Bottom Worm Feeder

[fish_4_all]

I haven't made it yet but will be soon so it is ready when I start breeding my C. trilineatus. I plan to make a feeder that has a tube that goes from the top to the bottom and end on a small curve dish. This will allow for top feeding but keeps the worms in a specific area so the cory cats can find them before they all disappear in the substrate. I can't figure out yet what to use for the bottom dish but the tube is easy being of any type of pvc pipe or clear tubing. If you have any ideas let me know. Once I have the prototype I will post instructions and pictures.

 

[fish_4_all]

First prototype! I took a small candle holder, the ones with the small stem for tappered candles and slid over a piece of 3/4" I.D., 1" O.D. vinyl tubing. I took some hot glue and filled the pit in the candle holder to level. I heated up the tubing in boiling water to get it to slip over the stem of the candle holder. After it cooled, I drilled 3 holes as sysmetrical as possible, 1/4 inch in diameter for the worms to fall out from. The tubing is just long enough to reach the top of the tank just under the lid. This allows me to put the worms in from the surface. The worms then fall to the hot glue and slowly wriggle their way out and fall to the shallow dish on the bottom of the candle holder. Most of the worms are picked off as soon as the fish see them coming out of the holes.

The only real problem is that some of the worms stay in the tube and die before finding the holes to wriggle out. I am going to try cutting slots on my next setup and see if they all get out then. I will also be filling the hole in the candle holder further up so that a small bulg is formed to help the worms make their way to the sides of the feeder and fall out.

If anyone has suggestions, please post them. This is going to work better than anything I have seen online or in my LFS for feeding bottom feeders.

 

[fish_4_all]

This is the best I could do to show the feeder until I can get a picture. The black is the tube and the red is the candle holder. The circle is one of the holes for the worms to crawl out of.

I simply push the candle holder down just far enough to be level with the substrate and start feeding. The tube is so flexible that it easily moves to the side of the tank where it can be secured with a paperclip or left to stand where you put it.

Any improvements will be very welcome!