Ok this is too easy - I went to buy a feeder ring at the LFS. They were kind of small for my 5 big pigs. The lady suggested making one out of air hose and connectors to whatever size I needed. She said I could connect it to the side with a suction cup and if I had a problem with the water level going up and down to tie a little piece of fishing string to the hose and it would move with the water level.

Even more fun to make are the "feeders" that deliver sinking pellets into a specific area - I have small dishes (the tiny ones used for water dishes for reptiles - they look like rocks), and I cut a piece of 5/8 inch clear tubing the depth of the tank. This tubing is suction cupped onto the side of the tank with one end out of the water and the other end a fraction of an inch above the bottom of a dish. I drop the pellets down the tube and they land into the dish - and stay pretty much in the dish.

I use these feeders in my very large tank that is used for keeping various "loaner" fish that I am caring for. They are often of various types and often need to be separated at feeding time - some are fast and others slow. I use multiple feeders at different places in the tank. The fish quickly learn who goes to where and do not fight for food that way.

I have even been able to selectively feed Medigold in this fashion in a "well trained" tank (with lots of observation and care!).

sh - I don't so this, but aren't you suppose to soak pellets first? Pretty neat idea! They each have their own feed dish!

The ProGold that I feed as the main diet really does not seem to need to be soaked. It softens up almost as soon as it hits the water. If I soak it it just turns to mush and is not as edible. The fish take the fist pellet and by the time they have chewed through that one all the others are soft and squishy anyway.

I use this feeding set up in my big holding tank when I have very different types of fish. They seem to learn very quickly as to which dish is theirs and it helps the slower moving fish to not have to compete with the others. Also, I can run a dish line down to the shy fish that always seems to hide behind a rock - that way he is quaranteed of getting his share - it does not wash away in a current or get sucked up in the filter intake that is back there.

Daryl, I love your feeding idea! I once tried that with a small terra cotta plate and the plastic tube from my battery powered siphon- just stuck the siphon tube in the water above the plate and dropped pellets through, and then removed the tube. However, it soon led to a problem. After a while one of my goldfish spent most of her day sitting in the plate, waiting for food!

Like me at the vending machine! Where's the food!