Easy Feed Pipette 385 and 560 mm — Target Feeding for Corals and Fish - DVH

The Easy Feed pipette puts food exactly where it belongs: into the tentacles of an LPS, in front of a shy fish that never wins at the buffet, or into a pocket of the reef tank your flow clears in two seconds. Its Dutch manufacturer, DVH Aquatic, presents it as a multi-use tool for feeding and cleaning — the same bulb blows detritus off a rock or draws up a deposit from a spot your hand cannot reach.

What the manufacturer states

• Tube inner diameter: 5 mm (0.2 in). According to DVH, this is what lets it dose larger particles than most feeding pipettes available on the market.
• Food grade silicone rubber tip, described by the manufacturer as suitable for reef aquarium use. Opening at the end: 1 mm (0.04 in), tapered inside — DVH states you widen it yourself by trimming a piece off, to match the food you feed.
• Three parts, removable tip. A pipette that never gets cleaned keeps traces of the last meal inside its tube, and those traces go straight back into the water at the next feeding.
• Rubber bulb with a soft top control, worked from the top with your thumb. The manufacturer explains this gives better dosing control than standard bulbs squeezed from the sides.

385 mm or 560 mm

Same tool; only the tube length changes, and it decides how deep you reach without putting your arm in the water. 385 mm = 38.5 cm (15.2 in), comfortable in a nano and in a standard-height saltwater tank. 560 mm = 56 cm (22.0 in), for the bottom of a deep tank or a coral tucked behind the aquascape.

Our advice

People often want to feed their corals — especially when the tank is not heavily stocked, or when the food is a formula meant for one particular type of coral. The problem: pouring it into the whole tank and spreading it everywhere pollutes for the entire time the food takes to get eaten. That is why we recommend target feeding in lightly stocked tanks and for corals with specific feeding needs. To do it, the Easy Feed pipettes and the Julian's Thing are the right tools. That is what we recommend.

— Stéphane, Aquarium ReefSolution

What DVH does not publish

DVH does not publish the capacity in millilitres for either length. If you see a volume quoted elsewhere, it does not come from the manufacturer. If that figure matters for what you are doing, write to us with what you are dosing and the volume you need per squeeze.

Why buy from ReefSolution

A saltwater aquarium store in Laval, Quebec: we use these tools in our own systems before they reach the shelf. Shipped across Canada.

• Two Little Fishies Julian's Thing — the same target feeding idea, in a long syringe format.
• Hikari Bio-Pure Frozen Mysis Shrimp — the food we most often deliver through a pipette.
• Boyd Vita-Chem Marine — the vitamin supplement we soak food in before feeding.
• Seachem Garlic Guard — to bring back the appetite of a fish that has gone off its food.

Frequently asked questions

Will the Easy Feed pipette pass frozen mysis?

The tube has a 5 mm (0.2 in) inner diameter, which DVH presents precisely as its ability to dose larger particles than most pipettes on the market. The tip opening is 1 mm (0.04 in) as supplied, but the inside of the tip is tapered: the manufacturer states you trim a piece off the tip to widen it to the size you want.

How do you clean a coral feeding pipette?

This one comes apart into three pieces and the tip is removable — the point DVH makes on its own product page. You rinse the full length of the tube instead of hoping a jet of water reaches inside.

Which length should I choose, 385 or 560 mm?

The two models are identical apart from the tube: 38.5 cm (15.2 in) for the 385, 56 cm (22.0 in) for the 560. In a nano the 385 is plenty; in a deep tank the 560 keeps your elbow dry.