How to Make Live Food Fish Feeder

 I cover all my aquariums to reduce water evaporation and to hold land plants so their roots grow in water. 

Buy automatic fish feeder on Amazon (paid link):

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This time, I also want the cover to serve as a feeder to grow live food for my fish.

 I culture Springtails, Isopods and such in plastic containers that can be used for our purpose. 

This 16oz container fits perfectly on top of my 7 liter sustainable aquarium. 

I am going with an 8oz container of the same diameter. 

Check my previous videos on how to set up and take care of self-feeding sustainable aquariums.

 You can make any aquarium self-feeding without making a feeder. 

Although with a feeder, fish get live land critters to eat! 

A 20ml syringe can be used to make a holder for small plants. 

A larger tube will do for larger plants.

 The tube has to be long enough to go through the container and protrude for about 1 cm.

 Mark the spot where to cut off the tube. 

And cut the tube to a desirable length using a saw or knife.

 File the trimmed edge of the tube. 

The tube has to go through the top and protrude from the bottom of the container.

 Cut a hole in the bottom of the container. 

Make this hole 5-10mm wider than the diameter of the tube.

 The point is to make a gap wide enough for critters to fall through. 

Now let's cut a hole in the cover of the container right above the first hole.

 The tube has to fit firmly in this hole to prevent critters from escaping.

 Firmly fitting it also reduces water evaporation. 

Insert the tube from the top through the hole in the cover. 

Put the cover on the container with the tube going through the hole in the bottom. 

The tube protrudes about 1 cm from the hole at the bottom.

 Put the container on the aquarium to check how it fits. 

The tube should stay above water level. 

All looks great! 

Let's put a plant in the tube. 

I have a long list of videos about land plants growing with roots in water for you to check out. 

In this example, I put a Painters Pallet plant in the feeder/planter. 

Roots of the plant go in the water. 

Land plants growing with roots in water feed on waste dissolved in water competing with algae. 

Open the container and fill it up with a medium for critters to feed and breed on. 

It could be soil, live land moss or... whatever works better in your experience.

 In this example, I fill up the container with wilted leaves.

Remember to moisten the medium. 

Put the cover back on the feeder for now. 

My top feeding Endlers and Guppies love to eat Springtails among other live food. 

Here you can see Springtails I collected from my well established cultures. 

Springtails walk on the waters' surface. 

Dump Springtails in the feeder. 

Springtails can jump very high when they are scared. 

So, let's close the feeder quickly.

 And now we can place the feeder on the aquarium where it belongs. 

Congratulations, we have made the feeder!

 Springtails can get out of the feeder only through the hole in the bottom falling on the water.

 That is where my fish can eat them.

 Also, I put baby Isopods in the same feeder. 

Yeah, they are small enough for my fish to eat them. 

The air gets in the aquarium through the tube. 

The water evaporating from the aquarium keeps the medium in the feeder moisten all the time.

 Springtails and Isopods like the moist environment of the feeder.

 There is food for critters to eat and space to breed in this feeder. 

And my fish in the aquarium will eat any critters that may fall through the hole. 

Let's put the fully assembled and populated feeder on top of the aquarium. 

Once a month or so, I check on and add critters and medium if necessary.

Also, we can make even a simpler feeder without a tube for plants.

 Let's make one for those of you who does not grow land plants in aquariums... yet.

 Poke a half dozen needle sized holes in the middle of the cover of the container. 

I make 5 holes in this example. 

Let's use the same feeder - it already has the hole in the bottom, the medium, and critters in it. 

It's been a couple weeks since I set up this feeder... 

I may need some more baby Isopods...here I see one grown Isopod among Springtails. 

Cover the feeder with the new lid we made without a tube for plants. 

Put the feeder on top of the aquarium. 

The tiny holes in the cover allow air circulation in the aquarium while reducing water evaporation. 

That is the simplest and most effective way of culturing critters and feeding them fresh to your fish.

 Have fun and happy aquarium gardens :)