A Fruitfly Breeder/feeder

[Cooper2085]

Thanks for taking an interest in my quest

No problem, i love things like this! Will be great if it works as intended ^^

 

[BigC]

If you build it....they will come!

I wasn't really going to publish this video clip, but seeing as this is a on going concept I might as well share.
This clip was taken right back at the beginning of this quest when I made the first glass version. Wondering was it a viable proposition and wither or not to carry on. This little clip convinced me that it was going to be worthwhile.

I set the media up in the drawer and let a batch of fly evolve through their lifecycle, I then removed the internal glass shutter and set the video camera up in front of a small tank containing a spawning group of Aphanius mento Zengren (Turkey) This is what transpired immediately after flies were released, no waiting about, the fish were literally feeding on the flies within 10 seconds of release.

I hope this goes some way to proving that this works, it's not yet finished by a long way and I will update as I have been doing. I just wanted to show that I would not have continued with this venture if initial trials had failed.
I am still experimenting with different breeding/feeding media, ever looking for a longer lasting soup to enable a few generations of fly to emerge and be fed to the fish before renewal. By doing so this little feeder could well manage our fishes dietary needs whilst we are away on holiday.

It will be interesting to see how Version 2 performs in operation, I'm currently waiting for new supplies of Acrylic to be delivered to enable me to proceed with all the modifications I have envisaged to make this a better unit than it's predecessors.
Thanks for taking an interest in this ongoing quest.
Regards
Colin

 

[BigC]

OK
Firstly I would like to thank folks for all their responses to this venture, thus far. This part will commence the beginning of the end of this thread (as I'm sure your all fed up with this by now ) It sure has come a long way since the start and the amount of hits it has generated for the forum must show that there is an interest somewhere even if it's only for curiosity.

I now have version 2 in my possession and whilst it may still need a few tweaks here and there, its pretty close to what I initially set out to achieve.

Version 2 of the Fruitfly Breed & Feed project

A few subtle changes have already been made since v1. notably the aperture is now slotted (4mm gaps) and the sliding door is controlled by a series of very small magnets which give me the option of opening this shutter in 5mm increments. These were inlaid into the body of the unit with a single entity inserted into the shutter door itself.

Playing around with magnets

Admittedly the glueing was a little messy as these magnets are very, very small but are more than capable of supporting the door mechanism.
The lid and the drawer are now machined and recessed, they are very tight fitting so no room for escapees.
The sliding drawer has now been given a little knob/handle by which to open and close this feature. In the lid and side walls I commissioned to have a little more ventilation, This was achieved by recessing some very fine 25mm stainless steel mesh strainers.

I now am about to fully test this model, start to finish. I envisage utilising a new all in one type of media which is claimed to include all the nutrients a Drosophila culture could ever need. The manufacturers also claim that it lasts longer and it is virtually odour free. The media in question is Namiba Terra CanivoRep Drosophila

I hope to conduct a full in-depth trial of this unit over the coming weeks, allowing a batch of fly to breed and pupate within the confines of the unit and subsequently to release them to the awaiting fish. After which I will bow out with a short paragraph on the cleaning and re-priming of this updated model.
I hope you will keep following my efforts for just a little while longer to bring this topic to its conclusion.
Regards
C

 

[BigTom]

Still love this. I'm considering making a simplified version, which is basically just a box with a lid/flap/draw that can sit behind the tank, with a short walkway tunnel extending out over and down to the water surface (tank is only 12" high and open topped so wouldn't have to be very long).