Development of an automatic fish feeder 1 1 2 2 Ozigbo Emmanuel, Anyadike Chinenye, Gbadebo Forolunsho, Okechukwu Richardson 2 and Kolawole Peter 1 Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 2 Post Harvest Unit, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. E-mail: emmanuel.ozigbo@yahoo.com ABSTRACT An automatic fish feeder was designed, fabricated and tested. It eliminates major problems associated with manual feeding in aquaculture. The machine was powered electrically by one horse power motor. The overall dimension of the machine is 62 × 45 × 45cm. The hopper carrying capacity is 5.5kg/volume of hopper with a variable discharging chute. The timer was designed with a 24hour time step at user's specified discharge duration. Test results at the discharge time of 60 minutes showed that 85.5kg of feeds were evenly distributed across the pond. Less than 3% feed loss was recorded due to breakage and fragile nature of feed. The machine has 86.9% efficiency and adequately manages and preserves feed under harsh conditions. Keywords: Feeders, FishFeeds, Machine, Aquaculture African Journal of Root and Tuber Crops (2013) Vol. 10 No.1: Page 27 Introduction Nigeria is among the largest fish consumers in the world with over 1.5 millions tons of fish consumed annually. Yet, Nigeria imports over 900,000 metric tons of fish while its domestic catch is estimated at 450,000 metric tons/year (Davies et al, 2008). This dependence on imported fish has adverse effect on Nigeria economy. One of the ways to bridge the gap between the reduced fish supply and increased world food fish demand is through aquaculture (Ajana, 2003). However, one of the major challenges in aquaculture is feeding. Overfeeding and underfeeding is common in aquaculture. The former wastes feed and degrade water quality while the later results in poor growth which eventually leads to low productivity. Feed delivery in the correct form, at the right time and appropriate amount is expedient to increase and maintain a successful aquaculture production. Drudgery involved in manual feeding discourages aquaculturists, as it consumes time and human capital. In view of these problems, an automatic fish feeder was developed with the aim of increasing fish production that will lead to higher economic returns, that will improved timeliness and precision operation, that will reduce labour requirement and minimize losses of feed and drudgery associated with hand feeding. Methodology The materials used in construction of this automatic fish feeder were locally sourced from readily available and quite common but adaptable materials. The design and construction was divided into two sections: 1. The mechanical section; and 2. The electronic sections The following important considerations were made during the design and construction of the automated system; ability of the system to be compatible with the size and form of feed being used; ability of the system to protect the feed from degradation and spoilage due to rain, excessive heat, and moisture; reliability of the system's power source, timer, and drive mechanism under adverse environmental conditions; ability of the system to prevent grinding and crushing of pellets; justification of the expenses on capital and operational costs of the system over hand feeding. The Mechanical Section The materials used in the frame work include mild steel angle iron (45 × 45 × 6mm), mild steel sheet (1mm, 1.5mm) and air compressor engine. An air compressor tank (3 gallon), a compressor valves, flat A Research Article in AJRTC (2013) Vol. 10 No. 1: Pages 27-32