A Fruitfly Breeder/feeder

BigC

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The Prospect of Constructing a Fruitfly Breeder/Feeder
by
BigC

Has he finally flipped his lid!!!
I have been culturing wingless Drosphilia melanogaster now for quite while now. Whilst I have gazillions of flies I only really feed them when they die. Why you ask!...Simply because of that age old problem of escaping insects. This, believe me is an absolute bane and one which can give rise to heated discussions between me and my wife. :laugh:

So with thinking cap in hand I started to plan for a method which would allow me to utilise my fly stocks to a better advantage.
I needed to fashion something that would allow me to feed Fruitfly the way they were intended to be fed..."LIVE"
The project would have to meet the following certain criteria.

  • The item (in whatever form) would have fit externally to an aquarium / vivarium.
  • It would, perhaps possess double interconnected chambers, with sliding door.
  • It needed to be ventilated
  • It had to have some means of getting food/egg laying media in and out.
  • The second feeding chamber would be semi submerged to prevent escapees.



This is what I have come up with thus far....
SDC13294.jpg
BigC's Fruitfly Feeding Station :whistle:

As you can see from the above image it is an external unit, a prototype, made from odds and ends that I'm privy too. A work in progress if you like.

SDC13293.jpg

The first chamber (the breeding end) has a sliding drawer in which the food and egg laying media will be administered. The top of this section is open but covered by a scrap of muslin or cotton handkerchief held in place by an elastic band. There is a sliding door plate which links to the second chamber. (the feeding end) This can be removed once the flies reach saturation point within there initial home. The usual items such as breeding media and raffia can all be inserted into the first chamber via the top opening.
The second chamber is sealed, and it's base is submerged beneath the waterline. The fish will feed from this point. This is still untried, and as I say a work in progress but I hope there will be enough condensation within chamber two to allow the flies to slip down into the water without having to resort to drilling the top and inserting an air-valve to blow the insects down to their impending doom.

Here follows some more images of the unit in it's current state.

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SDC13285.jpg


SDC13295.jpg

The only other unit I have seen to date involves the use of a lunchbox with a hole burnt into the centre of its base, media is placed into the box and this is floated in the aquarium. This takes up valuable surface area and the fish can jump into the box. So it too has its design faults.

First up I would like you all to tell me if this assignment contains viable potential.
I would now like to invite the good members of this forum to submit constructive comments and criticisms about this project, what you would change, modify or discard in a hope that I can fully develop this further. There are faults, some I'm aware of and some that may not be so obvious to me, perhaps the whole thing is a non-starter, this is where I need your help.

In it's current form, it is quite heavy (made from 4mm float glass). If the concept comes to some kind of fruition then it is hoped to have it made from plastic or perspex. I may even offer it to a shool for some lad to use as a project for an exam....who knows.

Has he flipped.....possibly Yes!

Thanks in advance
Regards
C
 
Do wingless fruitflies move that fast? How did you feed them to the fish before you made this contraption, which, by the way, is very cool.

Liz
 
Do wingless fruitflies move that fast? How did you feed them to the fish before you made this contraption, which, by the way, is very cool.

They are wingless so I suppose the name "fly" may or may not be applicable :lol:
They tend to jump around the place.
When you feed them on the water surface they tend to float and stay as with most things that are lighter than water, on the meniscus supported by the surface tension. Its no good even trying to drown these they are nearly indestructible (bar exposing them to cold) They will then crawl up the sides of the aquaria and seek out food or a place to lay their eggs. (a female can store sperm and lay viable eggs for a lengthy time after insemination much like live-bearers) As you know I utilise floating plants which makes it all the more easy for escapees to head for the hills. So this is why I have been trying for quite some time to come up with something, a better way, that will allow me to feed the flies to the fish
Regards
C
 
Now, I understand. Yes, the contraption will help things certainly.
 
UPDATE:

OK, Taking on-board various aspects of what has been said around the globe on this topic. I have proceeded to develop this concept a little further.
I have enlisted a friend from Bombardier Aerospace (plastics) to help me in my quest. Together we have come up with the following rough mock up.

Fruitfly-Feeder-Discription.jpg


There are a few design differences from the original model.
Most noticeably is that the main unit is now of one section and is totally made from plastic materials.

*The Media Drawer is now on the side rather than the front, this enables me to mount the unit to the left or to the right of an aquarium. (still need to fashion some kind of small thumb handle).

*The Sliding Door Mechanism is now positioned outside the unit and is tight fitting so as not to allow any escapees. (However a small plastic thumbscrew needs to be added to raise and lower this and keep it in position).
I can now open the aperture externally.

*The Opening Lid to "chamber one", is flanged and tight fitting. (still needs to be drilled for ventilation)

So not wishing to let this slide, I am constantly working to make this a better concept than it already is. The glass prototype worked well (pics will follow later) but the plastic model is much lighter and has a better feel to it. Admittedly it is not that aesthetically pleasing on the eye at the moment but that will come as further refinements are made.

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More images of my burning obsession...


Maybe I'm just plain bonkers in pursuing something like this, I'll let you all decide that aspect :lol:
"Bloody Fruitflies...who'd ave em"!
Regards
C
 
Put me down for one of these if they ever go into production :lol:
 
id try some issues i see is if it gets nocked the lid could go :good:
 
Good call Eleanor, may be worth considering but it hasn't seemed to affect the fish from feeding. Obviously they will make the mistake but once learnt they will soon get their angles right LOL... Fish aren't stupid you know, especially when there is food about.

BigTom You never know.....

Bae...The lid snaps into position

ATB
C
 
I am in the process of moving to Canada, will probably be set for residence by the end of the year if all goes well (you know how difficult bureaucracy is...) and then I can take off with culturing live food, so it will be very interesting to see how the final product will be. Fruitflies are easy and quick to reproduce and I have already seen that it is too expensive over there to buy it on a weekly basis....
 
Some pre-trial images of the Fruitfly Feeder v1

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(1) Front view, seated on pre-cut glass cover.
(2) Below the waterline view of the feeding tube.

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(3) Side on view.
(4) Above view, showing drilled ventilation holes in lid which will soon be amended.

I will surely publish working images shortly, I want to get the new version made first....
Modifications that need attention are, the ventilation and the mechanism to open the trap door
You'll probably be amazed at what I've come up with :wink:
Coupled with a few more little tweaks here and there to polish this off.
Once I get my teeth into something I seem to always go to the extreme or so my wife keeps telling me.
She also keeps telling me I'm MAD, sometimes I look at things and admit she's not far wrong :lol:
Thanks for taking an interest in my quest
Regards
C
 
:oh:EUREKA!!!!!

I performed a little dry run tonight by utilising the v1 feeder with a quantity of Drosphilia. I did not include any food or medium in the drawer, nor did I include any fish in the small tank. I set this experiment up purely and simply for the purpose to see if the flies would venture into the second chamber once the aperture was opened. Please excuse the crappy out of focus video. My son's camera needed charging (bad timing) so I had to use my little tourist brick. :lol:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wQ1ChW4EMg[/youtube]
Shows front view, the hatch has already been opened

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ogg8jNSHQw[/youtube]
Shows Rear View, feeding tube, fruitfly are already on the meniscus, they cannot escape....prime pickings.

I think the images speak for themselves, in that it does work, and it's a creditable venture. The flies perform as expected and they do tend to take that all important "leap of fate". This for me at-least, was an excellent result knowing that this unit WORKS! as intended.

Disclaimer: No flies were hurt in the making of the above videos.... Off-camera was a different matter though :rip:

My daughter was watching me perform the test and in walked her boyfriend....They both grasped the concept but equally both came to the conclusion that I was stark raving bonkers.....Whilst I was having my eureka moment they were busily communicating via Chinese Whispers :lol:
What makes a aquarist pursue such goals......sigh!
Onward!... more testing to be done

UPDATE
Version 2 to be unveiled shortly...... :good:
Regards
C
 
Hi Coop,
Version two is in production as we speak, a refined model with most if not all the niggles of v1 ironed out.
Once I get this back form being manufactured then you will see a much better unit and the trialing can begin. The fish feeding video...will, I expect be the conclusion to this thread and although it is some way off yet, it will come in the not too distant future.
Thanks for taking an interest in my quest
Regards
C
 

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