Neptune AFS design flaw- beware!

[dudemeister]

So I got my new AFS and as I'm setting it up I caused great harm to my tank and have now spent hours trying to remedy it.... not happy.

It's easy enough to set up and control. The Apex recognizes it right away but as with any auto feeder, you need to calibrate how much food you want to go in on each turn. On this unit, the little slider is on the inside so you need to remove the food cup in order to futz with it. So there I was, happily adjusting it when disaster struck. The action to remove the cup can also open the cup and since it faces the tank......(drumroll please)..... yes! The entire contents of the cup can go spilling into your tank! I spent the next few hours with a turkey baster trying to remove as much as I could. I figure the fishies have now been fed for the next few months! More massive water changes coming...

Lesson- take the unit COMPLETELY off the tank before you try to remove the food cup.

I hope this helps someone. I'll try again next week, for now- over and out....

 

[thefuz]

Bummer. Good luck with the cleanup. You could try sucking things up into the sump through a filter sock rather than the mad dash baster. Turn up the juice on your circulation pumps and make your tank a snowglobe. Then w/c if there's still too much settled in.

 

[dudemeister]

Where oh where to get a filter sock?

Baster did ok but the water smelled. Did 1 massive change already. All seems ok.

 

[RTMA]

ugh, sounds like a huge PITA. Glad you got it under control. hmm filter socks. lol. I am assuming you still have to give Mike his filter sock from our fiter sock group buy like 2 years ago? lol.

 

[dudemeister]

They are safely stored in my fish room!