I've been following the development for the past few months. It is now available to support on kickstarter -https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/af4/the-af4-auto-frozen-fish-food-feeder
I've been screwed supporting crowd-funding campaigns in the past so I'm holding off until this is a real product.
The creator is from San Diego I believe.
Anyone supporting this campaign/product? I travel a lot and definitely want one but will wait to see if there any problems delivering the units.
From the kickstarter:
Have you ever asked a friend to come over and feed the fish while you’re away?
I've lost count of the favors I owe friends for feeding my fish over the 20 years I've been in the aquarium hobby.
Ever Googled “how long can fish X go without food?” I’m not proud of it, but I certainly have on multiple occasions.
Sure fish are “okay” without food everyday but so are people. I know for a fact I get HANGRY after skipping even one meal.
Unfortunately, until now our only real option to automate frozen fish food feedings was some variation of a VERY creative and VERY large DIY solution. You may have seen it: it was an impressive frankenstein monster involving a dorm fridge, a hairdryer, a giant mechanical clock rotation device and some complex plumbing.
Running out of fish feeding favors and no room for a dorm fridge, I thought, “Surely I can’t be the only one with this problem, right?”
I designed the aF⁴ to fill a need in our amazing aquarium hobby for an automatic Frozen Fish Food Feeder.
We've got automatic top offs, precision dosers, high tech LEDs simulating light patterns found in Fiji, apps for our phones, auto testing robots - and now we have an automatic frozen fish food feeder.
The aF⁴ isn't ONLY for people who like to travel. In fact, I now use it for 100% of the feedings in my tank.
Feeding the fish sometimes feels like a chore. With the aF⁴, you spend more time with your fish and less time with your fish food.
Interval feedings can be used as a way to further emulate the environment our fish get in nature where they eat multiple times a day - not just one large quantity per day or every other day in some cases.
Your fish will thank you, trust me. Mine have (they even got together and wrote me a nice letter), and so has my spouse, friends and neighbors who no longer have to be roped into feeding my fish.
The aF⁴
The aF⁴ is the first product of its kind to hit the aquarium hobby (utility patents pending).
The aF⁴ is intuitive, effective and a true all-in-one solution capable of being mounted on any tank: rimless, euro, rimmed or canopied.
If a hanging a small box on your tank isn’t your style, we offer a dock accessory that will allow placement of the aF⁴ in a sump cabinet or countertop nearby your aquarium.
You can feed up to 7 full cubes, 12 half cubes or 20 quarter cubes with a single aF⁴ using our interchangeable carousels.
If you brew your own frozen food, we've got you covered with full cube trays, half cube trays and quarter cube trays. We'll also be offering a compact, clean and precise cutting tool to half or quarter your cubes (of course you can always go the old cutting board and knife route).
Our control unit will be capable of scheduling feeds whenever you want. Skip days. Feed up to 4 times a day. However you want your tank to be fed, our controller can schedule it.
If you already have a GHL, APEX or any other controller that can output a 1-10v signal, you can schedule your feeds through your existing controller or involve the aF⁴ in any complex programs your controller is capable of.
One glance at the control unit and you'll know exactly how many feeds are remaining, the unit temperature and an alert will post if the aF⁴ needs your attention for anything unexpected.
Our cooling technology uses near-silent liquid cooling to keep the food inside the aF⁴ nice and frosty. But don't worry, the cooling liquid inside the aF⁴ is just 8 ounces of distilled water -- totally safe for fish and coral.
We Need Your Help!
Over the last year we've been testing and improving our design. Now we have something we think is really great and we feel proud to share it with all of you.
We need to optimize our design for mass production, easy assembly and easy testing for quality control. We still have to source a few suppliers for the various components we'll be buying.
We need to beta test. Beta testing will begin early 2020 and run for several months. If everything seems peachy, production and shipping will begin summer 2020!
We’ve budgeted time for any product improvements discovered during beta testing to meet our promised delivery date of November 2020.
Why Buy Now?
Backing our product now not only saves you money, but you're investing in another aquarist with a dream of supplying some really cool products to other aquarists around the world.
The aF⁴ is only the FIRST product we're planning to offer, we have a whole bunch of creative tricks up our sleeve that we can't wait to share with you.
Reserve your aF⁴ and PLEASE tell your friends! We welcome any feedback and all the support we can get! As a backer, you have a SAY in the final product - if you want a feature say so!
AF4 Product Features
I've been screwed supporting crowd-funding campaigns in the past so I'm holding off until this is a real product.
The creator is from San Diego I believe.
Anyone supporting this campaign/product? I travel a lot and definitely want one but will wait to see if there any problems delivering the units.
From the kickstarter:
Have you ever asked a friend to come over and feed the fish while you’re away?
I've lost count of the favors I owe friends for feeding my fish over the 20 years I've been in the aquarium hobby.
Ever Googled “how long can fish X go without food?” I’m not proud of it, but I certainly have on multiple occasions.
Sure fish are “okay” without food everyday but so are people. I know for a fact I get HANGRY after skipping even one meal.
Unfortunately, until now our only real option to automate frozen fish food feedings was some variation of a VERY creative and VERY large DIY solution. You may have seen it: it was an impressive frankenstein monster involving a dorm fridge, a hairdryer, a giant mechanical clock rotation device and some complex plumbing.
Running out of fish feeding favors and no room for a dorm fridge, I thought, “Surely I can’t be the only one with this problem, right?”
I designed the aF⁴ to fill a need in our amazing aquarium hobby for an automatic Frozen Fish Food Feeder.
We've got automatic top offs, precision dosers, high tech LEDs simulating light patterns found in Fiji, apps for our phones, auto testing robots - and now we have an automatic frozen fish food feeder.
The aF⁴ isn't ONLY for people who like to travel. In fact, I now use it for 100% of the feedings in my tank.
Feeding the fish sometimes feels like a chore. With the aF⁴, you spend more time with your fish and less time with your fish food.
Interval feedings can be used as a way to further emulate the environment our fish get in nature where they eat multiple times a day - not just one large quantity per day or every other day in some cases.
Your fish will thank you, trust me. Mine have (they even got together and wrote me a nice letter), and so has my spouse, friends and neighbors who no longer have to be roped into feeding my fish.
The aF⁴
The aF⁴ is the first product of its kind to hit the aquarium hobby (utility patents pending).
The aF⁴ is intuitive, effective and a true all-in-one solution capable of being mounted on any tank: rimless, euro, rimmed or canopied.
If a hanging a small box on your tank isn’t your style, we offer a dock accessory that will allow placement of the aF⁴ in a sump cabinet or countertop nearby your aquarium.
You can feed up to 7 full cubes, 12 half cubes or 20 quarter cubes with a single aF⁴ using our interchangeable carousels.
If you brew your own frozen food, we've got you covered with full cube trays, half cube trays and quarter cube trays. We'll also be offering a compact, clean and precise cutting tool to half or quarter your cubes (of course you can always go the old cutting board and knife route).
Our control unit will be capable of scheduling feeds whenever you want. Skip days. Feed up to 4 times a day. However you want your tank to be fed, our controller can schedule it.
If you already have a GHL, APEX or any other controller that can output a 1-10v signal, you can schedule your feeds through your existing controller or involve the aF⁴ in any complex programs your controller is capable of.
One glance at the control unit and you'll know exactly how many feeds are remaining, the unit temperature and an alert will post if the aF⁴ needs your attention for anything unexpected.
Our cooling technology uses near-silent liquid cooling to keep the food inside the aF⁴ nice and frosty. But don't worry, the cooling liquid inside the aF⁴ is just 8 ounces of distilled water -- totally safe for fish and coral.
We Need Your Help!
Over the last year we've been testing and improving our design. Now we have something we think is really great and we feel proud to share it with all of you.
We need to optimize our design for mass production, easy assembly and easy testing for quality control. We still have to source a few suppliers for the various components we'll be buying.
We need to beta test. Beta testing will begin early 2020 and run for several months. If everything seems peachy, production and shipping will begin summer 2020!
We’ve budgeted time for any product improvements discovered during beta testing to meet our promised delivery date of November 2020.
Why Buy Now?
Backing our product now not only saves you money, but you're investing in another aquarist with a dream of supplying some really cool products to other aquarists around the world.
The aF⁴ is only the FIRST product we're planning to offer, we have a whole bunch of creative tricks up our sleeve that we can't wait to share with you.
Reserve your aF⁴ and PLEASE tell your friends! We welcome any feedback and all the support we can get! As a backer, you have a SAY in the final product - if you want a feature say so!
AF4 Product Features
- Feeds 7 full cubes, 12 half cubes or 20 quarter cubes
- Works on any style tank: rimless, euro, rimmed or canopied
- Flexible scheduling: skip days, feed up to 4 times a day
- Near-silent liquid cooling technology using 100% safe distilled water
- Works with GHL, APEX and other controllers capable of outputting a 1-10v signal
- Optional dock for sump cabinet, countertop or other placement
