# DIY APEX controlled feeder



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

I feed mostly pellets to my fish and I use auto feeder (Eheim). However, as you know some pellets take time to sink and with return pump running some of the food will be wasted and add unnecessary nutrients to the system while fishes are not getting what they deserve.

I have an Apex Classic. It's probably better than anything out there today but not very friendly with DIY/third party devices and programming this thing is a challenge. Anyway, I was considering purchasing the Apex autofeeder to solve my 10 year old problem but then I thought there could be cheaper way to solve it. As suspected someone has already done it but went great length to do so. I wanted a simple solution and today I finally got it to work!










It's the little black box that triggers "manual" feed button on the Eheim feeder. The box has just a relay that is driven by 12V adapter connected to Apex EB8 power socket. Added an LED to be able to see what Apex is outputing as well.










With a bit of programming with help from Apex programming tutorials (https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials-part-7-feed-cycles.715/) I was able to achieve below:

- feed twice a day, at 2pm and 8pm
- turn off return pump, Tunze ATO, skimmer
- wait 1 min
- turn Eheim feeder manual switch on (one rotation)
- wait 5 min
- turn return pump on
- wait 5 min
- turn skimmer on
- wait 30 seconds
- turn Tunze ATO on


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Awesome!

The APEX autofeeder is, diplomatically speaking, a PITA and not worth the $.

How I really feel about it, a fking piece of garbage based on a LifeGuard autofeeder that is equally a piece of $h!t.


----------



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

wtac said:


> Awesome!
> 
> The APEX autofeeder is, diplomatically speaking, a PITA and not worth the $.
> 
> How I really feel about it, a fking piece of garbage based on a LifeGuard autofeeder that is equally a piece of $h!t.


Lol. That's a pretty strong statement!

I have no experience with the LifeGuard or APEX autofeeder but sounds like I made a right choice by avoiding them.

I guess the Eheim is still one of the better auto feeders in the market? What are the typical problems with the auto feeders you have experienced?


----------



## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

Amazing stuff, I am not so smart and am always impressed with the ingenuity in this forum and the hobby in general.


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

The Eheim "Classic" autofeeder has been the best that I have used and longevity. I still have the one I bought back in the early 90's.

Programming is simple, relatively quiet, compact design, large hopper, easy to adjust amount of food to dispense...the best that there is, IMHO.

IME, when it comes to spending other ppls money or recommending to others performance, aesthetics, ease of use/maintenance and value are key criteria.

The APEX/Lifeguard autofeeders, the hopper extends out of the main body, then rotates to dispense food and then retracts in the body. To refill the hopper, you have to pop off the lid that is at the open face of the hopper.

I've had many incidences where the lid pops off and the contents dump into the DT. The LifeGuard programming is just awkward and not intuitive, IMHO.

Eheim has a double hopper autofeeder but that is a ROYAL PITA as it uses a silly auger style mechanism to push the food out. Small pellets and accumulated powdered food will jam the mechanism. Its quite a job to clean it out and the programming is WTF?

I've messed around with Hagen, Hydor, Juwel and countless Chinese branded that were sent to me to try. They just don't measure up to the Eheim Classic.

The main drawback is if the battery dies, you lose the time and programming as well there is no "going back" if you overshoot the time.

JME/2C


----------



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Thanks for sharing such a valuable information! I'll stick with the Eheim Classic.

The thing about the feeder battery powered is that you forget that it's run by batteries and batteries don't last forever. I really need to make it as part of an annual maintenance schedule because once I did not realize the battery was dead until some fishes died..


----------

