Development and Performance Evaluation of an Automatic Fish Feeder

Abstract

Aquaculture, the process of raising aquatic animals in ponds, is gaining more attention in recent times. The feeding system is an important aspect of aquacultural practice. A simple, relatively inexpensive automatic fish feeder was designed, constructed and evaluated. The operation of the feeder does not require highly technical expertise. This paper reports the design considerations, materials used and the effectiveness of the device, based on analysis of manual feeding and automatic feeding. The main features of the device are: hopper (stainless steel), bi-directional motor, feed platform and electrical control box. The design was based on specific parameters which included capacity of culture tank, stocking density, fish biomass, diameter of the feed, angle of repose and bulk density (of the feed). The total cost of the device was 17,000 naira (approx. 106 U.S. dollars). The device was tested under two culture tanks (0.75 m 3 each) with 10 kg-33 juvenile cat fish (Clarias gariepinus) placed in each tank with one feeding automatically and the other, manually. The feeder evaluation was based on feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feeding efficiency (FE).The total average gain in weight per fish was higher in the automatic feeding (89.50 g) than in manual (78.50 g). An FE of 20.9% was obtained in the automatic feeding and 18.6% in manual, in relation to their FCRs. A t-test, conducted at 5% significance level, indicated a significant difference in the two feeding methods.

Exploring opportunities of Artificial Intelligence in aquaculture to meet increasing food demand

“…The cost of feeding fish accounts for 40–50 % of the total operational cost of aquaculture ( Ogunlela and Adebayo, 2016 ), while 60 % of the feed that is dispensed into the aquarium becomes particulates (Srivastava and Liu, 2015). These accumulated particles pollute the water, which uses oxygen to break them down and release ammonia, nitrogen, and other noxious substances that can stunt the growth of fish.…”

Σύνταξη Πλαισίου Και Διερεύνηση Των Διαδικασιών Για Την Εφαρμογή Του Θαλάσσιου Χωροταξικού Σχεδιασμού Στην Ελλάδα

“…Παράλληλα με την αλιευτική δραστηριότητα τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες έχουν αναπτυχθεί και συνεχίζουν να αναπτύσσονται θαλάσσιες υδατοκαλλιέργειες. Οι υδατοκαλλιέργειες αποτελούν τον ταχύτερα αναπτυσσόμενο τομέα παραγωγής τροφής και μια από τις κυριότερες πηγές προμήθειας ψαριών (Fuentes-Santos et al 2015, Ogunlela and Adebayo 2016, Atalah and Sabchez-Jerez 2020, Prem and Tewari 2020. Σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο το 2016 η παραγωγή υδατοκαλλιέργειας άγγιξε τα 110,1 εκατομμύρια τόνους με μέσο ποσοστό ετήσιας αύξησης την περίοδο 2000-2016 της τάξεως του 5,8% (Novaes et al 2019, Prem andTewari 2020).…”