Uses for automatic frozen fish feeder?

[ecofreak009]

Would you use an automatic frozen fish feeder if one were out there?

Would you use it daily to just make your life easier and feed fish without having to think about it, or would you only use it while on vacation?

[htinev]

Yes!
and Yes!

[whiteshark]

Is there a reason to feed frozen fish? I don't think they're capable of eating at that point.

I'm sorry, that had to be done.

I don't trust automatic feeders. I'm too worried about them dumping tons of food at once. So no, I wouldn't use one.

[ecofreak009]

Originally Posted by whiteshark

Is there a reason to feed frozen fish? I don't think they're capable of eating at that point.

I'm sorry, that had to be done.

I don't trust automatic feeders. I'm too worried about them dumping tons of food at once. So no, I wouldn't use one.

Haha if the feeder defrosted the food first.

What else would keep you (or ANYONE) from using an automatic feeder?

[htinev]

If it's too hard or time consuming to clean, load or program it.

[bnumair]

I am very surprised that this hobby and its scientific equipment have reached the moon but a very basic need to have a frozen cube dispenser is not on any companies agenda.
I have a DIY refrigerator with doser to dispense trigger or arctipods. But I only use it when I go on vacation or test run once a month.

[NyteGTI]

I'd only use it for vacation honestly. feeding my fish is one of the best parts.

[htinev]

Originally Posted by NyteGTI

I'd only use it for vacation honestly. feeding my fish is one of the best parts.

Good point

[Allmost]

needs ability to rinse food, before feeding it to tank. have that covered and I would iuse it on all my tanks.

[jacob.morgan78]

yes, yes

[Augster]

Originally Posted by bnumair

I am very surprised that this hobby and its scientific equipment have reached the moon but a very basic need to have a frozen cube dispenser is not on any companies agenda.
I have a DIY refrigerator with doser to dispense trigger or arctipods. But I only use it when I go on vacation or test run once a month.

It's not that it can't be done, but how much would it cost to produce and would there be enough of a demand and a reasonable profit margin to ensure viability of the product? The aquarium market is much smaller than other pet markets, such as cats and dogs.

Remember also this product would need a built in warming compartment/hopper separate from the frozen food storage compartment (don't want to thaw out all the frozen food at once). A heater with enough wattage to thaw a measured proportion quickly enough would probably dictate a wired power source as batteries would probably drain too quickly requiring frequent changes. While you're at the design stage, what about adding a cooling element to keep the frozen food storage as cold as possible to prolong the length it could be stored in the feeder. Whoops, even more power consumption, increased size, more expensive.

The frozen food itself would probably be cubed, so you would need develop an accurate dispensing mechanism that would only allow one (or perhaps a programmable number of cubes) to be transferred from the storage bin to the hopper/feeding bin to be thawed thoroughly before feeding. But is there a "standard" cube size used across the industry? What about irregular shaped frozen foods?

Instead of a heating element, perhaps a method to siphon tank water into the feeding bin could be used to thaw out the portion prior to feeding. But this would require a pump, tubes, meaning more complexity, bulkiness, and higher price.

[rrasco]

I want one. I don't mind taking the time to feed daily, but sometimes I don't get home until pretty late and I'd prefer to be able to feed the tank earlier in the day. Maybe have it feed once in the morning and I can manually feed at night.

[danil]

I've seen few 'constructs' to feed from the fridge liquid food (oyster feast etc). You can do the same with frozen just need to 'premix' them with water. They should be fine in a fridge for few days. It's not 100% automation but definitely reduction of labor

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by danil

I've seen few 'constructs' to feed from the fridge liquid food (oyster feast etc). You can do the same with frozen just need to 'premix' them with water. They should be fine in a fridge for few days. It's not 100% automation but definitely reduction of labor

I have a set up like that,

but for larger foods, like mysis, you cant use dosing pumps anymore, needs to be gravity fed, think surge tank in a fridge

[bnumair]

mine is setup with a dosing pump but for smaller food. arctipods are more likely the best for what i have and run through with no issues. atleast something for fish to eat while i am gone and can fine a fish sitter.
this is what it looked like when i set it up initially.