Apex Feed Cycle mode

[Avengerx77]

I have my Vectra Return Pump and my MP40 plug into my Apex Energy Bar. Since I am currently manually feeding I am using the Mobius app with the Feed Mode to slow the pumps and feed. However, I might be some days off soon, so I want to make sure I can auto control the feed times of my pumps and then program separately my auto feeder so they can pretty much work at the same time.

Question here is how do I program the auto feeding times from my Apex system? I can see it has A-B-C-D as Feed Cycle, but no idea how to program or if it only work with Apex Auto Feeder?

 

[Avengerx77]

Bump

 

[rhostam]

Is your auto feeder one that simply is on/off like the @AVAST Marine Plank Feeder? i.e. you turn it on and it dumps food until you turn it off?

 

[Avengerx77]

No, completely non automated on that sense. Is the Eheim, just looking to program this to work lets say at 11:01 am and then program the Apex to go into feed cycle mode at 11:00am

 

[rhostam]

No, completely non automated on that sense. Is the Eheim, just looking to program this to work lets say at 11:01 am and then program the Apex to go into feed cycle mode at 11:00am

Ah, okay.

The way I would do this is set up a new virtual outlet named, say, FeedABCD.

Use the following programming:

FeedABCD:

Set OFF
If FeedA 000 then ON
If FeedB 000 then ON
If FeedC 000 then ON
If FeedD 000 then ON
If Time 11:00 to 11:15 Then ON

Then for EACH device you wish to have turn off during feed mode, go into the device (or outlet) programming and add the appropriate code. In this example, let’s say you have a power head named FrontPH. Go into the properties for FrontPH:

FrontPH:

If OUTPUT FeedABCD = ON then OFF

This will cause FrontPH to turn off when virtual outlet comes on. In this case, FeedABCD will come on when you press any of the Feed buttons (they themselves cannot be controlled by programming), and when the time is 11:00 through 11:15.

 

[rhostam]

I add all my virtual outlets to my dashboard so I can see status when troubleshooting something. You can play with the programming, names, and timing.

 

[Avengerx77]

Wow thanks. That should keep me busy for a while

 

[Avengerx77]

Question, is there a way to decrease the flow intensity rather than shutting the Vectra/MP40 completely? I just realized that by doing that coding, they will shut off, while in Mobius it just decreases flow. I know I might be asking for too much here maybe, but my concern is that the tank will be completely with no aeration for 10-15mins. Humm, maybe the battery back-up will come into play?

 

[Avengerx77]

Ok, I am still missing something. So, I have created the FeedCycle virtual outlet and set it up as ON in the slider.

Then I went to my MP40 outlet and this is how I have it:

However, the set time passed and did not stop anything. Do I still to manually hit the A, B, C or D icons in Apex dashboard for it to work? or maybe something in the configuration of those icons?

 

[homer1475]

All your toggles should be set to auto.

On means just that, ON. Auto runs on the programming, and off is, off.

 

[homer1475]

The vectra pump cannot be controlled by the apex, other then off and on. The mp40 can be with an additional module. The WXM module will control all MP pumps.

 

[Avengerx77]

Awesome!!! Yes, I think my problem was having my slider set in On position instead of Auto. I just figured it out that I can also go directly to my MP40 and Vectra and set them to Auto and put:

Which pretty much serve the purpose I am looking to shut off at a specific time for auto feeding. The battery back-up will kick in and will still provide some lower flow to the tank in the meantime while feeding.

Thanks everyone

 

[rhostam]

Awesome!!! Yes, I think my problem was having my slider set in On position instead of Auto. I just figured it out that I can also go directly to my MP40 and Vectra and set them to Auto and put:

Which pretty much serve the purpose I am looking to shut off at a specific time for auto feeding. The battery back-up will kick in and will still provide some lower flow to the tank in the meantime while feeding.

Thanks everyone

Yeap! That works, too.

The reason I offered the initial example is because of flexibility. If you press feed cycles A-D, the Vectra/MP40 won't respond. Some people like to use feed cycles for different things. I set my durations to 15, 30, 45, 60, for example. I press feed D if I need 45 minutes to do whatever it is I'm doing. You could also just include those lines in each of those outlets. But it's about abstraction. Keep specific timing code in a virtual outlet and just reference that. Then any changes you make later are included; no need to modify each outlet that may need to respond in a certain way.

I auto-feed, too. But I use feed A-D to do things like manual feeding, brief maintenance, or whatever I need to do. Just press a single button and duration is built-in.

Also, I don't know about Vectras, but some pumps have the option to wire up 1-10v control accessories. You could then just specify a value for the outlet, rather than simply OFF/ON. I use COR20 and WAVs. I set values to 1, for instance, during feed modes and schedules.

 

[Avengerx77]

Makes sense, might add one for water changes. Thanks for the help!!!

 

[homer1475]

Makes sense, might add one for water changes. Thanks for the help!!!

I do just that with feed mode D. I have my skimmer, return pump, reactor pump, UV pump, UV light, heater, ATO(everything in my sump), and gyre(wate level drops to low, so it sucks bubbles when my tank drains down) shut off when I activate feedD. I also turn my water change pump on.

I have it set for an hour, but it never takes that long. I just cancel the feed mode for everything to turn back on. Or it all turns back on in a hour if I forget.