My experience with the AF4 auto feeder

[Hemmbone20]

I had plans to go out of town for 1 week during thanksgiving. So, a few months ago, I purchased the AF4 auto feeder to prepare for my trip.
I set it up a month in advance to make sure it could be trusted before leaving the tank for a week.
I just wanted to share my thoughts on this piece of equipment.
For context I have a 90 gal SPS dominant reef that’s about 1.5 years old. 15 fish, and typical parameters are NO3 10-15ppm, PO4 0.05-0.1ppm. Relatively stable. No large swings..

The slurry I made was like 80% mysis, 10% brine and 10% rotifers.

I’ll start by saying it does work as designed. I haven’t seen any failures since I’ve had it installed.

However…

1st issue: I feel like given the price of the unit, it is an insult that you have no connectability without spending extra on a little WiFi dongle or Neptune APEX connection. I don’t utilize a controller on this tank so that wasn’t an option for me. Without the extra piece, there is very little control. You have to plug it in at the time you want it to feed everyday and it will only feed once at that exact time. You can adjust it using the little +2, +4 buttons, but it seems like for the price you’re paying the control should be better.

2nd issue: Because it only feeds once a day without additional parts, you’re forced to dump more food at once. It would be preferable to do 3 small feedings throughout the day. Also, be aware that if you have a small tank, the smallest setting on this feeder is 5mls which is actually a pretty large amount of food. They say it equates to approximately one cube of food, but when the food is already melted down into the slurry it looks like a lot of stuff getting injected into the tank.

3rd issue: nutrient control became an issue for me for the first time ever. I can feed my tank 4-5 cubes of frozen mysis every day and I never had issues with PO4 or NO3. As soon as I started utilizing this auto feeder I noticed GHA showing up, and tested PO4 and saw it had increased from 0.1 to 0.35 in just 7 days!! That’s with a small feed setting.. 10mls once a day.. less food than I would feed manually. I think the issue was not the amount of food, but instead the fact that the slurry was slowly going bad in the tank and injecting that half decomposed juice into the tank everyday was raising nutrients.
After my trip I was pretty shocked at the amount of long flowy GHA in my tank… it’s never been this bad! Ever!
I have since stopped using the auto feeder, have NOT done a water change.. and my PO4 has dropped from 0.4 to 0.15 in just 3 days. Proving my assumption that the tank has no issues consuming nutrients, it just couldn’t keep up with the slurry being added every day.

I plan on keeping the feeder for now and setting up only for vacations.. but I will not be using this on a regular basis.

Maybe it would be better if you had a huge tank and could dump higher amounts of food every day? Therefore consuming the slurry quick before I starts going bad?

Curious if anyone else has any comments they’d wish to share about this thing! Good or bad! It is new technology so I knew it was a slight risk. Not here to whine, just share my experience.

 

[Rocks reef]

Thank you for a honest review!
I hope you figure out a way to get more control out of it without having to purchase additional parts and/or equipment.

 

[nezw0001]

Agree. My experience has been similar

 

[Hemmbone20]

Agree. My experience has been similar

Did you see large nutrient spikes?

 

[chapter7]

I've yet to use mine, but following along for everyone's experience. Thx for starting the conversation! ........

 

[nezw0001]

Did you see large nutrient spikes?

I have like 1500 gallon total system volume so no.

 

[acroholicanonymous]

I installed mine on Saturday. Doing 5ml twice a day, which is supposed to be around two cubes. (Doesn’t look like it to me, but was happy with how much came out)

I have it going to my return pump to have the food go around the tank - so far so good.

I am going to keep it on the coldest setting and also added in some selcon and vitachem. Will keep you updated over the next couple weeks with nutrients.

 

[Hemmbone20]

I installed mine on Saturday. Doing 5ml twice a day, which is supposed to be around two cubes. (Doesn’t look like it to me, but was happy with how much came out)

I have it going to my return pump to have the food go around the tank - so far so good.

I am going to keep it on the coldest setting and also added in some selcon and vitachem. Will keep you updated over the next couple weeks with nutrients.

Ya let me know how it goes for you! What was your previous feeding routine and nutrient levels?

 

[acroholicanonymous]

I installed mine on Saturday. Doing 5ml twice a day, which is supposed to be around two cubes. (Doesn’t look like it to me, but was happy with how much came out)

I have it going to my return pump to have the food go around the tank - so far so good.

I am going to keep it on the coldest setting and also added in some selcon and vitachem. Will keep you updated over the next couple weeks with nutrients.

Ya let me know how it goes for you! What was your previous feeding routine and nutrient levels?

About two cubes of frozen food and one sheet of nori each day.

Phosphates .03
Nitrates 5-9

My nutrients have been steady for awhile now. In fact I don’t do water changes or have any media to pull out anything. I just have a good skimmer and a lot I think has to do with my roller mat.

We will see how this goes!

 

[slingfox]

I have been using the AF4 for 10 days now. Aside from some issues early on with connectivity (I have the add-on WiFi module), the unit seems to worked as planned. My experience is consistent with the feedback above:

1. The lack of a dedicated app and native programmability is terrible. That said, you can get things to work but this is a major area for improvement.

2. The device seems to work as advertised. I have been very pleased with the operation of the unit so far.

3. I also experienced a significant nurtrient spike. On my 130g system I feed 3.5 cubes of frozen a day. After 10 days of feeding, my phosphate increased form 0.05 to 1.23ppm! My nitrates were previously almost undetectable (I have to dose to compensate) but now are at 1.5ppm which is actually a good thing. During the 10 days I did increase my pellet feeding modestly (my nutrients had been running low for 3+ months). I believe the biggest factor is I usually rinse the frozen food but I did not do so when adding to the AF4. This combined with the slurry sitting there for 1-2 weeks likely elevates phosphates.

What I plan to do going forward is as follows:

1. Defrost 24 cubes of frozen which provides 3.5 cubes per day for one week.

2. Rinse frozen food with tap water then RODI.

3. Add high salinity water (I currently use 1.040 sg saltwater) so that the reservoir is filled to 140’ml. This will allow for two 10ml feedings per day for one week.

4. Set AF4 to the lowest cold setting. I tested it out and when I use high salinity water the slurry does not freeze.

I assume the rinsing plus lowest temperature setting should help keep parameters more in line with when I fed by hand every day. Will see what happens.

 

[Hemmbone20]

I have been using the AF4 for 10 days now. Aside from some issues early on with connectivity (I have the add-on WiFi module), the unit seems to worked as planned. My experience is consistent with the feedback above:

1. The lack of a dedicated app and native programmability is terrible. That said, you can get things to work but this is a major area for improvement.

2. The device seems to work as advertised. I have been very pleased with the operation of the unit so far.

3. I also experienced a significant nurtrient spike. On my 130g system I feed 3.5 cubes of frozen a day. After 10 days of feeding, my phosphate increased form 0.05 to 1.23ppm! My nitrates were previously almost undetectable (I have to dose to compensate) but now are at 1.5ppm which is actually a good thing. During the 10 days I did increase my pellet feeding modestly (my nutrients had been running low for 3+ months). I believe the biggest factor is I usually rinse the frozen food but I did not do so when adding to the AF4. This combined with the slurry sitting there for 1-2 weeks likely elevates phosphates.

What I plan to do going forward is as follows:

1. Defrost 24 cubes of frozen which provides 3.5 cubes per day for one week.

2. Rinse frozen food with tap water then RODI.

3. Add high salinity water (I currently use 1.040 sg saltwater) so that the reservoir is filled to 140’ml. This will allow for two 10ml feedings per day for one week.

4. Set AF4 to the lowest cold setting. I tested it out and when I use high salinity water the slurry does not freeze.

I assume the rinsing plus lowest temperature setting should help keep parameters more in line with when I fed by hand every day. Will see what happens.

Good feedback. That is a massive nutrient spike in 10 days!
I’m skeptical that rinsing the food will make much difference? I have a feeling you’d have to rinse it almost everyday to keep it fresh.

I do agree that a high salinity slurry is probably the best option though. When I first started using my AF4 I just mixed the food with tank water and I don’t think that was salty enough. I used the 2nd coldest setting.

 

[slingfox]

I tested my phosphate twice today. Once it came out as 0.055ppm and then at 0.077ppm. I use a single channel poppet which measures a precise 10ml and also an auto stirrer which mixes the vial the same way every time . I suppose the above variance is within the margin of error for th me Hanna ULR tester. It seems like my very elevated reading at 1.5ppm may have been anomaly or error.

I did end up rinsing out my slurry today and adding a few new cubes of frozen which were also rinsed. I then added the amount of high salinity saltwater so I can dose the target ml per day. I will likely rinse the frozen going forward. The resulting slurry looks sooooo much cleaner. It is basically pieces of mysis and being in a clear fluid along with some fish roe. Not surprisingly, when the auto feeder feeds the tank the feed that comes out looks noticeably cleaner.

 

[acroholicanonymous]

So here is my update after one week.

Important Notes:

1. I used frozen mysis without rinsing.
2. I put Selcon and Vitachem in the mix.
3. I used 1.029 saltwater.
4. I fed 5ml twice a day - morning and evening.
5. I kept same feeding routine with Nori.
6. I dosed my normal 15 ML of Brightwell Coral Inertia each night.
7. No water changes (haven’t done one in forever anyways).
8. Feeder is on coldest setting.

Test on December 14th
• Salinity: 1.024
• Alkalinity: 8.3 dKH
• Calcium: 455 ppm
• Magnesium: 1335 ppm
• Nitrate: 6.5 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.03 ppm

Test on December 21st

• Salinity: 1.024
• Alkalinity: 8.3 dKH
• Calcium: 460 ppm
• Magnesium: 1365 ppm
• Nitrate: 6.3 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.04 ppm

In my unprofessional opinion - the food seems to stay fine and not increase anything noticeably. All my parameters are pretty rock solid with where they usually are. I do not have any phosphate or nitrate removers in my tank except for skimmer and rollermat.

 

[slingfox]

So here is my update after one week.

Important Notes:

1. I used frozen mysis without rinsing.
2. I put Selcon and Vitachem in the mix.
3. I used 1.029 saltwater.
4. I fed 5ml twice a day - morning and evening.
5. I kept same feeding routine with Nori.
6. I dosed my normal 15 ML of Brightwell Coral Inertia each night.
7. No water changes (haven’t done one in forever anyways).
8. Feeder is on coldest setting.

Test on December 14th
• Salinity: 1.024
• Alkalinity: 8.3 dKH
• Calcium: 455 ppm
• Magnesium: 1335 ppm
• Nitrate: 6.5 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.03 ppm

Test on December 21st

• Salinity: 1.024
• Alkalinity: 8.3 dKH
• Calcium: 460 ppm
• Magnesium: 1365 ppm
• Nitrate: 6.3 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.04 ppm

In my unprofessional opinion - the food seems to stay fine and not increase anything noticeably. All my parameters are pretty rock solid with where they usually are. I do not have any phosphate or nitrate removers in my tank except for skimmer and rollermat.

I tested my nutrients after my second 10-day run on the AF4. 0.09ppm phosphates (was 0.06ppm before the AF4) and undetectable nitrates (will need to start dosing again). I also increased my pellet feeding slight during this time since I wanted to see if could increase nutrients without dosing. Overall I have been pleased with the AF4. I am in day 2 of an extended trip so will see where things stand when I get back.

 

[Wonkabar]

I have been using the af4 for about 3 months now and my experience lines up with the general vibe of this thread. I have been struggling with phosphates since before the auto feeder so I can’t blame the feeder…. I also can’t rule it out. As of two days ago I am only making 1 week worth of food as a slurry each time. 1.050 salinity water and the feeder on its coldest setting. I feed 3 times a day on the smallest setting in a 210g tank with about 40 fish.

 

[acroholicanonymous]

So here is my update after one week.

Important Notes:

1. I used frozen mysis without rinsing.
2. I put Selcon and Vitachem in the mix.
3. I used 1.029 saltwater.
4. I fed 5ml twice a day - morning and evening.
5. I kept same feeding routine with Nori.
6. I dosed my normal 15 ML of Brightwell Coral Inertia each night.
7. No water changes (haven’t done one in forever anyways).
8. Feeder is on coldest setting.

Test on December 14th
• Salinity: 1.024
• Alkalinity: 8.3 dKH
• Calcium: 455 ppm
• Magnesium: 1335 ppm
• Nitrate: 6.5 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.03 ppm

Test on December 21st

• Salinity: 1.024
• Alkalinity: 8.3 dKH
• Calcium: 460 ppm
• Magnesium: 1365 ppm
• Nitrate: 6.3 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.04 ppm

In my unprofessional opinion - the food seems to stay fine and not increase anything noticeably. All my parameters are pretty rock solid with where they usually are. I do not have any phosphate or nitrate removers in my tank except for skimmer and rollermat.

Newest tests after two weeks.

• Salinity: 1.024
• Alkalinity: 8.4 dKH
• Calcium: 460 ppm
• Magnesium: 1305 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.02 ppm
• Nitrate: 8.2 ppm

 

[SaltyPotato]

Wish I read this before I left for 5 days. I certainly overfed at 20ml twice a day but the salinity wasn’t high enough at 1.025 and not on the coldest setting. I came back to a dry reservoir with all the food at the bottom. Phosphates jumped from
.10 to .22

I think all the food was decaying in the reservoir and pumping phosphates into the tank. Will go much higher salinity and coldest setting next time.

 

[acroholicanonymous]

I haven’t had any issues with my set up.

I think my salinity is like around 1.030 and at coldest setting doing 5 ml twice a day. I change everything out once every two weeks.

 

[SantaMonica Verified Sponsor]

Hi salinity is a good idea... very high even... should not affect the tank.