[tebstan]

Try some magnets instead of weights so you can retrieve it without getting your hands wet. Assuming it's near the glass of course.

[parrotchute]

What size mesh? I'd love some more details so I can make one!

[Paul B]

Try some magnets instead of weights so you can retrieve it without getting your hands wet.

I don't get my hands wet, it is connected to a rigid acrylic tube so It comes right out.
I will try to get a picture of the mesh, but I just tried a few nets and found one where the shrimp can come out but not all at once, so the holes in the mesh are about the size of a baby brine shrimp.
I cut this from an old fish net.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Feedingstation003.jpg

[tebstan]

There are travel pill containers I could use to make the bottom. But what did you use for the nifty little funnel at the top?

[Paul B]

Actually I just changed that nifty funnel for a larger one. This was a plastic container that ink comes in to fill your printer cartridges. I cut off the bottom and drilled a hole in the cap then filled the space with glue gun glue. Now I can pour in the shrimp. It is a little bigger.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1683.jpg

[aleonn]

Very cool concept! By any chance do you have video? I'd love to see it in action.

[Paul B]

No, I don't have a video. If I figure out how to do that I will take one.

[Paul B]

I built the thing mainly for this young skinny female mandarin. Up unitl now she has been afraid to go on top of it and would just suck up the shrimp around the edges but now she hangs out on top of it and sucks out dozens of shrimp. I need her to grow a little so she can mate.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1697.jpg

[tebstan]

Awesome!

I've been too lazy to hatch brine shrimp since none of my fish need live food, but this piqued my interest. I know they love the treat, so I might try making one of these.

[VegasUSP]

Thats pretty neat, I always wanted a Mandarin but never got one due to feeding requirements.

[Paul B]

I took a short video of the thing working.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/th_MVI_1715.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/?action=view&current=MVI_1715.mp4)

[tebstan]

I made one! Just waiting for some shrimp to hatch to try it out.

What did you use for the dish?

[Paul B]

The "dish" is a plastic container that electrical tape comes in but anything will do.

[tebstan]

Dang, we just threw one of those out recently. I used a Dole fruit cup. It works ok, but I would have liked a lower profile. The lid didn't fit as snug as I would have liked, so that took some work to correct too.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/-A-U2a2X5hcc/TnVbTuRCT1I/AAAAAAAABP0/gOLjtMSG2gQ/GEDC2297%25255B4%25255D.jpg

Did you use a regular net? It looks like a brine shrimp net. I tried that... and I might as well have poured the shrimp in the tank. They went right through it. I'm trying pantyhose next, hopefully the shrimp will be ready before lights-out tonight.

[aleonn]

Awesome video, Paul B. Must be the mandarin's favorite hang-out spot now LOL.

[Paul B]

The mandarin hang out there all day and the bluestripe pipefish also check it out all day.
Iused an old fish net, you have to experiment to get a net where the shrimp can get through but not all at once. You want them restricted a little.

[tebstan]

On my first try I used a "brine shrimp" net. I might as well have just poured them in, they all swam right out with no restriction.

Next I tried pantyhose, but that was too fine a mesh so no shrimp escaped.

Third time's the charm, I still used the pantyhose but just stretched it out a bit.

I used a Dole fruit container, some pvc, and a funnel. I used shrink wrap to attach the funner, and a gromit to get the pvc to attach to the fruit cup.

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Miscellaneous/ShrimpFeederTop01-20-12.jpg

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Miscellaneous/ShrimpFeederBowl01-20-12.jpg

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Miscellaneous/ShrimpFeederwithScoot01-20-12.jpg

Thanks Paul B!

[Paul B]

Looks great. And I think your scooter bleeny is smiling

[Paul B]

It's been a little over a month since I installed this thing and I love it. My tank has 3 bluestrip pipefish, and two mandarins along with some small clown gobies and shrimp. They all hang around this thing for a few hours that it has shrimp in it. In this tank I really don't have to supliment their diet because there are plenty of pods but I like everything to spawn and the only way fish will spawn is by eating more food then they normally can and food with a high oil content such as new born brine shrimp are even better than pods.
Two of the pipefish are to young to spawn but I feel that in a couple of weeks they will be ready. Also my female mandarin is to young so this will fatten her up.
My copperband is a regular visitor here although he gets live worms every day.
It is just another thing for me to get facinated about.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1734.jpg

[aquaman05]

I'm going to give this a try ! Thanks for sharing.
I just need to find out how to Grow my own brine shrimp.

So this just stays in the tank all the time ?

[Paul B]

You don't have to grow, just hatch them

[aquaman05]

Lol, well that's what I meant.
I don't think my wife will like sitting on those eggs though..lmao

[tebstan]

It's easy to hatch them! Every LFS should carry one of these:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41E1Gb8HDUL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

There are lots of DIY baby brine shrimp hatchery ideas to try, if you're the DIY type. (I'm NOT, and they were still easy for me!)


I don't keep the shrimp hatchery going constantly, so I don't leave my feeder in the tank all the time. You could leave it in for quite a while, but I'd still take it out to clean it regularly.

[aquaman05]

Great info tebstan!!!

I'm going to check petco I guess today and try to get my eggs going.
Thanks

[philosophile]

This might be the best thing since pod condos.... Thanks for sharing!!

[Paul B]

I hatch them every day and seperate the shells in here
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Hatchery002.jpg

[fote03]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing!

[mwilliams62]

I hatch them every day and seperate the shells in here
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Hatchery002.jpg
Hi Paul B. How in the world does that thing work? To seperate the shells from the hatchlings?

[mwilliams62]

I don't get my hands wet, it is connected to a rigid acrylic tube so It comes right out.
I will try to get a picture of the mesh, but I just tried a few nets and found one where the shrimp can come out but not all at once, so the holes in the mesh are about the size of a baby brine shrimp.
I cut this from an old fish net.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Feedingstation003.jpg

Where did you find the rigid acrylic tube that is bent like that at? All I have seen they are straight.

[Paul B]

They hatch on the right side, then I put a black plastic over that side and slide open the door that opens a hole between the sides. The shrimp all swim through the hole to the light side. I close the door and open the valve, shrimp come out, shells stay on the dark side. I use it every day.

[mwilliams62]

You don't by chance have a step by step on how you assemble those boxes do you? That is so cool because I have a hard time trying to get them out of the coke bottle setup without getting the shells at the same time.

[xCry0x]

Very cool

[Paul B]

No step by step instructions. Just make, buy or get two containers. Make one black the other clear or white. Make a hole between the two that can be closed and opened somehow. Make a dark cover for the dark side, thats it.
Or get one rectangular container and put a barrier in the center. Paint the outside of one side black

[Paul B]

That skinny little female mandarin at the beginning of this thread is now all filled out and bordering on a little chubby. I am hopeful that soon she will grow enough to mate with the large male who so far ignores her. I don't know why, she is cute.

[Paul B]

I am happy to say that in the 5 or 6 weeks since I installed this baby brine shrimp feeding station my skinny little female mandarin fattened up nicely and is now bordering on plump.
The first picture is when I got her, you can see her sides pinched in, especially under her dorsal fin and she resembled Twiggy.
The second picture is today.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1697.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1805.jpg

[LISound]

very cool. can you feed all fish that way? or just mandarins?
what else do you feed the tank? I hate feeding the fish. I feel like so much waste is going in the water. I make my own food but still.
i did have a chromis i could hand feed pellets. that was easy.

[Paul B]

The mandarins, bluestripe pipefish, copperband, cardinals and a smaller gobi eat from that feeder. I feed the rest of the fish with a baster looking thing that I made. I feed them live worms, mysis and fresh clams every day. They also get in a feeder, fish oil soaked pellets.

[LISound]

What type of worms? How do u make your fish food?

[Paul B]

I use live California Black worms. I don't make fishfood, I open clams and hatch brine shrimp.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1578.jpg

Worms
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Wormkeeper008.jpg

New Born brine shrimp

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1577.jpg

[reefknight]

Well done, sir!

Can you give us a few more details about your hatching/ separating box, please? Maybe a few more photo's to show the interior as well? I would love to build one as I believe that would make hatching a lot simpler. Due to work, I'm busy constantly and anything that would make this easier is a blessing. I'm going to attempt this weekend to make a feeding station for my female Mandarin. She's not real skinny, but not plump either. I've attempted to blow Nutramar Ova from a pipette to her, but it scares her and my anthias and wrasse eat it all before she returns.

Thanks for the suggestions and inspiration!

[Paul B]

The hatchery is simple. I put eggs (and salt water) on the right, dark side. Ther is a sliding door that seperates both sides, it covers a 3/8" hole between the sides. I slide the door closed. There is just salt water on the left, clear side. After about 35 hours the eggs hatch. I put a light over the clear side and put a black cover on the dark side. In 15 minutes all the shrimp swim to the lighted side and the shells stay on the dark side. Close the door, open the valve and the shrimp flow out.
I start a new batch of eggs every day in a small seperate container and put them in the feeder after I hatch a batch. This way I get a hatching every day because they take about one and a half days to hatch. You can strain the water and re use it once or twice or use discarded water from your tank. I usually use new ASW on the shrimp side so when I put the shrimp in my tank, I am also adding new water.
In this picture you see a tube. I lower that tube to let the water and shrimp out. I have now replaced that with a valve.
I also airate the eggs before they hatch.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Hatchery002.jpg

[LISound]

how much water does the left side hold? how many do you hatch a day?
The reason i ask about volume, I don't understand how you get the new hatched shrimp out and into the feeder.
or you fill the left side up with new water every day? I really want to do this as i hate feeding frozen stuff. it always degrades my water quality since i only have about 25-30gallons total system.
thanks for taking the time to share.

[Paul B]

Both sides hold about a pint but it could be any size. Both sides are filled and the eggs are placed on the right side. After they hatch they swim to the lighted side on the left. That tube you see is connected to the bottom of the left side and when I lower it, the shrimp and water come out into a container that I dump in my tank. You have to slide the door closed between the sides when you remove the shrimp so the shells stay there. After a hatch, I dump the entire thing out and fill it with salt water for the next hatch.

I don't understand how you get the new hatched shrimp out and into the feeder
I let the tube empty in a container then I have a container full of shrimp and a pint of water. If I want to put them in my feeder I use a brine shrimp net that you buy and I strain out the shrimp. Then I put those shrimp in a little water and pour them into my feeder.
I don't know how to make it any clearer but let me know if I am confusing you someplace.
I don't want to dump a pint of water in my feeder because that volume of water will allow most of the shrimp to escape through the holes in the feeder. I only want to put the shrimp in there with a tablespoon of water.
I hatch about a quarter of a teaspoon of shrimp eggs a day, maybe a little more.

[LISound]

Great, those were the answers I was looking for. From the pic its hard to tell how big that container was

[Paul B]

I am very happy with the way this feeding device is working and I use it every day. Now about half of my fish feed from it although I don't need many of them to eat from it and I would like for them to get take out some place else. The thing is mainly designed to feed fish that will only eat pods or baby brine shrimp. Fish like mandarins and small pipefish like bluestripes. Now my copperband, gobies and some shrimp suck out a large portion of shrimp but luckily those other fish spend plenty of time there and all get some.
A few days ago I added a tiny red scooter bleeny but he has not figured it out yet.

[Paul B]

I am very happy with this new baby brine shrimp feeder. Her are two mandarins, a copperband, bluestriped pipefish and a gobi. The two cardinals, another gobi and red scooter bleeny could not fit in the picture, but they eat there also.
I really love the thing because the baby brine stay in the device and don't get lost.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_1971.jpg

[CORALFISHG]

What size rigid airline tubing do you use.. the only tubing i could find 1/8 and im thinking thats going to be to small.

[Paul B]

I used 3/8" outsise diameter, 1/8" may be a little small. It may be hard to get the shrimp down there. Aquarium stores usually sell rigid tubing or you could go to Home Depot and buy PVC tubing in 3' lengths that is used to hook up sinks.

[Moort82]

Hi Paul, just wanted to say my bluestripe pipes say thanks for the idea. They cottoned on to it straight away and happily spend the day hunting the feeder. The mandarin is a bit slow on the uptake so far but she is as fat as mud anyway and only has the pipes for competition.

[Paul B]

Your welcome

[navydave]

Very cool, thanks for sharing this.

[HumbleFish]

Paul, first off, great design! :D

I want to build one of these for my Mandarin pair. They are both eating nutramar ova very well, and I'd also like to train them to eat pellets. Any suggestions for modifying this feeding station for those purposes?

[Paul B]

No, the feeding station will only work with live food. For what you want to do I did build a feeding station for that also for my Moorish Idol that worked very well.
It was a dish that sat on the gravel with a tube going to the surface, so it was exactly what my mandarin station was without the mesh. Above the funnel on the tube I had an automatic feeder which deposited pellets into the funnel a few times a day. There was also a tiny pump that pumped water into the funnel so the food would go down to the dish.
The Moorish Idol would check out the feeder on every trip around the tank and would stare at the pellets falling down the tube. He lived five years which is almost a record for a Moorish Idol.

[HumbleFish]

Thanks for the added info! I'll build one soon!

[Spyderturbo007]

Hummm. I've been considering getting a Mandarin, but I'm pretty sure my tank size would preclude me from supplying enough pods on a daily basis due to its small size (55g). I'm wondering if something like this and regiment of hatching brine shrimp would fit the bill?

Awesome idea by the way!

[GROSSR]

Yes, I know it is over a year later.

I am intrigued by you wanting your mandarins to mate. Did the female get healthy? Did she mate with the male?

thanks

rich

[Paul B]

Yes, they mate all the time. They are mating here. I still use the feeding station every day

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_2312.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/IMG_2312.jpg.html)

[MondoBongo]

What size rigid airline tubing do you use.. the only tubing i could find 1/8 and im thinking thats going to be to small.

I used 3/8" for mine. I had to call a few LFS to find it, but you could always order it.

[Paul B]

1/8" is to small. Most LFSs stock plastic tubing. Home Depot sells rigid PVC tubing that is used to connect sinks to the water supply. It is very cheap, but not clear.

[rlpardue]

Going to build one of these today. Looks like a great idea. There are few things cooler than a mating pair of pipefish!

[BOSLawGuy]

If you put the bring shrimp in through the funnel, how do you get them to the bottom of the feeder? Do they just all go down?
Doesn't the water just overflow... This seems so simple, yet I am so confused.

Sorry, new to the hobby and trying to learn.

[MondoBongo]

Wash them down with a little water. As long as you displace the water in the tube with an equal or greater amount if water, the weight of the new water plus gravity will pull it down until it is equal to the tank water level.

[vitz]

excellent work sir! :)


fwiw-for anyone using the stand alone bs hatchery, or any clear container...

after hatching, the artemia cyst/egg shells float. you can simply shine a penlight flashlight from the bottom/side of the container pointing up-the nauplii will swim downwards towards the light point source, where you can then siphon them out w/ airline tubing, leaving the shells up top :)

[Russell F]

That is a very nice hatchery Paul. I may have to build myself

[Paul B]

Go for it

[PeteV_LV]

Nice set up - thanks for sharing.

[MondoBongo]

just wanted to share a picture of another satisfied customer. :)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-si71Y5zroiY/Um6-_oEKvyI/AAAAAAAAAUo/hILUamjA9ls/w465-h822-no/IMAG0179.jpg

[rlpardue]

Hi all,

I'm about to pick up a BBS hatchery based on Paul's design. A local acrylic builder was kind enough to put one together for me.

I'll add pics when I get it, but in the meantime I thought I'd add a pic of a copperband butterfly feeder I made out of some PVC fittings, zip ties and a Koralia magnet. I think the design was someone else's on here but don't remember the thread.

[mwilliams62]

Cool Lee.... Just can't wait to see the one you got built....

[Spyderturbo007]

I hatch them every day and seperate the shells in here
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Hatchery002.jpg

So you just use this to separate the BBS from the shells? I'm assuming you hatch them in one of the upsidedown 2L contraptions they sell in the store?

How far down is the hole that you allow the BBS to swim through after opening the gate or doesn't it really matter? It looks like it's about half way down?

[Neptune 555]

Great search feature on this website! I am reading today a year after the post... and am so happy with this information!! Step by step instruction on how to create a feeding station. I started this hobby 15 years ago to keep a mandarin fish that I saw at a public aquarium... and built my tank around them. However he would eat my pods quicker then they reproduced.. he did take frozen food however my larger fish would out compete him. After one died after only 1+ years.. I didn't replace him... b/c it was cruel. NOW as I am building a 75 gallon he is my centerpiece and I am researching to ensure his feeding habits can be met and I finally found my answer. I now am being greedy but want a male / female pair.

OK a few more questions...
* What is the best method to hatch brine shrimp? any advice / pictures?
* What is the best way to grow pods? My 50 gallon is 15 years old.. and is fallow for now ridding an ich outbreak. What can I do now to grow my pod family?
* I have a yellow goby 3 years old in QT now - I purchased after my failed attempts w/ the mandarin. Will they be able to cohabitate? I would never have purchased another bottom dweller to compete with my mandarin but with the feeding station will this work?

[Paul B]

* What is the best method to hatch brine shrimp? any advice / pictures?


In that thing I built 6" above this post. Any seawater, even old tank water.

I collect them but you need some pods from anywhere. You probably stil have some in there or you need to get some sand from some ones tank. Just throw some pellets in there every day , pods will grow as long as you don't keep the tank to sterile.

If it's a yellow clown gobi he won't eat from the feeder. I feed them live worms like I feed all my fish. They will thrive and even spawn on worms, mine spawn at least once a week. With most other foods, they will croak. They will also eat small pieces of clam and sometimes small mysis.

[mr9iron]

In that thing I built 6" above this post. Any seawater, even old tank water.

I collect them but you need some pods from anywhere. You probably stil have some in there or you need to get some sand from some ones tank. Just throw some pellets in there every day , pods will grow as long as you don't keep the tank to sterile.

If it's a yellow clown gobi he won't eat from the feeder. I feed them live worms like I feed all my fish. They will thrive and even spawn on worms, mine spawn at least once a week. With most other foods, they will croak. They will also eat small pieces of clam and sometimes small mysis.

Very cool idea paul. Thanks for sharing it. What kind of worms do you feed?

[Paul B]

I use live blackworms and whiteworms every day

[PaintGuru]

Can I ask a stupid question? How do you actually get the BBS down the tube into the feeder? I would think that when the feeder is at the bottom of the tank, the water pressure would push water up the tube to the height of the top of the tank. Do you just add the brine to that and let them swim down the tube into the feeder or is there some other way you're pushing them to their destination?

[madadi]

I wonder if this can work with decapsulated eggs. It would be so nice if they can hatch at 1.025sg and so convenient. just poor a ton in and wait.

[Paul B]

Can I ask a stupid question? How do you actually get the BBS down the tube into the feeder? I would think that when the feeder is at the bottom of the tank,
A lot of people ask me that question so I guess it is confusing. I drain the water and new born shrimp from the feeder into a baby brine shrimp sieve. Then I squirt a little water in it and quickly pour the shrimp into a small amount of water, about a tablespoon. I then use one of these (pictured) and squirt that small amount of water with the shrimp into the feeder tube immediately followed by another tablespoon of water that pushes all the shrimp down the tube into the feeder. You don't want to put to much water into the feeder or it would push all the shrimp through the mesh and out of the feeder at once.
trust me it works as I do it twice a day.
I hatch them in old tank water as they don't seem to care how they hatch and never asked to see the hydrometer.

[tallball158]

I wonder if this can work with decapsulated eggs. It would be so nice if they can hatch at 1.025sg and so convenient. just poor a ton in and wait.


Don't they still need to be tumbled, or is that only for the ones with shells. I am not sure you would get that kind of flow through the container to get them to tumble. If that works, that would awesome though!

[Paul B]

I don't know why you would want to tumble shrimp eggs unless you like to make them dizzy.

I forgot the picture of what I use to load the thing and do everything else on the tank.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/feeders001.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/feeders001.jpg.html)

[spamreefnew]

what a great idea! now if I only had a fish that needed to eat pods.(off to the LFS),,,o no honey,,that fish was always in there..

[swiftvision]

Do you ever have to take out the container? Thinking about burying it.

[Paul B]

I take out the feeder about every two weeks to clean because the screen gets covered in muck and the shrimp can't get out

[fearyaks]

Hey Paul B - Thank you for being a wonderful resource for both humor and marine life. I always enjoy reading your posts (no pressure) and I'll sometimes even learn a thing or two!

Anyway, I picked up a Psychedelic Mandarin Dragonet a few weeks ago that was eating prepared food. Unfortunately, I realized that after adding him to my main tank he was not able to out compete my other fish for the prepped food and was losing weight.

So, I went to the tool store and picked up some stuff to make a feeder.

I fill it with BBS every morning and about 5 minutes later he's there... with his 'hermie buddies' and the pom pom crab. They hang out there for most of the day and he 'seems' to be gaining weight.

http://i.imgur.com/YJjrvPP.jpg?1

Thanks again!

[Paul B]

Great, that's what he is supposed to do.

[csammis]

http://i.imgur.com/YJjrvPP.jpg?1


Hey fearyaks, I hope you don't mind if I ask some questions about your feeder...I've built one that looks a lot like PaulB's original in this thread but I suspect mine's not working to its full capacity.

What diameter tube is your downspout, 1/2" PVC? Do you just pour in the shrimp and let them sink down? I used 3/32" ID rigid acrylic tubing and I think it's just too small. The shrimp don't sink without additional water being syringed in and no matter how slow I go the shrimp still get blasted out.

What did you end up using for mesh? I've got a stretched nylon but at the rate the shrimp come out of the feeder I suspect the openings are too wide.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

[Paul B]

Don't stretch the nylon, put it on loose. After you put the shrimp in the tube put a little water in to get the shrimp down. 1/2" tubing is way to large because you need a lot of water in there to push the shrimp down and most of the shrimp will exit through the mesh as you are pouring water in. Use 3/8" tubing.

[fearyaks]

Hey fearyaks, I hope you don't mind if I ask some questions about your feeder...I've built one that looks a lot like PaulB's original in this thread but I suspect mine's not working to its full capacity.

What diameter tube is your downspout, 1/2" PVC? Do you just pour in the shrimp and let them sink down? I used 3/32" ID rigid acrylic tubing and I think it's just too small. The shrimp don't sink without additional water being syringed in and no matter how slow I go the shrimp still get blasted out.

What did you end up using for mesh? I've got a stretched nylon but at the rate the shrimp come out of the feeder I suspect the openings are too wide.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Hey, sooo sorry about not seeing this earlier. I was really busy with work and usually don't check these main forums.
So I ended up using 1/2 PVC as you mentioned. This has the benefit of being rigid, having a bit of weight and you can get fitted elbows easily. The disadvantage is that you end up needing a larger container. I found some small tupperware pieces - Like a square version of http://www.amazon.com/GladWare-Round-Food-Storage-Containers/dp/B000WGBMMM/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1450845629&sr=8-15&keywords=disposable+tupperware

I use an old pair of nylons from the wife and as Paul said, try not to stretch it too much. It's challenging for me to see how many shrimp are 'escaping' so I usually rely on my little Mandarin to let me know. If he (or she) are still there a few hours after feeding, I know things are good... otherwise, it's time to get a new stocking.

I tried a smaller tube and had a heck of a time getting the BBS into the container. So, this is my weirdo method.

1. Scoop a small amount of tank water into a bowl.. say ~ 3-4 oz
2. Filter out the BBS from their station and get them into said bowl.
3. Use a funnel (I use this one - http://www.amazon.com/Lumax-LX-1603-Plastic-Transmission-Funnel/dp/B00GD2HYQW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450845816&sr=8-1&keywords=transmission+funnel) as it fits into the 1/2 pipe and isn't too unwieldy. I then put the funnel (and tube) into the pipe. I pour the 3-4oz of BBS water into the funnel and gravity usually does the rest for me.

It's probably not the most efficient way to transfer them but I figure at worst, I have some BBS floating around the tank for my other fishies to munch on.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

[Zephrant]

An old thread, but since I just 3D printed a version of this, I wanted to leave a link to it.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25294088#post25294088

This model is magnetically attached, so the user can fill it, deploy it on the side of the aquarium, and retrieve it.

http://www.barraquatic.com/images/diy/BS_Feeder-1.jpg

http://www.barraquatic.com/images/diy/BS_Feeder-2.jpg

[mr9iron]

An old thread, but since I just 3D printed a version of this, I wanted to leave a link to it.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25294088#post25294088



This model is magnetically attached, so the user can fill it, deploy it on the side of the aquarium, and retrieve it.



http://www.barraquatic.com/images/diy/BS_Feeder-1.jpg



http://www.barraquatic.com/images/diy/BS_Feeder-2.jpg



That is a really cool idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Joe0813]

i need to make one of these

[Zephrant]

I've since tested it, and the "fine tulle" is not fine enough, the brine shrimp just swam right out. I ordered some micro mesh which came in yesterday, and I'll give that a try soon, then report back which size worked best.

Several people have said nylons works well too, but I wanted a more precise mesh than "stretch the nylon a bit".

[reef cuber]

Love this idea Zephrant... please let us know how the fine mesh works, and then how much you'll charge to make me one! ;)

[MondoBongo]

Several people have said nylons works well too, but I wanted a more precise mesh than "stretch the nylon a bit".

i would also be curious was size and type you end up with. "just stretch the nylon a bit" drives me nuts. it always seems that i'm either stretching it too much, or too little, and would just love a nice sturdy re-usable mesh i didn't have to guess with.

[Zephrant]

I bought about six different mesh sizes from eBay. Many of them were only a dollar or two. But I have not figured out the best size yet. My guess is 500u or larger. 250 is way too small.

[MondoBongo]

I bought about six different mesh sizes from eBay. Many of them were only a dollar or two. But I have not figured out the best size yet. My guess is 500u or larger. 250 is way too small.

:thumbsup:

thank you, i'm going to have to take a look around at what they have.

there was a company called, i think, Nintex that makes specific mesh for industrial filter applications i had looked at a while back, but all their stuff was fairly expensive, they were meant for much more industrial applications than a fish tank, but still a potential option.

[josepha]

So I love this thread and I am trying to figure out how to combine Paul-B’s 2 chamber hatchery with his feeder, into one contraption - way to perhaps get them to swim toward the light into a smaller that can be lightly “pumped” from the second hatchery chamber directly through the tube into the feeder. Just trying to simplify the steps/labor due to my laziness. Any thoughts Paul and all?