Automatic Aquarium Feeder

Its An Automatic Fish Feeder / Powerhead or Airpump controller

Everyday I had to turn off my aquarium's powerhead/air pump and feed manually and turn on the air again after an hour. So I found very cheap alternative to make these process fully automatic.

Step 1 What You Need?

Alarm Clock
555 timer IC
620K Resister
10uF Capacitor
DC Motor
AC/DC 12v Adoptor
Receptacle for food
Relay Switch
Soldering Iron

Comments

[pitoyo]

how to determine the frequency of feeding? if within one day of feeding frequency was three times?

[TaNviR77]

Found the timer for my bomb... Time Bomb... ^_^

[frikkie]

Here a timer circuit you can also use.I also want to build an automatic feeder since Im not always with me fishes.

[antonoso]

 Hi could you upload to a website like flick.com or picassa.com to download or the link
Thanks

[-henry-]

What is the chip that you have in the schematic?
I want to build a fish feeder and this circuit sounds like it would work perfectly.

[frikkie]

In the circuit I put there?  Its  a Cmos Ic  4060 .  Theres quite a few ideas I want to use this circuit for.

[-henry-]

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed.

[magnum_357]

what is really the purpose of the relay switch????

[bwpatton1]

Hmmm.....I might have to do this, being that my $$14 walmart version crapped out on me.... :( so now I have to feed my fishies everyday

[dontwealllovebuda92]

very good instructable the diagram was very legible thumbs up!

[paulrobinson]

Thanks

[Kinnishian]

Wow, very cool. I especially like the expansion of turning off the pump. Our small tank however has little problem with the food.

[paulrobinson]

Thank You

[1up]

Video!!! (This is a great instructable, btw. Very innovative. :) )

[paulrobinson]

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHX5DoJFdr9
(Thank You)

[Gamernotnerd]

I dare you to bring this to and airport, especially if you strap it to your chest.

[paulrobinson]

lol, then that'd be so miserable..

[x_xPacox_x]

lol this reminding me of the breakfast machine lol 5/5

[paulrobinson]

LOL

[freaky123]

If we will use a stepper instead of alarm clock....sir, what kind of stepper are we going to buy??...pls anwer mu question pls...tnx

[paulrobinson]

have to do coding with any programmable IC

[SteveMcCraft]

Hi, that looks pretty interesting. But I am not sure, whether I understood the mechanical part correctly. Could you share a video with us, that shows how it works. How do you prevent that the whole feeding stuff does not stuck in the hole? Or that too much is coming out? thanks and greetings Steve

[paulrobinson]

watch VideoHere

[wiets99]

Good idea, but perhaps you are supposed to see another system that I think is better designed, either mechanics or electronics. Ask Mr. Google:
http://360.yahoo.com/lukmannet

[paulrobinson]

there is nothing in http://360.yahoo.com/lukmannet or wrong page location, please correct it.

[i make shooting things]

nice. Video???

[m_yazhini]

your idea is very nice and easy way of feeding food but i am having

[CoolKoon]

I've just realized that amateur timed bombs are probably made using the same principle (get the timing pulse from the alarm clock's beeper leads) LOL

[paulrobinson]

LOL

[stranoster]

Wow! This is a really good idea... But I just realised my fish survive on a plant now and I don't need to feed them... Oh well, other than that, this is a really well documented instructable and it makes good use of one of the many random clocks everyone seems to accumulate. Ooh another thing, the circuit diagrams aren't drawn illegibly on a piece of scrap paper, so all in all this rocks. A+

[Scucci]

Yes, please. No fish lives off of a plant in a closed system like that. Please, get some betta bites or some blood worms or something. I'm amazed those enclosed betta things lasted for so long... if that was a kitten in a box or a puppy in a jar Peta would be all over it... but since their self righteous f-tards, the really only care about if it it makes noise or has fur... ANYWHO, completely off topic. Please, keep feeding the fish.

[nuts4fiber]

No fish can survive on a plant! If you were sold one of those Betta (Siamese Fighting Fish) in one of those vases with a plant whose roots dip into the water, and they told you that it was a self-contained eco-system, they were wrong! I'm hoping you read this and run out to a pet store and get some Betta Balls right now! Follow the instructions on the label for the amount to feed your fish. You'll also need to buy some water conditioner made for fish. It will take the Chlorine and Chloramines out of the water that you should be replacing the old water in your bowl or vase with on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Google for information on how to care for Bettas. They are wonderful fish and very responsive to their owners if kept in good health.

[zale]

What kind of tank have you got that you need to turn off the air pump to feed the fish?

[Scucci]

For the powerheads to be an issue, there would have to be pretty powerfull... I'm better FW planted or SW tank, maybe reef. When I kept fish in with my corals, I had to turn the pumps off to feed the fish because of the food getting blown into rocks and getting sucked over the overflows.

[votecoffee]

the bubble filter systems in some tanks cause the food to sink instead of staying on top till the fish eat it. causes more waste food on bottom of tank. I've had that problem in the past so I'm guessing that's why he does it.

[xxzalexx]

I see... makes sense. I only have goldfish - I'm goldfish obsessed to be honest, I never really think of other kinds of fish. They're happy eating off the bottom (in fact some experts say it's better for them not to eat off the top of the water). thx

[votecoffee]

: ) Had goldfish. they're good for eating everything... including other smaller fish :P I still had swordtails after my goldfish got so fat he popped (long story, the swordtails rebelled mand he was very, very fat), and they tend to let food that sinks just stay on the bottom. They're not quite as gluttonous as the goldfish was, had their 5 second rule and all : )

[Mojo_JoJo]

I tried to make something similar but I used a different mechanism to rotate the container with the fish food. I used an old small clock that I had and removed it from the housing and removed the clock face and hands, then made a hole at the back of the container and attached it to the hour hand spindle of the clock. The problem with this was that the fish get fed every 12 hours, the other problem was that the fish food got soggy due to the moisture in the tank and clogged the openning of the container.

[musicalbee2003]

That looks rather Steam Punk!

[Wyle_E]

I don't see the reason for the diode in series with the motor. I'm used to seeing reverse-biased diodes across the terminals of motors and relay coils, to protect the rest of the circuit from spikes generated when the coil is de-energized.