New Avast Marine Auto feeder

[AVAST Marine]

I should have been more explicit. The question was for foods coming out of the feeder. My primary interest in getting the feeder is to keep my anthias fat and happy. I think the best food for them would be the one that floats around in the water column the longest, before either being eaten or settling to the substrate. Golden Pearls claim to be neutrally buoyant, and in their 800 to 1000 Micron size should be acceptable to the anthias. It is available from BRS and from BSD (Brine Shrimp Direct).

So I was wondering if, in your testing, you noticed that any of those foods happened to stay in the water column longer than some of the other foods.

I think I understand what you are getting at. Keep in mind that freeze dried food was originally about a 90% water content before dried, so when it is rehydrated in tank water it becomes inherently "neutrally buoyant". More simply, it stays in water column and moves as the flow pumps move it rather than floating or sinking. Pick the micron size based on the animals you want to feed, they won't have any trouble finding it

 

[HighChiefKC]

I don't think you would use the "Feeder" control type. I believe the Neptune AFS module does one complete rotation every time power is applied. The Plank doesn't work the same way, rather, it will keep rotating/dispensing as long as power is applied. You should abandon the preset control types in Fusion and use "Advanced" instead. Then determine how long you want the plank to run each time it comes on. Start a timer, plug the plank into a dumb outlet and dispense onto a piece of paper, when you have enough food, stop the timer and unplug the plank. Now you know how long the plank needs to run and you can use an OSC statement for better control.

Using the example above:
Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/001:00/059:00 Then ON
If Time 20:00 to 07:00 Then OFF

-- The "Fallback OFF" statement is so that the unit will not run when power goes out and comes back on.
-- The OSC statement says that the feeder will run for 1 minute then turn off for 59 minutes. So you would be feeding 1 minute worth of food every hour. Use your timer measurement here. Set the delay to approximately 4 hours (or 240 minutes = 240:00) to run 3 times per day.
-- The "If Time" statement turns off the feeder at night between the hours of 8PM to 7AM. Adjust as needed.

There are some caveats about how the OSC statement works and triggering from feed modes but you should read the comprehensive guide on Neptune's website to understand it. Or, post your modified code and explain how you want it to work and someone like me can probably verify it.

I figured out how to set it as advanced instead of fusions auto feeder!
My question in your OSC time splits, what does the first set of 000:00 represent? Is that where I would put the 240 delay between feedings? Thanks!

 

[NinjaTiLL]

I figured out how to set it as advanced instead of fusions auto feeder!
My question in your OSC time splits, what does the first set of 000:00 represent? Is that where I would put the 240 delay between feedings? Thanks!

You can effectively ignore the first 000:00; that specified a delay before the next "on for 1 minute" or 001:00 setting. Simply put, all you need to do is change the 059:00 to 240:00. The whole line would look like:

OSC 000:00/001:00/240:00 Then ON

What this does is turn on the outlet for 1 minute and then stay off for 240 minutes and repeats.

 

[TheHarold]

I figured out how to set it as advanced instead of fusions auto feeder!
My question in your OSC time splits, what does the first set of 000:00 represent? Is that where I would put the 240 delay between feedings? Thanks!

Great explanations here:

Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 2: Timers

Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 2: Timers For inspiration: a beautiful 10-gallon nano tank. This photo is from the Reef2Reef archives courtesy of @Dferrari13 ©2019, All Rights Reserved. Note From the Editor: This article is Part 2 of a series. Part 1 may be found here. This...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Avast Justin]

You can effectively ignore the first 000:00; that specified a delay before the next "on for 1 minute" or 001:00 setting. Simply put, all you need to do is change the 059:00 to 240:00. The whole line would look like:

OSC 000:00/001:00/240:00 Then ON

What this does is turn on the outlet for 1 minute and then stay off for 240 minutes and repeats.

Thank you for taking the time to write out the detailed explanation of that code I just pasted in and ran off

One little minor change- the three time sections should add up to a number evenly divisible by 1440, so the code evaluates to start at midnight each day. Otherwise, it will roll over to the next day, and you'll have feeding times that eventually drift off of set hours. So, it should be:
OSC 000:00/001:00/239:00 Then ON
(1+239 = 240, which divides evenly into 1440, or exactly 6 times per day)

If you wanted to only feed for 30 seconds at a time, the code would be:
OSC 000:00/00:30/239:30 Then ON

etc.

 

[Avast Justin]

Decided to pre order! I love the idea of using the tube to defrost frozen food and the auto feeder for vacay and feeding Anthias non stop.

now i just need to figured out how to incorporate it with my top lids top before it’s made

I'm attaching a pdf of the dimensions for anyone considering how to integrate it with their screen top. FWIW, I have been using mine with a screen top since 2016, and I considered this a must-have feature when designing the coupling between the keg & plank portions. The keg locks into the plank in such a way that a roughly 1/4" thick screen can sit on top of the plank, and the keg can rest on top of the screen lid yet still engage the slots in the plank. Some people have made cutouts in their lid for the entire plank, rather than allowing the screen to rest on top.

 

[NinjaTiLL]

Thank you for taking the time to write out the detailed explanation of that code I just pasted in and ran off

One little minor change- the three time sections should add up to a number evenly divisible by 1440, so the code evaluates to start at midnight each day. Otherwise, it will roll over to the next day, and you'll have feeding times that eventually drift off of set hours. So, it should be:
OSC 000:00/001:00/239:00 Then ON
(1+239 = 240, which divides evenly into 1440, or exactly 6 times per day)

If you wanted to only feed for 30 seconds at a time, the code would be:
OSC 000:00/00:30/239:30 Then ON

etc.

Yes. You got it!

 

[HighChiefKC]

Thank you for taking the time to write out the detailed explanation of that code I just pasted in and ran off

One little minor change- the three time sections should add up to a number evenly divisible by 1440, so the code evaluates to start at midnight each day. Otherwise, it will roll over to the next day, and you'll have feeding times that eventually drift off of set hours. So, it should be:
OSC 000:00/001:00/239:00 Then ON
(1+239 = 240, which divides evenly into 1440, or exactly 6 times per day)

If you wanted to only feed for 30 seconds at a time, the code would be:
OSC 000:00/00:30/239:30 Then ON

etc.

So this will work right? I changed it from 120 to 119

 

[radiata]

Woo Hoo! Got mine yesterday and it's up and running. Thank you Avast!

 

[deahttub]

Anyone have any issues with the pump throwing out microbubbles? Mine has done it intermentantly. I set it up yesterday afternoon figured maybe it was because its new

 

[radiata]

Anyone have any issues with the pump throwing out microbubbles? Mine has done it intermentantly. I set it up yesterday afternoon figured maybe it was because its new

That hasn't happened to me (yet). But I did notice an undocumented flow adjustment on the bottom of the pump that appears to control the volume of water being pumped. You may want to try moving it to different positions, BUT be sure to remember the position it originally came set in as it may already be set for optimum use.

 

[deahttub]

Thanks for the tip. Ill disl it down a bit and update everyone

 

[deahttub]

Thanks for the tip. Ill disl it down a bit and update everyone

Well...put it down to low and it didnt move enough, them halfway close, but still too slow. Have it at 3/4 and it seems to be fine...keep yas updated

 

[halfmoon61]

I had some microbubbles, moved the switch on the pump and most dissipated. Fine line to keep enough spin to drain the food and not have the vortex sucking air below the tube. Might be easier to adjust out of the water, I'll look at it when I clean it, for now I seem to have it set to a happy medium.

 

[SoAg Reefer]

I have mine right over a Vortech. Noticed air bubbles as well and the water height in the tube was very high this morning, almost overflowing. Works great and I love it. So much better than the AFS but I need to tinker with it a bit to lower the water height and eliminate the air bubbles. I think those two issues are related though. Water height in tube was lower last night and no bubbles, this morning it’s higher and has bubbles. Will advise when I work it out

 

[Jud]

Hey @ctenophore, great thinking for all us folks using screen tops! Was about to pull the trigger on ordering, but trying to figure out a clean integration with that screen on my rimless.

Was thinking one of these screen "feeding portholes" may be a good option, minus the lid. They are 3.75" wide, which should accommodate the mixing chamber tube at 2.39", right?

 

[mfollen]

I just got one for the same purpose.

the interior opening is 3” wide.

 

[Avast Justin]

That looks pretty good. Let me know how it works. If there is still a gap that small fish can get through, we can probably make a similar size that integrates better with the plank opening. Maybe a few peg-and-hole aligners between the plank rim and the screen ring? I don't want to simply copy that company's design, so maybe they'll work with us to make a complimentary version of their product.

 

[Avast Justin]

I have mine right over a Vortech. Noticed air bubbles as well and the water height in the tube was very high this morning, almost overflowing. Works great and I love it. So much better than the AFS but I need to tinker with it a bit to lower the water height and eliminate the air bubbles. I think those two issues are related though. Water height in tube was lower last night and no bubbles, this morning it’s higher and has bubbles. Will advise when I work it out

We’ve started adding a small hole just below the plank rim to all mixing chambers which will act as an emergency drain in case a snail or something blocks the normal drain tube. I recommend doing this if you’ve noticed any kind of higher-than-normal water level inside your mixing chamber.

A 3/8” drill bit is a good size. If anyone with an existing plank has any trouble with doing this modification, please contact us at [email protected] and we’ll help you out.

 

[SoAg Reefer]

I just lowered the speed of the pump and it works fine, no bubbles either. Hands down, the best auto feeder I’ve ever owned!