Plastic tube feeder

[Paul B]

I don't know how most of you guys (and girls) feed your animals but for almost 40 years I have been using this. I have been speaking to a lot of people and it seems that people just dump food in their reefs. I think this would be a big mistake. I use this feeder which is a plastic bulb about 2 1/2 " in diameter. I made the bent tube that goes into it. I feed all of my animals and corals with it and blow detritus out of and from behind rocks. Of course a turkey baster works but in my opinion this is much better. I feed each fish individually. The moorish Idol gets sponge, the copperband butterfly gets black worms, the pipe fish get new born brine shrimp the bangai cardinal gets clams and fish and the corals get clams. (sounds confusing)
I could not have a reef tank going for 35 years without one of these things.
None of the food ever hits the bottom because I feed a little at a time.
I just assumed everyone had something similar.
The second picture is the moorish Idol attacking the thing for sponge and the last picture is black worms which I feed a few at a time since they only live about 10 seconds in saltwater.
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[Beckmola24]

Paul, I personally use a turkey baster to get mysis to my Mandarin and cyclopeeze to the inverts that need it. My clarkii swims up to the baster and starts gobbling down food. It also works well to keep my scarlet cleaner shrimp from freaking out and stealing everyone's food... I really like feeding this way because it allows me to target the food to my more timid fish and keeps food from littering my tank. I think it helps me to not overfeed.

Great post! I'd like to see what everyone else does. I never really thought about this topic I wonder if very many people feed this way.

 

[steve-s]

I use something similar. Med/lrg medicine pipettes work very well and are quite cheap. You can usually get them at a good pharmacy. I use them for a variety of chores as well as feedings.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Paul B]

Becky, I have always been interested different feeding methods. I even invented and patented a feeder for brine shrimp.
As I said I feed all my fish with this bulb thing but the second feeding for my moorish Idol is in a dish that has a tube leading down to it with a funnel on top above the water. The automatic feeder drops pellets into the funnel and there is a small water hose feeding the funnel that makes sure the food goes down to the dish. The Idol checks out the dish on every trip around the tank.
I think target feeding is one of the most important considerations in a mixed reef. After all, all the animals eat different foods.
here is the thing I invented, I sold over 6000 of them.
I mention them here because I stopped selling them so I am not trying to sell anything.

http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/v4_i3_paul_b/paul_b.htm

Have a great day.
Paul

 

[spongebob lover]

i use a turkey baster for the fishes and for my sun coral i'm using something called lunar lander which is like a half of a 2 gal bottle soda with a tube and you just push the food through the tube,it does wonders because i dont' get wet , after i'm done i just lift it and my cleaner shrimp eats the rest of the frozen cyclo peeze

 

[Krish]

Hey man...That's really cool Paul! My method sucks...I throw formula 1 flakes infront of my Tunzes and watch them case it! I guess when I get corals or fish that need special feeding care, I'll grow up and adopt one of your ideas

 

[Beckmola24]

Paul, did it take your Idol awhile to get used to the tube feeding or did he take to it right away? Have you found that is the best way to feed your Idolds??

 

[Paul B]

Becky, I found it is the best way to feed all animals. I would never put food in my tank unless I put it right in front of the animal I intend to feed. All of the food goes into the fish. If the fish misses the food I just suck it back up and try again. I also use it to squirt baby brine into the caves that the pipe fish hang out in. The moorish Idol gets sponge this way and he attacks the thing every time.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

I forgot to answer your question. The Idol took to the feeder instantly

 

[dpaynter]

How do you prevent some of the fish from hogging the food? I have tried target feeding but my biggest fish ( a red sea sailfin tang ) is always first in line.

 

[kcharm]

That feeding device is very cool. What screen material is made from? I would be concerned with seahorses hurting themselves when they do that snap thing they do to suck food in if the material were too stiff.

 

[Elmo18]

I just assumed everyone had something similar.

Hi Paul. I use something similar. I don't like the nozzle too small...though...so mine is slightly different than yours.

Feeding is something that 'reefers' can control among other things. Decreasing nonpollutants by not letting it go to waste is a good start

Best,
Ilham

 

[Wink]

I use a turkey baster to feed my suncoral and to target phyto to my colt coral but the mysis (for seahorses) is dumped into the water and they have a feeding frenzy - they are pretty diligent about tracking down almost every piece along with the pieces the suncoral misses. If there are any stray bits that the horses miss or can't get to the hermits and snails take care of them. After about 20 minutes I never see food left anywhere. Water quality is always excellent.

 

[Paul B]

Dpaynter, I feed some of the fish on one side and while they are busy looking for something I squirted behind something, I move quickly to feed another fish on the other side. It is still beter than dumping food in.
Kcharm, the screen is soft plactic. I gave them to many public aquariums to use in their displays with no problems. There is also a large wholesaler in New York that uses them on their tanks. Of the 6000 of them I sold I only had one complaint and that had something to do with cleaning.

Ilham, the hole in the end of the tube is 1/4", it is about twice as large as a turkey baster.

Vicky. with seahorses it does not matter how you feed them because they have no stomach and must eat a little at a time. I still use the plastic bulb for them and of course if I am feeding brine shrimp I use the feeder I invented.
Have a great day.
Paul