How do I increase soak time with Avast Plank

[Zero_Cool]

Recently set up a Plank feeder with their Reef Jerky and some small pellets. Programming is fine but I am seeing more floating food than I would like (especially the larger mysis pieces).

I believe this to be caused by the foods passing through the feed tube too fast. For those who have them how have you been able to increase the soak time of the food?

I set the unit up as instruction/video list with the drum on an Apex and the pump always on.

Do I need to change the pump to only starting after the food has been dropped for a minute or 2?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[iriecorals]

I just set one up too but I don’t really have my food floating. It’s in the water mid to low tank

 

[slojim]

I use separate timers for the drum and pump - and let freeze dried food sit in the water for a while before the pump flushes it out. Something more than 30minutes seems to help.

 

[KStatefan]

Reduce the flow of the pump.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Reduce the flow of the pump.

This is what was recommended to try by Avast. I will start here. Thank you.

 

[Zero_Cool]

I use separate timers for the drum and pump - and let freeze dried food sit in the water for a while before the pump flushes it out. Something more than 30minutes seems to help.

Thank you.

I was considering programming the Apex to turn on 10 mins later than the drum.

I had a terrible loud noise come from the pump when first plugged in, unplugged and tries again and it was silent. I am a little worried that stopping and starting will bring that noise back again. Only thing to do is try right.

 

[Zero_Cool]

I thought I reduced the flow (turned the grey restrictor clockwise as directed) but still have a bunch of food floating on top.

Went ahead and programmed the Apex to turn the pump on 3 minutes after the auger starts. Will test and report back.

 

[KStatefan]

Min setting on the pump will be when the gray baffle is opposite the outlet if you have the Sicce pump. What food are you using?

 

[Zero_Cool]

So I would need to turn that grey restrictor counter-clockwise (which is opposite of what Avast said).

I am feeding their Reef Jerky with some small TDO mixed in.

 

[slojim]

I like leaving it off most of the time - as now I also drop frozen food cubes in there and wait a few minutes before toggling on the pump - no need for a separate ring, gadget, or little cup to thaw the food and the frozen food gets well dsitributed in the water column. I have the older pump and it has turned on a few times a day for a year and a half.

Currently I have reef jerky, some pellets, and some freeze dried krill. 10 minutes wasn't long enough for the freeze dried krill.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Thank you.

I reprogrammed for a 10 minute delay between the keg and pump. First run this morning I still noticed floating foods. May adjust dwell time longer especially when I increase food quantity for more fish.

As a side note the clownfish have already figured out where to hang out for food every 2 hours

 

[Tcook]

I like the idea of dropping frozen mysis into the top. I ran the old pump with a short discharge tube for a few years. Worked great. Received the new sicce and tube. Even with the tube at full length and pump at very bottom the water almost splashes out of the top of the tube. The full lenght tube is too long for my 24” tall 120 and shoots the tdo down too fast. I will see if I can turn down the pump some more. If not then I will go back to the original pump/tube or put the plank in the sump return chamber.

 

[Reefer Dan]

I like the idea of dropping frozen mysis into the top. I ran the old pump with a short discharge tube for a few years. Worked great. Received the new sicce and tube. Even with the tube at full length and pump at very bottom the water almost splashes out of the top of the tube. The full lenght tube is too long for my 24” tall 120 and shoots the tdo down too fast. I will see if I can turn down the pump some more. If not then I will go back to the original pump/tube or put the plank in the sump return chamber.

I had the same issue with the water level in the tube almost splashing out. I had to raise the tube on the holder ring as high as I could to still have the feeder be unobstructed.When I asked, you want the water level in the tube to be about 1-1.5” below the tube… but I was still having issues with the food going out and then refloating after leaving the tube. I’ve recently turned the grey motor reducer to about 1/4-1/2 from minimum (dropping the level more) and so far haven’t noticed issues. Still fine tuning things and I’ve had it about 2 months.

 

[Tcook]

I’ll try that

 

[Zero_Cool]

I was also told that the tube should be about 4 inches or more into the water.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Thank you.

I was considering programming the Apex to turn on 10 mins later than the drum.

I had a terrible loud noise come from the pump when first plugged in, unplugged and tries again and it was silent. I am a little worried that stopping and starting will bring that noise back again. Only thing to do is try right.

I am a huge fan of the plank feeder I currently use 5 of them and 6 Neptune feeders. I originally was cycling the pump on for 15 min whenever drum dispensed food but over past year 3x one of the pumps from the 5 did not turn on due to small snail in impeller and I did not notice till about 1 month later from the putrid rotting food smell that hit me in the face, and then I realized the plank was full to the rim with food just sitting in the soaking water from that point on. I decided to let my pumps run constantly as directed by Avest.

 

[Reefer Dan]

I’ll try that

In order to do that, you do need to reroute the plug cord outside of their “groove”. Just as a heads up.

I am a huge fan of the plank feeder I currently use 5 of them and 6 Neptune feeders. I originally was cycling the pump on for 15 min whenever drum dispensed food but over past year 3x one of the pumps from the 5 did not turn on due to small snail in impeller and I did not notice till about 1 month later from the putrid rotting food smell that hit me in the face, and then I realized the plank was full to the rim with food just sitting in the soaking water from that point on. I decided to let my pumps run constantly as directed by Avest.

So far I’m also liking mine. That’s a valid point on keeping the pump on. I have mine on all the time but I figured it was better for the pumps life to have it be on all the time since it is an AC pump.

 

[Zero_Cool]

That’s a valid point on keeping the pump on. I have mine on all the time but I figured it was better for the pumps life to have it be on all the time since it is an AC pump.

Very good point about the pump. I really like the feeder and the ability to feed multiple small meals throughout the day.

 

[ctenophore]

Hi all, I figured I'd jump in here to see how the mixing chamber tuning is going. I think what some of you are seeing with some food types exiting early (mysis especially) may be due to the relative height of the tank's water level compared to the chamber. That also impacts the tendency for the tube to overflow if the pump valve is set to max. I recently set up a Plank on a baby banggai rearing nano tank that has a high water level relative to the mixing chamber, to see if I could reproduce this effect. The tank water level is touching the bottom of the square platform, which is a little higher than originally designed for. When the pump valve is turned to "min", the swirl is just right and doesn't overflow. Food doesn't leave too early except maybe a couple pieces. Unsurprisingly, they're not fans of the algae flakes in the Jerky lol.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Hi all, I figured I'd jump in here to see how the mixing chamber tuning is going.

Thank you for checking in Justin. I am still fine tuning the process but have improved results to show for it. What I have done:

1. Verified the feed tube is a minimum of 4" into the water
2. Turned the input flow of the pump down to a 1/4 turn (not sure this matters as see #3)
3. Scheduled the pump to come on 10 minutes after the auger turns

I am seeing significantly less floating foods (mysis was the big issue) at feed time.

It really is a great product and is serving me (and my fish) well.