I am looking for a means of feeding my fish frozen food where that cube is slow released over time, such as over a time period of a couple of hours.
My thought is that if the food is disbursed over a longer period of time, as opposed to simply dumping it in, more of it will be eaten by the fish. Second, this could be a means of feeding the fish 2 or more times a day, but in an automated fashion. Third, this must be relatively inexpensive and not look unsightly.
My Idea -
Put a small tuperware container floating in the tank. In it, put a frozen cube each morning. The container has 2 holes. The first hole would attach to a tube, connected to a doser, connected to a reservoir of water. The second hole will exit the container and into the tank. Then, several times a day I would use a doser to inject water into the container at controllable times and amounts. Ultimately, the cube would melt, water would mix with it, and some of the food would escape out of the container. Food may also simply escape the container with time too, once it defrosts and mixes with the water.
Maybe the food will mix on its own and the dosing pump will merely rinse the container each day. This will NOT be the ATO, but may pull water from the ATO reservoir.
Current Art -
A google search revealed numerous feeders that incorporate a freezer. These systems seem to feed 1 cube a day, but do not slow release a single cube over the course of time. Also they seem to be too complex and expensive. I didn't see anything that allowed a 1 time addition to be spread out over the course of the day. Essentially, I am looking for an automatic feeder that uses pellet food, but for frozen food.
This won't be live food either, so I cannot rely on it simply crawling over some edge or going towards a light.
Ideas oh great creative minds of the aquarium world, what say ye?
My thought is that if the food is disbursed over a longer period of time, as opposed to simply dumping it in, more of it will be eaten by the fish. Second, this could be a means of feeding the fish 2 or more times a day, but in an automated fashion. Third, this must be relatively inexpensive and not look unsightly.
My Idea -
Put a small tuperware container floating in the tank. In it, put a frozen cube each morning. The container has 2 holes. The first hole would attach to a tube, connected to a doser, connected to a reservoir of water. The second hole will exit the container and into the tank. Then, several times a day I would use a doser to inject water into the container at controllable times and amounts. Ultimately, the cube would melt, water would mix with it, and some of the food would escape out of the container. Food may also simply escape the container with time too, once it defrosts and mixes with the water.
Maybe the food will mix on its own and the dosing pump will merely rinse the container each day. This will NOT be the ATO, but may pull water from the ATO reservoir.
Current Art -
A google search revealed numerous feeders that incorporate a freezer. These systems seem to feed 1 cube a day, but do not slow release a single cube over the course of time. Also they seem to be too complex and expensive. I didn't see anything that allowed a 1 time addition to be spread out over the course of the day. Essentially, I am looking for an automatic feeder that uses pellet food, but for frozen food.
This won't be live food either, so I cannot rely on it simply crawling over some edge or going towards a light.
Ideas oh great creative minds of the aquarium world, what say ye?