Automatic Fish FeederLauren Nies

Problem I’m SolvingIsn’t it just annoying to have to remember to feed your fish everyday. Well now you don’t have to with the Automatic Fish Feeder. With the Automatic Fish Feeder you can forget to feed your fish without it dying! You just have to refill the container of fish food every once in awhile. This Automatic Fish Feeder is affordable and the right choice for everyone!

HypothesisI hypothesize that the Automatic Fish Feeder will not work exactly how I want, but it will work okay.

How My Product WorksThe Automatic Fish Feeder dispenses fish food every 12 hours. It dispenses the food every time it reaches the 6 through a slot on a pill bottle.

TestingI tested my product for a 3 days and recorded the data on a piece of paper. I tested it by setting it up and checking everyday to see if the Automatic Fish Feeder was working (if it didn’t work that day I feed the fish manually).

MaterialsA Small ClockThin Strong MagnetsA PenA Pill Bottle Or A Small Lightweight Container A Piece Of PaperSuperglueTapeA Kitchen KnifeA NeedleSandpaperThe Fish Food Of Your Choice

Steps Taking the clock apart. First you take off the clock face with a screwdriver. Then you take the clock hands off of the clock. Put the clock to the side for now. To set up the food container, take the end of a needle and heat it up with fire (parental supervision is advised). Take the heated needle and create a hole for the fish food to come out of. Let that cool. Take the piece of paper and make a grid. Then cut out a cross like shape from the grid. Tape the cross like shape in a cube like shape inside the pill bottle, by the place where the fish food will come out. Put the pill bottle to the side.

Steps (continued) You then would take the pen apart. Measure about 2 centimeters and cut that off with a heated kitchen knife (parental supervision is advised). After the piece of pen is cool use sandpaper on the piece of pen to make it smoother. Superglue the magnet to the piece of pen and superglue a magnet to the bottom of the pill bottle. Let those dry. Once they are dry put a rolled up piece of paper in the piece of pen. Put the magnets together. If the magnets aren’t strong enough superglue them together but supergluing makes it harder to refill the fish food. Attach the other side of the pen to the place on the clock where the hands would go. Put the fish food in the pill bottle. Optional last step is putting some kind of weight on the clock if the clock isn’t heavy enough to support the weight of the fish food in the pill bottle.

ResultsDay one two three

Results It worked properly. Dispensing enough food for the fish to eat but not too much.

It worked the same as it did the day before.

It worked properly.

Problems EncounteredI encountered the problem of actually starting to build the project. I also couldn’t find magnets that I could use so I used magnetic tape. The magnetic tape wasn’t magnetic enough so I had to superglue the magnetic tape together instead. The clock was also lighter than the container with fish food so it would fall but I put a weight on top of the clock so it would be heavier.

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I chose this project because I wanted to get a fish and it sounded interesting when I thought of it. I enjoyed actually making The Automatic Fish Feeder. I learned that superglue is annoying to get off your fingers and to use a heavier clock next time. I enjoyed finishing building the project and seeing it work the way I wanted it to.

AcknowledgmentsI would like to thank my mom and dad for buying the fish for my project. And for buying the materials for The Automatic Fish Feeder. I would also like to thank Kendra for cutting a hole in the pill bottle with a heated needle.