Want to program feeder

[Surfside74]

Hello,

I want to program my AFS through apex to turn on every 72 hours. I work every third day so I would like the feeder to feed them while Im gone. I feed by hand when I am home. Can someone help me figure out how to do that. Thanks.

Rob

 

[homer1475]

With fusion, wouldn't it just be easier to just do a normal daily programming, then turn the tile on when you leave for the day?

 

[Surfside74]

With fusion, wouldn't it just be easier to just do a normal daily programming, then turn the tile on when you leave for the day?

I have thought of that but I am forgetful. LOL. Thats why if I could get it to do automatically then great. if not its not the end of the world.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Unfortunately the longest timer the Apex provides is 999:59 minutes (16 hours, 39 minutes, 59 seconds). There are ways to create a longer delay by chaining several virtual outputs together, but it's complex and cumbersome.

Another alternative is the DOW command where you can specify individual days of the week, but since you work every 3rd day, I assume it might be a Monday one week but a Tuesday the next week, so that may not exactly fit your schedule.

 

[homer1475]

I was originally thinking DOW too, but didn't type it out as I came to the same conclusion as you.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I use the feeder but do not have it programmed. Here is a link that may help or unless someone response to give you the exact program.

Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials

Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials Part 1 Introduction Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 2: Timers Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 3: Automatic Top-Off Kit (ATK) Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 4: Power Monitoring Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 5: Virtual...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Surfside74]

Yeah DOW won't work. No big deal. I will just set it up to feed the Hikari pellets everyday and I will just cut back on the frozen food. Thanks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Give them a steady program now. I have mine feed 2 turns at 9a-12p-3p -6p and 9p regardless of whether I’m home or not. When I do go away, they get the same portion at the same time daily.
They even recognize the sound of the motor and race to the feeder always

 

[Tastee]

I did post a reply on the Neptune forums (echoing @SuncrestReef that this isn’t well supported by the Apex language) but do have another suggestion. You could program your AFS to feed daily but put in an override so that if a feed cycle is triggered manually it skips that feed cycle. If you program the AFS to feed later than you normally feed manually this may do most of what you want.