Fish Mate: Happiest Anthias on the Block

[Europhyllia]

I found this very cool stickied thread (link) (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1760416) on continuous feeding for NPS tanks and while I am still considering the little fridge idea the dry food version is so much cheaper and simpler it was tough not to try it.
( most important link here) (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17614824&postcount=152)

Which brings me to the Fish Mate autofeeder (http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/autofeeders/gr/aaprfishmatef14.htm).
I always thought it was just for people going on vacation but what a brilliant idea for people with corals of fish that require frequent access to food.

After I saw the post above I looked into different feeders and I think the FishMate is just perfect.

It's affordable (less than 30 bucks), and can be set to feed as often as 4 times a day. Best of all the Fish Mate slowly releases the food over a 2 hour period so really it's more like 8 hours of continuous feeding.

The different compartments are perfect for powdered and freeze dried food. Most autofeeders just dump a bunch of flakes.

I am implementing this for my gorgonians and filter feeders but my anthias are loving the continuous surprise of freeze dried cyclop-eeze.

The feeder ring is such a cheap way to make this happen without food instantly being pulled into the overflows.

[Kristy]

Hmmm.... :)

[tebstan]

Thanks for the wonderful idea! I've had mine set up for a little while now, and my fish and I love it. I'm using 8 different foods - in powder, pellet, and flake form. The fish get one feeding during the day while I'm at work, and the corals get fed throughout the night and day. I still mix in frozen and phyto each night.

It was really easy to set up, even with my canopy and egg crate top. I've got a piece of bent plexi held to the back of the tank with some double sided tape. A notch was cut out of the plexi and the eggcrate for food to fall through. The feeder's suction cups are just strong enough to stay in place on the plexi, but weak enough to remove it easily for re-loading.

The addition of a feeding ring was a must. I also had to hide a koralia behind some rocks, since the wave box alone wasn't enough to spread the food throughout the tank.


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Miscellaneous/AutomaticFeederFishMate12-26-10.jpg


My blenny is getting obese from staring up into the feeding ring, waiting for little morsels to hit the water. It's not even feeding time... I was just re-filling the feeder. The fish had to come check it out though, just in case. They don't wanna miss anything.

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Fish/StarryBlennyatfeedingring12-26-10.jpg

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Fish/BellusAngelatfeedingring12-26-10.jpg

[Europhyllia]

lol
That's cute.
I think that's the only drawback.
Before the feeder all fish occupied different areas throughout the day. Now all of them suddenly seem to be center top dwellers... :/

And yes without the feeding ring it would just go right down the overflow and be wasted.

[Europhyllia]

anybody read the new Coral Magazine article on shoaling fishes in the aquarium yet? Awesomeness!
I've noticed the same and wasn't sure what the cause was. Now I got a hunch.

[alton]

I got mine yesterday, but I did the skip through and look at pictures only thing. Probably start reading articles this weekend.

[txg8gxp]

I read this article, it was interesting. It's now making me think about adding a feeder to my tank. I think this would also help with my issue of losing chromis into the overflow box. I'm thinking with them well feed and reverting back to their shoaling behavior, it would help prevent strays from getting spoked by other fish and jumping into the overflow. This may be a good way for me to maintain a large group of chromis like I have always wanted.

[Europhyllia]

I was thinking of your chromis when I read that. It was very interesting :)

[txg8gxp]

What are your opinions of running the feeder over the return pump section of my sump? That way I could feed cyclop/etc without the fish getting used to eating out of a feeding ring and to keep the whole feeding setup out of sight.

[Europhyllia]

sounds like an interesting idea. YOu try it first. If it works I might do it too. lol

only problem would be if it doesn't all go into the return pump and creates a bit of a mess in an area where nobody comes to eat it.

[Kristy]

Intriguing idea Stephen! Please let us know if you try it.

[Kristy]

Well in my usual impulsive fashion, I've been deliberating over this since your Nov 8 post, talked to a few folks for input, and dove right in about three weeks ago. I am SO pleased with the results. It's great knowing that the fish get a couple of small feedings throughout the day and I can go a little easier on their evening feeding. I love my automatic feeder and so do all our fat and happy fish!

[Europhyllia]

lol. Your so funny!

I've been trying Stephen's approach and it seems to work reasonably well. No more glued-to-the-ring fish.
I think success may differ from sump to sump though. In mine the return pump compartment has the lowest water level so none of the food floats back into the fuge, etc. and the pump sucks it up and shoots it into the display.
If your water level was different you may experience some stuff going into places it shouldn't