so whats the scoop on the frozen fish feeder?

Art is subjective.....just make this so someone with a sub <100G tank can afford to justify the price tag and you'll have my business

Well there is nothing more subjective than cost :wave:

I will give you some insight into what we are building and the general way we approach product development though.

It all starts with a problem and coming up with a elegant solution to solve that problem. We usually setup design goals for ourselves and they almost always follow this pattern:

1. Does it solve the problem?
2. Is it reliable?
3. Is it easy to use?
4. Does it look good?
5. How much is it going to cost?
6. Is there a market for it?
7. How much investment does it require to bring to market?

The feeder we have been working on for quite a number of years actually. We have developed several working versions of the concept but they have all been scrapped for one reason or another simply because it didn't meet all or most of the design goals. Notice how far down on the list cost is for us? We feel pretty strongly about never cheapening a product to lower the cost. If we can lower the cost through other means we always try to do this but we are not going to put our name and reputation behind a cheaply made product just to move a few more units.

So lets look at the feeder and some of the components that make up the "system". It is a freezer. It is a precision dosing unit. It is a mixer. It has either a stand alone controller or an interface to connect to a variety of reef controllers already on the market. All of these things are fairly expensive on their own so that will give you a basic idea of the "cost" here.

Will there be a market for something that has the above cost associated with it? We don't really know but, the target audience is going to be an enthusiast with a tank filled with expensive and finicky fish. Are there enough of them to justify us tooling up and starting a new production line? No idea.

The last item on the list is investment capital and it is going to be a lot. We are actually in the middle of construction of our new facility right now and we have pretty much everything tied up there. Someone on another forum mentioned crowd-funding this project and it is something we will give serious consideration to over the next few months. It could be a great solution for items #6 and #7 on the list.

Right now we are on #3 though so we have a bit of time. :)
 
Well there is nothing more subjective than cost :wave:

I will give you some insight into what we are building and the general way we approach product development though.

It all starts with a problem and coming up with a elegant solution to solve that problem. We usually setup design goals for ourselves and they almost always follow this pattern:

1. Does it solve the problem?
2. Is it reliable?
3. Is it easy to use?
4. Does it look good?
5. How much is it going to cost?
6. Is there a market for it?
7. How much investment does it require to bring to market?

The feeder we have been working on for quite a number of years actually. We have developed several working versions of the concept but they have all been scrapped for one reason or another simply because it didn't meet all or most of the design goals. Notice how far down on the list cost is for us? We feel pretty strongly about never cheapening a product to lower the cost. If we can lower the cost through other means we always try to do this but we are not going to put our name and reputation behind a cheaply made product just to move a few more units.

So lets look at the feeder and some of the components that make up the "system". It is a freezer. It is a precision dosing unit. It is a mixer. It has either a stand alone controller or an interface to connect to a variety of reef controllers already on the market. All of these things are fairly expensive on their own so that will give you a basic idea of the "cost" here.

Will there be a market for something that has the above cost associated with it? We don't really know but, the target audience is going to be an enthusiast with a tank filled with expensive and finicky fish. Are there enough of them to justify us tooling up and starting a new production line? No idea.

The last item on the list is investment capital and it is going to be a lot. We are actually in the middle of construction of our new facility right now and we have pretty much everything tied up there. Someone on another forum mentioned crowd-funding this project and it is something we will give serious consideration to over the next few months. It could be a great solution for items #6 and #7 on the list.

Right now we are on #3 though so we have a bit of time. :)

Thank you for the information. I do understand the hardships, and understand that they need to be overcome. I think something that may be of value though that is much less expensive is if you were to sell a retrofit kit and indicate the type/size of freezer to use in the project. It would make the item much less expensive and easier to ship. Many people already have mini-freezers near their tank so it would actually be to their benefit not to have to spend extra money to use the product.

In terms of it having a controller or connecting to a controller from a 3rd party, i have enjoyed the idea behind your ATO that has the option on purchase to choose which one you want. I would be very open to this idea as it gives the most amount of options to users.

What type of information would this controller really need? I am curious how you really would be able to integrate to the controllers out there, I use a Reefkeeper elite, so I would like something controller connected, to allow me the ultimate control.

Also, as to reinforce the idea about doing a DIY kit for this product, if you sell a freezer with the unit built into it, then you limit the people that would be able to use it as the size might not be right for the space they have for this item. If it's a kit, people will be able to purchase it without that fear and get the most out of their purchases.
 
mix
dose cycle (controls multiple things)
clean cycle (controls multiple things)
monitor temp
freeze on
freeze off
fan on
fan off
status alerts

Those are just the basic functions of the top of my head so if there is no integrated controller you have a minimum of 5 cords to plug in to your controller outlet strip. Sounds messy and it is actually pretty expensive to dedicate that many control outlets on a strip. Our unit will absolutely have an integrated controller to handle all of these functions and more because in the long run it is actually the most cost effective way to go. What we are looking for with regards to external controllers is simply an interface to monitor and override some of the functions, possibly make the "alerts" more robust by handing off to a email client etc, not as a means for complete control. It will be an option, not a separate product. The size of the unit is along the lines of a 2l bottle of soda, not a dorm fridge, some will have room and some will not.
 
mix
dose cycle (controls multiple things)
clean cycle (controls multiple things)
monitor temp
freeze on
freeze off
fan on
fan off
status alerts

Those are just the basic functions of the top of my head so if there is no integrated controller you have a minimum of 5 cords to plug in to your controller outlet strip. Sounds messy and it is actually pretty expensive to dedicate that many control outlets on a strip. Our unit will absolutely have an integrated controller to handle all of these functions and more because in the long run it is actually the most cost effective way to go. What we are looking for with regards to external controllers is simply an interface to monitor and override some of the functions, possibly make the "alerts" more robust by handing off to a email client etc, not as a means for complete control. It will be an option, not a separate product. The size of the unit is along the lines of a 2l bottle of soda, not a dorm fridge, some will have room and some will not.

Sounds like you already have it in a compact form. I cannot wait to find out more. MACNA is so long from now
 
Awesome idea, if crowd funded I'd throw a bit your way.

Yes, I would do the same. I have seen KS's for aquarium items before. Might want to do IGG though so you can start immediately using the funds to produce the item before the campaign even ends. I have helped consult other companies before when going the crowd funding route and would be happy to put you in contact with one or two folks that can help you ride that wave and give you experienced advice.
 
So as MACNA approaches, where would you say the best place to look for news about any announcements from Avast would be? Particularly, where do I need to set my browser to refresh every 5 seconds in anticipation?
 
I haven't seen any news that it was introduced at MACNA, so I guess it's not ready yet.
 
yep, a product like this is desperately lacking in the consumer level products out currently. This could be a very successful product if they can hit the mark in performance and price. I would happily pre-order it now without any further details than we have already received, as long as it guarantees me to get it in the next 6 months, even if it's not going to be a product they produce in the future anymore.
 
I want to add, if Avast comes out with this product, it would be cool to be able to add a mixing/holding liquids section to add vitamins in before feedings so we can even automate vitamin enrichment of frozen foods as close to feeding as possible even when we are away.
 
VERY interested in this. Was just talking to a friend about something like this. I'd rather feed my frozen food then pellets all the time. Very excited to see someone is seemingly so close to production
 
Still no news or anything on this? Is it a product that is even getting any more attention or consideration?

Sorry, no real news. But it is in active testing and development. The food metering system is one of the significant challenges and I think we now have a good solution.
 
Sorry, no real news. But it is in active testing and development. The food metering system is one of the significant challenges and I think we now have a good solution.

Awesome. See, news of any type is re-assuring and while not that I wanna hear about delays, but it's good to know that you have a problem to address which is important functionality and that you are not releasing a half-hearted product. I look forward to hearing more as your development continues.
 
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