It is not really a DIY, but rather "today i figured out"
Turns out, one can use Eheim Auto Feeder https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Mate-F14-Aquarium-Feeder/dp/B000YK5W18
Each compartment can hold around 1/2 tsp of dry ferts.
Next time you go on vacation, no need to ask your neighbor or deal with fancy autodosing pumps.
I had wondered if something like that would work. I wasn't sure if there were auto feeders out there that would have compartments sealed enough to work with the fert powders.
the feeder i show has an inlet for airline tubing, to keep the food dry, and it works great. same will do with the ferts, i assume, if that's the concern. as far as dumping everything, then as, it does the job, as shown in the pictures.
In my case, I would not think it would work long term as my dry ferts tend to clump even when I don't tie up the bag to keep moisture off them. The airline is a major improvement over feeders I have tried but I will be interested in seeing how this works long term.
At this point, is it something you have left running for a week or longer?
I have been wondering about this and have a wonerful idea. I was thinking of using the liquid form though. Maybe somehow have the line with fertilizer(s) feed into the end of a co2 line with closing Valves. When the co2 kicks on, it will push the liquid into the tank. Just an idea though.
interesting idea. the only question is how to make it to drop only 5 ml of liquids? The co2 runs for hours. With liquids ferts it is easy to build an arduino based auto dosing based on peristaltic pumps. i did this, and it is doable. Medium level of complexity.
Here's a stupid question... If you're going to have a mechanism for adding a specific amount of liquid ferts to the bubble counter or co2 line, why not just have it dump in the tank instead?
Thanks for sharing about your innovative idea with using the auto feeder as a dry fertilizer doser. I wanted to follow up and see if it continued to work. I'd love to use it for iron and potassium. The reason being asked is because there are some reviews on amazon that food has a tendency to get soggy/moldy within the container of the auto feeder. Did this happen with the fertilizer?
I actually had this auto feeder, and tried to use it to dose ferts. I found over the course of two weeks the ferts tended to mix. The bottom of each of those containers is not fully sealed/flush so ferts leak out the bottom. You can even see that in the original photo. My ferts also did clump up and solidify due to the moisture, even with the airline. Didn't think this was a great solution. Would probably work for a week or so, but not long term.
Using a dedicated auto doser is much more effective.
again, that was meant to be a solution for 1-2 weeks when on vacation, and NOT a long term permanent solution.
the fact that some of the ferts are left behind or mixed - i really do not think that is an issue. the amounts are negligible.
Of course, having autodoser, or an arduino based complex solution such as iAqua, or reef-pi based on raspberry pi is way better and superior, but hey, that was not the point.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The Planted Tank Forum
3.5M posts
130.6K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Aquatic tank owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more!