Continuous feeding NPS filter feeders

[herring_fish]

Originally Posted by herring_fish

Has anyone actually run into this problem?

My intent is to simply have a bigger peristaltic pump for the water rinse than for the food. I don't know for sure that this will work. I have just assumed that it would. Please give me your thoughts on this. Perhaps I have over looked something.

We have been talking about back flow valves, venturi valves, hydrogen sulfide and refrigerators. Before we move on, I would like to know if anyone has actually had this back flow problem that is so bad that it breaks the tubing in the peristaltic pumps.

Again, I don’t know because I haven’t tested this plan but no one has answered back with experience on this that speaks to the contrary. Failing that, I would like to hear the logic that others may have surrounding this plan.



The water pump can be outside the fridge and the food pumps would be inside, very close to the food containers. Food would be flushed at lease every 3 ours.

I would think that if I pump competitively clean tank water into a bigger diameter tube …water will not run back up a smaller tubes that are full of thick phyto concentrate. I think that it will simply go in the path of least resistance.

Guys and Gals, do you see problems with this?

[herring_fish]

Last night, I was on another thread and saw this, re-posted from still another thread that I had seen before.This was on of my inspirations. I don't want the main collector/through, tube to be as big as in the picture because I am afraid that there won't be enough water motion to flush out the thick food but this is the idea. The system about has been working well for quite a while.

reefervet suggests that you use a venturi and he is one of the best NPS guys out there. I think that he has it on his return line so there should be more flow than what I want to do. I don't know what would happen in a lower flow injection. Also, if you use three or four foods, do you need three of four venturi.

This fridge is the Avanti SHP1701B 1.7 cubic foot refrigerator. The system has been proven to consistently hold temperature at 38 degrees with the refrigerator having the pass through pipe holes through it.

Different quote:

Also what it the temp reading inside the refrigerator? Might also recommend keeping a thermometer inside the unit as well, check it every so often daily, to see how stable the temperature stays in the main area the food is being dosed from. Main area should be around 38 degrees. Monitor the area where the peristaltic dosing pump is to make sure it doesnt freeze up.

I bought a Haier HBCN02EBB 1-4/5-Cubic-Foot 42-Can Flat-Black Glass Front Beverage Center and as I said, I plan to change the thermostat.

[aussiedan]

for the fridge plumbing, i can see all the connectors and john guest fittings but are you using actual john guest tubing or is it just the more rigid walled airline tubing?

I've got some JG elbows lying around and when I use the rigid airline tube it fits however if I use excessive force it will slowly slip out of the fitting where as with the JG tubing it is rock solid. I am hoping to use the airline as it is clear so I can see how the lines are doing.

[slapshot]

I use the tubing you can buy for R/O filters. It's a little thicker and more ridged then the 1/4 inch tubing we use for air lines.

[aussiedan]

I am after some advice about the Venturi system, I have hooked mine up (see photo) which is tee'd from the 3000lt/hr return pump however I can't seem to get any suction through it and rather is seems to slowly drip from the intake line I have tried to have a look at it and it seems to have a spring loaded seat or something in the actual venturi which may not be sealing correctly causing the leak??? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[slapshot]

Assuming you put it in the right diection, it needs more flow then.

[Wave Ace]

Originally Posted by aussiedan

I am after some advice about the Venturi system, I have hooked mine up (see photo) which is tee'd from the 3000lt/hr return pump however I can't seem to get any suction through it and rather is seems to slowly drip from the intake line I have tried to have a look at it and it seems to have a spring loaded seat or something in the actual venturi which may not be sealing correctly causing the leak??? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Its a non return valve in the intake it could be stuck just jive it a push if it moved in then its OK if that dont work you may need more flow

[aussiedan]

Thanks for the replies. The Non return valve does move and bounces back but a very slow amount of water still drips through it when it is in the closed position..

What sort of flow rates are required, had trouble finding this data? With the 3000lt pump and all its flow directed through the venturi it is just under 800gph which i thought would be enough

[Wave Ace]

what size venturi is it ?

what size pipe and length have you got to / from it

you can work out the flow rate you have by timing how quickly the outlet fills a 1litre jug

[aussiedan]

http://www.spaparts.com.au/products/...22-Barbed.html

this is the part I have, unfortunately I do have about 60 - 80cm of line each side of the venturi just due to the location of the fridge. I plumbed both lines into the return line for the tank so it isn't so easy to do the jug experiment but I think I might have to pull it all apart anyway by the looks of it The tubing is 19mm ribbed (smooth on inside walls).

[Wave Ace]

Originally Posted by aussiedan

I plumbed both lines into the return line for the tank

this may be where the problem is

[aussiedan]

ok so do you think there is to much pressure on the pipe trying to push the water back into the return line through a Tee? How would I then get the food into the tank without pushing the food through the return pump or taking a tube up and over the tanks bracing??

[slapshot]

It difficult, I don't know maybe impossible. Most I believe plum the output of the feeder line right to the tank. I mix mine because it's in the basement but I use a complicated combination of 1/4 inch back flow preventers. I run the risk of it blowing out and spraying water all over but my filter is in an unfinished section of the basement with a drain so no harm no foul. I would plumb it to the display if you don't have a long way to go. Another thing you could try is to insert the feeding line back into the main line with a Y connector not a T. That is what I did. I think the angled side has less back pressure.

[nicewicz]

I'm looking for a bit of advice for a compact automatic feeder for a small aquarium. I plan to house a dosing pump in a refrigerator, but don't have the room to plumb the return flow through the refrigerator. I realize that if I simply have a line going from the dosing pump to the aquarium, that food will remain in the line between the refrigerator and spoil.

Here's my proposal, it's a bit naive, but I'm looking for a simple solution. What if one of the lines on the dosing pump simply follows up dosing of food with dosing of RO/DI water; just enough to purge the line? Yes, you're adding some volume of freshwater to the system, but no more than an ATO system would. That way you'd just need a food line from the refrigerator directly to the tank. Of course you'd sacrifice one of the dosing pump lines, but that is a price I'm willing to pay for a streamlined system. Please let me know your thoughts on the feasibility of this proposed system.

[slapshot]

Originally Posted by nicewicz

I'm looking for a bit of advice for a compact automatic feeder for a small aquarium. I plan to house a dosing pump in a refrigerator, but don't have the room to plumb the return flow through the refrigerator. I realize that if I simply have a line going from the dosing pump to the aquarium, that food will remain in the line between the refrigerator and spoil.

Here's my proposal, it's a bit naive, but I'm looking for a simple solution. What if one of the lines on the dosing pump simply follows up dosing of food with dosing of RO/DI water; just enough to purge the line? Yes, you're adding some volume of freshwater to the system, but no more than an ATO system would. That way you'd just need a food line from the refrigerator directly to the tank. Of course you'd sacrifice one of the dosing pump lines, but that is a price I'm willing to pay for a streamlined system. Please let me know your thoughts on the feasibility of this proposed system.

My original system just fed it to the tank. I did two things to mimimized the spoilage. First, I kept the distance between the fridge and the tank small. Second I just fed less more often. I really never had an issue. Moving R/O water through the system will not solve the problem. Food bulids up on the wall of the tubing and in the pump. That will contaminate the water causing the same problem.

[nicewicz]

Originally Posted by slapshot

My original system just fed it to the tank. I did two things to mimimized the spoilage. First, I kept the distance between the fridge and the tank small. Second I just fed less more often. I really never had an issue. Moving R/O water through the system will not solve the problem. Food bulids up on the wall of the tubing and in the pump. That will contaminate the water causing the same problem.

OK, good to hear. Yes, I plan to have a very short line directly to the tank and just do multiple very small feedings. Thanks for the advice.

[nicewicz]

One more naive question: I assume that you have to drill holes in the refrigerator for the return line and the electrical cords?

[herring_fish]

I didn't think that a venturi would work for my set-up because peristaltic pump output is too low. I want the dosing pump for the main pump just as it is because I am metering out the amount of water that comes from the main tank and goes into multiple plankton cultures.

I talked to Bulk Reef Supply and they thought that my idea world work but they really had no idea for sure. I was going to go ahead as planned to test it but this wall clogging issue sounds like something that this design might fall victim to.

Then I thought about those drippers that are used for intravenous medication.



Perhaps I could build something that worked like that but just a little different size. Would this be a lot of trouble that would not get the results that I want either?

[Wave Ace]

Just drilled my fridge and went through the electric wires to the thermostat LOL
the route that it taken was not the way you would have done it

any way I have by passed the thermostat and will be controlling it with my aquatronica instead just got to extend the cable on the sensor for that now

[nicewicz]

Originally Posted by Wave Ace

Just drilled my fridge and went through the electric wires to the thermostat LOL
the route that it taken was not the way you would have done it

any way I have by passed the thermostat and will be controlling it with my aquatronica instead just got to extend the cable on the sensor for that now

So is it truly luck that you drill in the correct location, or is there a way to determine where to drill the fridge so that you don't destroy wires?

[Wave Ace]

Originally Posted by nicewicz

So is it truly luck that you drill in the correct location, or is there a way to determine where to drill the fridge so that you don't destroy wires?

the cable went into the fridge about 4" up and on the right (looking from the front) and the thermostat is near the top of the fridge again on the right

so one would think the cable would take the quickest route NOT as I drilled below by 1.5" (top of hole) and there was the cable

[Wave Ace]

A little vid of my fridge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyTKayhCoAE

[lil urchin]

Originally Posted by uhuru

Will do! I think figuring out the correct amount of food to dose with the kalk reactor is the key now. Here is a pic I just took of my dendro:

wow. i want one!
thanks for this posting. i was looking for automatic feeders for wet food like rotirich, and could only find ones for dry foods.
do you have sponges in your tank? i'm wondering how they'd enjoy the frequent feedings like your corals

[SantaMonica]

My newest version of a feeder is still to use a wine cooler on top of the tank with a dosing pump next to it, but now I'm mixing up powdered foods with water:

20 ml dry copepods
10 ml dry rotifers
10 ml dry phyto (spirulina)
10 ml dry arcti pods
1/2 teaspoon sodium alginate
16 oz water

I blend it up and put it in a fridge overnight, and the next day it is thick and I blend it again. Then I put it in the wine cooler where it sits with an open top for about a month until it runs out. I'm currently feeding 36 ml a day, down from 72 ml a day.

[Lavoisier]

Any pictures? Sounds like an interesting idea.