Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Starting to think about how I'm going to be able to feed my fish in my RAS system...particularly the fry, which should be fed 4-5 times per day. Looked at some DIY feeders, and they are possible, but not able to spend the time at the moment. The commercial feeders are in the 250-300.00 range, and since I would need a total of 20, that's not in the budget. I've seen some videos and info regarding making gelatin feed cubes. Would this be ab option for a while once I get going? Anyone used these? How long do they last? Are growth rates still good? Do they get sucked down the bottom drain in the tanks?

..
I would wonder/worrie... about what effect, continued use would do..
ie.. all that gelatin being deposited on media, possibly blocking pores and stifling bacteria..
again - just a fear..
..
.

20 tanks? Sounds like you need one of those robotic feeders that zips along the track - stopping at each tank and feeding. Have you looked at the vibratory feeders? Only $100 each... still kinda expensive for 20 tanks.

Or could you put tanks next to each other such that a belt feeder could cover two tanks? I.E. food on the left side of the belt falls into one tank, food on the other side into a different tank.

Will need something to keep them fat & happy.

how many of the tanks are specifically for fry?

Just 6 for fry, 6 for fingerling, and 4 grow out tanks. It will be a good while before I will be at capacity. Going to take it nice and easy. Big difference from 1 - 200 gallon FT with 40 fish to 16 tanks with almost 7000 gallons and hopefully about a ton of fish.

Hi Coachchris
I stumbled across some information about ‘gelatin’ whilst doing some other reading.
Most of it is sourced from animals. However for religious reasons some is now sourced from fish. The temperature it dissolves at can also be manipulated depending on usage. Eg body temperature for human consumption.
Check with the manufacturer for origin details.

Especially for the fry - stick to belt feeders. I think you'll regret not having the flexibility they provide. For the other tanks, vibratory feeders come in at the best price point. Just set them up with a cycling timer (i.e. 10 sec on, 4 hr off) and a 12v power supply. I'm looking at the http://pentairaes.com/pentair-aes-vibra ... d-9-h.html

Holds a half liter of feed. The have bigger ones - depends on how long you wanna leave the fishies without attention.

Thanks, I've seen those. Thinking about making an auger type. I have to leave them for at least 6-10 hours at a time...depending on my work day. I can check in AM and again in PM, but depending on work schedule I could be gone from 7 AM to 7 PM.