Background:
In aquaculture systems, the cost of feed is the highest operational cost while more than 35% of the feed applied to aquaculture system ends up as particulate matter. Excess food gets deposited on bottom and if allowed to remain within the system, their decomposition will consume dissolved oxygen, produce ammonia and other toxic substances such as hydrogen sulphide. On the other hand, when food is insufficient, the competition and predation are fostered causing alterations in endogenous fish feeding rhythms; these modifications affect the feed conversion rate and the subsequent composition of fish flesh. To minimize fish feeding problems, various feeders and feed consumption monitoring systems have been proposed in scientific research. Modern aquaculture in the whole world emphasizes higher production of fish from limited areas. Now-a-days semi-intensive and intensive cultural practices are being adopted on a large scale to get higher production. In these types of farming, fish is cultured in a controlled environment with artificial compounded feed containing adequate proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, minerals, etc. to enhance the survival and yield of fish. Therefore, application of feed is a crucial factor. In one of the simplest and widely followed methods in aquaculture, feed is broadcasted manually by aqua-farmers in aquarium, ponds, tanks and other water bodies culture system. Such practices are labour-intensive and enhance the operational costs. Moreover, scheduled feeding of accurate quantities; especially, during the night, is not practical at many sites. Even in small pond or aquarium, it becomes very costly and scheduled feeding with correct quantity becomes very difficult. An automatic feeding system for aquaculture has more potential and profitable compared to manual feeding systems. The automatic feeding systems are not affected by shortage of manpower and the fish feed can be applied at required time in desired quantity by adjusting the automatic feeder properly. With the time based automatic feeder, feeding time and quantity of feed can be monitored for an efficient food management in intensive aquaculture systems including aquariums. With the objective of providing an excellent feed management system, a prototype of timer based automatic feeder has been designed and developed which will effect significant savings in the cost of food and labours and reduce the feed conversion ratio. This cost effective and user friendly automatic feeder minimizes water pollution and production of ammonia in aquaculture systems and thereby contribution in the growth of aquaculture industry.
Technology Details:
The timer based automatic fish feeder is designed to supply food to fish / aquatic animals at regular predetermined time intervals in preferred quantity to avoid wastage of food and minimize the production of unwanted toxic pollutants like ammonia in any given aquatic system including aquaria. The automatic fish feeder is a device made up of PVC or FRP container mounted on a support structure with its mouth put upside down. The container is designed to hold the pre-decided quantity of fish-feed. At the bottom of the device, a feed control wheel is fitted in the mouth of the feeder. The rotation of wheel is controlled by heavy duty motor. The rotational speed of the motor is controlled by virtue of a speed control regulator which in turn controls the speed of feed control wheel. Electricity is supplied to the motor through a converter which converts AC (alternate current) to DC (direct current). The timer ensures supply of electricity to AC-DC converter at predetermined point of time for particular duration to facilitate the rotation of feed control wheel. Number of rotations of feed control wheel depends upon the quantity of feed to be dropped at given point of time. The brief about automatic feeder is given below: • It dispenses exact amount of feed at predetermined time at a designated location where it is fixed • Quantity and time specific adjustments are possible. However, prototype is designed for 2 to 10 g feed per day. • Multiple time dispensation causes the maintenance of feed integrity in water and may improve consumption • Due to exactness of the feed, the wastage of feed is minimized while enhancing the water quality