Tek Trough

A feeding trough that also refrigerates

The Tek Trough is the advanced version of the Feeding Trough in ARK: Survival Evolved. Tames nearby eat from it by themselves, and with power it also keeps their food cold: "Put food for your nearby pets in this, and they'll automatically eat it when hungry! Can refridgerate items, so long as it's powered by a Tek Generator!"

Food and feeding

Almost any food for any tame fits inside, and foods can be mixed, so Berries and Meat can share one trough to feed different kinds of tames. Stone or Sulfur can go in too, for the Rock Elemental among others, but Feces for Dung Beetles cannot. Tames in range eat from the trough before the food in their own inventory, though only food they would eat anyway: herbivores leave meat alone and carnivores ignore berries. Tames of allied tribes can feed from it too. Babies cannot use it until they are juveniles (over 10%), and unconscious tames do not feed, which includes the cooldown after throwing a Cryopod. Since it cannot be locked, other players can steal from it.

Power, spoilage and range

Powered by a Tek Generator, it multiplies the spoil time of the food inside by 100, the same as the Refrigerator, and it holds 100 stacks against the Refrigerator's 80. Without power, food spoils as it would in a survivor's inventory rather than at a normal Feeding Trough's rate. Tames can feed within a cube of 11 foundations horizontally by 17 walls vertically, measured from where the trough stands; they need not move, and tames passing through can eat as well. A trough icon above a tame's name shows that it is in range, whether or not suitable food is inside, and the trough can display its range as a green circle.

It can also be used to make Iced Canteens and Iced Water Jars. The wiki warns that Gachas eat those fast, as their very low nourishment value puts them first in line; the warning also names Waterskins and the Tek Canteen, although those do not function with the trough.

Engram and recipe

Defeating the Megapithecus on Beta, the Desert Titan, or the Manticore, Rockwell, Moeder or Crystal Wyvern Queen on Gamma unlocks the engram, and harder versions of those fights count too. It is needed to craft the trough but not to use it. Crafting happens in a Tek Replicator or an Exo-Mek, takes 5 seconds and gives 116 XP:

• 900 Metal Ingot (or Scrap Metal Ingot)
• 175 Polymer (or Organic Polymer, or Corrupted Nodule)
• 100 Crystal (or Primal Crystal)
• 50 Electronics
• 45 Black Pearl
• 18 Element (or Red Element)

The trough weighs 4 and does not stack. In loot, 20 crate types can contain it, for example the Genesis Blue, Green and Purple crates.