DIY Feeding Bell For Angler Fish

 DIY Feeding Bell For Angler Fish

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Problem:
I have been having a problem getting food to "Blue Eyes" (Hispid Angler Fish)
(Click this link for full information on our 47 Gallon XT SW FOWLR Predator Tank )

Special considerations:
The tank is a "Column" tank which means it is very deep. Most pre made tongs and similar target feeding devices don't come long enough to do the job properly.

Possible solutions:
I thought about:
- A tank divider
- Feeding Stick
- Aquarium Tongs

Just to name a few

Solution:
While cruising the forums I noticed in one of my favorite forums " www.AquaticCommunity.com" That a lot of the reef tank hobbyists use feeding bells to feed their corals. I went to youtube and noticed some very interesting DIY feeding bells made from soda bottles. Finally I decided to try something of my own and here is what I came up with.

“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.” -  Nikola Tesla  - Hmm well Nik I agree with ya except the Friends and Love part...lol

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DIY Angler Fish Feeding Bell


Close Up of the "business end"

Here is how it works.

In Action!!

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Blue Eyes didn't like it a whole lot at first (Actually there was a lot of testing before final design- However No Angler Fish were harmed in the making of this photo session...lol)


Ummm I can't say the same for the feeder fish though...
Ok so anyway they go into the cup.


Add some tank water.

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Pour contents of cup into tube


Raise tube above assembly and let water gravity take over


Cover end of tube with mouth and blow - DING>>DING>>DING Dinner is served...lol

Once he realized during testing (not pictured in this set of pics) He really didn't mind much being in the bell as he now knows it is his personal dinning room...lol

Here is how it was made.

You may notice there is no glue involved in the assembly of this project.  All fittings are pressure fit.  The purpose of this is two fold:
1) No worry of toxins to contaminate water
2) easy assembly and disassemble allows easy cleaning and replacement of warn parts or future upgrades to design.

Here are the tools I used.  You may use other tools that serve the same purpose depending on what you have available.

Starting from left to right:
Scissors
Serrated Knife
Cordless Drill & Drill Bit that is smaller than the smallest animal you will be feeding to your fish.
Circular Saw

Materials:

Starting from left to right::
1" PVC Pipe

Quality Clear PVC Tubing
Vinyl Tubing (The soft pliable kind (Those are the little pieces in the bottom middle)
A Hawaiian Punch container (1 Gallon Size)

Drilling and Cutting::

 Drill holes in top region of Hawaiian punch bottle make sure to stay clear of the area you intend to cut the bottle.  I found its easier to drill the wholes while the bottle is in one piece.

Identify the area you want to cut to achieve the height of bell that you desire (Make sure you leave your fish enough head room but not too much or when you put feeders into the bell they will hide at the top.)  Use serrated knife to separate bottle at the area you decided upon.

Finish cutting with scissors and trim as necessary to insure bell sits level on the ground.

Cut PVC pipe to desired length - Make sure it is at least 6" taller than the height of your tank

Measure and cut Quality PVC tubing - Make sure it is 2-3' longer than the PVC pipe.

Cut a 4" length and a 2" length of the soft vinyll tubing.  Then split them both length wise.

Assembly:

Thread PVC Tubing Through PVC Pipe until it is about 2-3 inches longer than the portion you want to have hanging down in the finished Bell.

Wrap Vinyl Tubing around PVC Tubing (Wrap as tightly as possible)

Keep wrapping till assembly fits snug into PVC Pipe.

Stuff Assembly into Pipe.

The goal is to have Vinyl Flush with edge of PVC Pipe Yet Have 1-3 Inch over hang of PVC tubing.

Place remaining piece of Vinyl over PVC Pipe As shown above.

Hold Vinyl in place while forcing the whole assembly into mouth of Bell assembly.

Once properly inserted it will look as above.

Adjust as needed so that it is balanced and can stand on its own and Bingo you have Done it!!

Remember all fittings are secured with pressure only for a reason.  This way should your fish grow or you destroy the bell you can easily replace it.  It also makes cleaning simple.

Enjoy your new toy!!!  Don't forget to comment if you like this.

Awesome article on replacing the center Brace on a 55 Gallon tank. By user name: cm11599ps - http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/members/cm11599ps.html

The full article in its original location can be found here:
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/freshwater-tank-equipment/66920-how-replace-top-frame-aquarium.html

Posted on March 18th, 2010 in www.fishlore.com/fishforum by a user of that forum named:cm11599ps.

How To Replace The Top Frame Of An Aquarium

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As some of you may know, the top center brace of my 12 year old 55 gallon aquarium snapped about 2 weeks ago when I was trying to adjust my automatic feeder. My frame finally came in today and I just sat down after finishing the job. Here are some pics for your enjoyment.....


Below is a shot of the tank with some of the required materials needed. You will see the new black frame, aquarium silicone, razor blade, python and more.





My first step was to pour myself a nice cold draft beer from my kitchen. This is the most important part in ANY project you undertake. lol







Below is a shot of my automatic feeder. It is placed right over the center brace and when I went to adjust the feeding schedule the center brace of the tank snapped.





A pic of the broken brace.






I then had to remove the aerator on my kitchen faucet in order to attach my python.







Attaching an adapter to connect my python the my faucet.






Finally attaching the python.




You then need to turn the water on and the python hose gets full of water. The other end of the python hose (the gravel cleaner) in in the tank. This is the first step in using the python.



You then need to unscrew the bottom of the python. You will see the water going into the sink now. As the water from your faucet goes down through the green plastic and into the sink it creates a siphon and brings in the water from your tank. The water that is going into the sink is a mix of your tap water as well as your tank water.






Below you will see one end of the python nestled in the red plants in the tank with the other end in the sink and the hose going across the floor. Please say hi to my Maltese, Timmy. I ended up draining about 50% of the tank to relieve some of the pressure on the glass since I was removing the entire top frame.


I began by using a razor blade to cut the silicone on the inside and outside of the glass. This didn't work well.





I then went to the garage to get this 5 in one paint tool. I grasped the handle and used that pointy side to score all around the tank. This worked MUCH better then the razor blade and I highly suggest this tool if you ever need to replace your frame.





It took over an hour but you can see that I was finally able to get the frame up a bit. It's about 1/4" above the glass at this point but the rest of the tank still needs some work.






I was finally able to get the entire thing off. Once you got some of it up the rest was a LOT easier.






Side by side shots of the old oak frame and the new black one. The color doesn't matter because I have a full wooden hood so the frame doesn't show at all. Plus the black is cheaper too.





Little bits of silicone floating that I removed with my net.






Removing some of the loose silicone cuttings.





Have a drink!





Dry fitted the new top.






Use a razor blade to scrape off the remaining silicone from the glass.



This should be above, but I used a piece of wood to tap up on the frame to loosen it.




Using the gun to silicone the inside of the frame. I also siliconed the corners because I was using my tools in the area so I wanted to play it safe and recoat them.






New frame on and tank being filled with python.







Getting there. I didn't want to fill the tank all the way up because I siliconed the top few inches of the corners.






Everything back in place!






Then the worst thing happened!!!!!







An empty glass.






So I had a refill.

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Last edited by cm11599ps; March 18th, 2010 at 09:56 PM.

I got the frame from my LFS. Total cost for the frame plus the tube of silicone was about $35.
About 3 weeks ago I thought my tank was ruined and that I would have to get a new one. I did research on trying to replace or fix it and I really didn't find much info. Some places did say you could replace the frame but it didn't really give you step by step directions or even pictures for that matter. I need to be able to SEE something done and then it becomes a lot clearer.

I figured if I snapped a few pics and wrote up a brief summary then I might be able to help someone in the future. The whole process wasn't that hard now that all is said and done. If I didn't take pics or beer breaks then I could have had the whole thing done in 2 - 3 hours. If I had to do it again then I could probably have it done a lot quicker because I would be using the right tools from the start.

The first 1.5 - 2 hours was not fun. With all the cutting I was doing I still couldn't get even a corner to budge a little bit. After some more cutting I tried pressing up on the frame with my fingers and I was finally able to push it up a tad!

I did a little more scoring with that painters tool then tapped up with the piece of wood and it began to come off pretty easily. Once I was able to get it up a bit the rest of the process (removing the top) was a cinch and only took about 15 minutes.

My wife and I are glad this is finished. For the past 3 weeks we have been worrying about the tank breaking because you could see it bowing out in the middle. It's not the kind of bow front tank I wanted. lol