Avast Plank Feeder Stink

[Ajayabb]

I noticed a bad smell tank side today. Usually this means a snail went overboard between the tank and the wall. I vacuumed behind the tank but the smell persisted. What I found was my Circulation bowl for the Plank feeder became clogged and stagnant. Man did that thing stink. Because I use the Cannonball I didn’t notice that the pump had clogged and stopped working. It was full of decaying mysis and pellets Keep an eye on that circulation pump especially if it’s covered with the Cannonball

 

[dakoop]

Thanks for the pointer

 

[Rothric]

I recently upgraded my Plank with this part, and it's been a fantastic upgrade. Getting the circulation set just right was my biggest (still small) complaint about the Plank. Highly recommended!

https://www.avastmarine.com/products/plank-3-6-mixing-pump-upgrade

 

[Ajayabb]

I recently upgraded my Plank with this part, and it's been a fantastic upgrade. Getting the circulation set just right was my biggest (still small) complaint about the Plank. Highly recommended!

https://www.avastmarine.com/products/plank-3-6-mixing-pump-upgrade

Just ordered one. Thanks for the tip

 

[Treefer32]

That's awesome, I'll need to try that. I had two things happen recently. One was what you said, a massive horrible smell. I thought for sure a fish had died somewhere (i have large fish). I searched for days for the source smell, emptying the skimmer bucket multiple times. Cleaning the algae scrubber thoroughly. Cleaning my overflows thoroughly. Then discovered it was the plank auto feeder. I made the mistake of turning it upside down over the tank to look in it and dumped all the rotten gelatinous food into the tank.. Well, thankfully nothing adverse came of that. The corals loved it and the fish ignored anything too rotten. Lol. I tried cleaning the pump and discovered a snail had climbed into the gear shaft of the pump (or an egg hatched inside the pump? ) Either way it had shut down the entire pump. Got the snail out and cleaned it thoroughly and smell was gone.

2. When I reseated the pump I forgot how far down the pump should be. I started having water overflow the mounting bracket onto the floor.

Having something to adjust the flow better would be ideal! I'll check this out.

 

[Ajayabb]

Just realized I have the crappy 1st Gen pump when I went to install the upgrade. Found the upgraded Sicce Nano pump on Amazon so should be good to go in a few days.

 

[DaveC]

Just ran into this very same issue. I had the original plank pump, and I just ordered the upgrade with the new pump.

 

[Boehmtown]

Besides this pump problem, is the avast worth it? I've found cheap reliable substitutes for every piece of equipment but an auto feeder. None of them are consistent. They are all rising in price and I'm half a second from just spending the money.

 

[Tcook]

Besides this pump problem, is the avast worth it? I've found cheap reliable substitutes for every piece of equipment but an auto feeder. None of them are consistent. They are all rising in price and I'm half a second from just spending the money.

They are great. I’ve had mine for a few years without any significant issues. They used to upgrade the pump for free. Anyone else with the old pump I would check with Avast first.

 

[Ajayabb]

They are great. I’ve had mine for a few years without any significant issues. They used to upgrade the pump for free. Anyone else with the old pump I would check with Avast first.

I don’t think Avast is offering the free upgrade any longer.

 

[reely989]

I noticed a bad smell tank side today. Usually this means a snail went overboard between the tank and the wall. I vacuumed behind the tank but the smell persisted. What I found was my Circulation bowl for the Plank feeder became clogged and stagnant. Man did that thing stink. Because I use the Cannonball I didn’t notice that the pump had clogged and stopped working. It was full of decaying mysis and pellets Keep an eye on that circulation pump especially if it’s covered with the Cannonball

Yep been there done that and had the wife mad at me lol. I use a turkey baster to push water through the feeding pipe periodically to dislodge stuff. Lot of gunk usually comes out. It’s pretty amazing those little pumps hold up as well as they do.

 

[reely989]

Besides this pump problem, is the avast worth it? I've found cheap reliable substitutes for every piece of equipment but an auto feeder. None of them are consistent. They are all rising in price and I'm half a second from just spending the money.

Depends on what you feed imo. The plank is great but I don’t think it’s that much better than a regular auto feeder unless you need a lot of feedings during the day or you want to automate feeding freeze dried. I’m pretty amazed their auger style design hasn’t been copied. Seems pretty simple.