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Today on BRStv we have episode twenty of our Neptune Apex series, the AFS automatic feeder.
Hi I'm Ryan host of BRStv where each week we cover a new topic related to reefing. This
week we are going to show you how to set up your Neptune AFS automatic feeder. I would
like to say two things about this product right off the bat, even if it didn't hook
up to the Apex it would still be my favorite feeder. It keeps the food dry and dispenses
a predictable amount using most common sized foods
Coupled with the Apex it means I can automatically set it up to do a single rotation of a large
volume of food or multiple rotations of a small amount and I can spread it out over
various periods of the day which means I will absolutely be able to find the right volume
of food for the tank.
Inside the food cartridge is an adjustable gate which you can adjust for the size of
food you are using as well as the volume dispensed.
Mounting it is simple, there is a clamp that goes on the side if the tank, you can see
that it comes with two aquabus ports like every Apex modules so you can daisy chain
other items. In this case it would be likely that the only thing you would daisy chain
off this module would be a second feeder with different foods.
For instance it wouldn't be uncommon to feed two different foods of different sizes like
one that has some large pellets for the bigger fish that gets fed once a day and one that
has tiny pellets similar foods that are fed multiple times a day for active schooling
fish like anthias and chromis. Two feeding points could it easier for the less aggressive
fish to have access to the food as well. That said be careful not to go crazy with the feedings
or you are going to run into algae issues.
So setting the feeder up in Apex Fusion is super simple. Locate the virtual outlet called
feeder and click on the settings gear next to it. Once you are in the configuration screen,
select control type feeder, when you want the first feeding to start, the repeat interval
which is how often you want to feed after that first feeding, how many times you want
the feeding drums to rotate in a single feeding, feedings per day and the feed mode you want
associated with the AFS feeder.
In this case I want my first feeding to be at 10 am, because I have active fish id like
a second feeding at four pm which is six hours or 360 minutes. I'd like two drum rotations,
a maximum of two feedings a day and I will tie it to feed mode A so any time I trigger
feed mode manually I will also get a revolution of the AFS feeder. Send to Apex and I am done.
If you are interested you can see what code the feeder configuration wizard wrote for
you by clicking the advanced tab and you can see mainly what it is doing is using the oscillating
code and some time statements to set all of this up for you.
One last note, currently they can't make these things fast enough. We typically sell out
the day they come in so if you are interested and see them available you might want to consider
acting quickly. If you have any questions about how this works or tips for other reefers
checkout the comments area down below, if this is your first time with us hit that subscribe
button because we do this every week, see ya next week with another episode of BRStv.