Neptune Systems AFS Automatic Feeding System

This is one of those products that is totally unnecessary for keeping a reef tank but so worth the indulgence. What happens if you go out of town? For more than a weekend? What if you want to automate your feedings? Get this feeder. This feeder is the most reliable one I’ve used. I’ve come to expect excellent quality from the Neptune Apex line of products and I’m certainly not disappointed here. You can set this unit to feed however way you want and whenever you want. You can program multiple drops at a time and the adjustable feed gate can accommodate all sorts of sizes of pellets. I’ve used large pellets to small and had great result with all of them. This is a great buy for the serious hobbyist as it’s not cheap. Quality is not cheap and this is the best, by far. You do need an apex controller, it is required. You won’t regret adding this to your collection of gear.

I really like Neptune products and have had them for many years. However, I love programming and adding more modules and functions to my APEX, but I've sadly disappointed with this feeder. It is way and I do mean way overpriced for what you get. It will only work with Neptune Systems controllers which means if wanted to relocate the unit to a tank without an Apex, then no dice as it is proprietary. The construction is of a feel of very thin and cheap plastic and for $99.00 it could be a lot better made. To remove the lid is like many other feeders, should be done by removing the unit from the tank as the chance of it popping off and any remaining food falling in the tank is the same as other feeders with this type of lid and drum. The noise level is likened unto a kid's battery powered diesel truck for Christmas that make a huge racket. If in the room next to the unit, it'd wake up the average sleeper, I mean loud and it sounds like the gear train is very poorly meshed as the unit crunches it's way out to feed and stalls and hesitates like there is great binding. The function is by Apex sending an On/Off cycle to the unit which means it uses the OSCillate function and sometimes it feeds the correct number of programmed turns and sometimes it over or under turns due to the gearing speed being inaccurate making it sometimes miss it's timing window of operation for desired number of drum rotations. Though is integrates with the Neptune Systems Apex for set and forget functionality, the same could be programmed with on/off times of your pumps in synch with any other dry feeder being programmed for the same time frame. If this unit cost was in the $25.00 to $50.00 range, it may be barely worth it with the in accurate timing and the cheep plastic and totally being proprietary to Apex and very, very loud operation. I love Apex and the different modules but this is a great disappointment for the money and operation. I will be sending back and purchasing a programmable feeder like Ehiem and programming my feed cycles accordingly as that is we bought the Apex unit in the first place. Apex unit great, the AFS unit poorly made, noisy, ratchetie and way overpriced.

I have a 40 gal breeder rimmed tank and the mount is a pain to install. There is an inner lip that holds up the glass cover and this is in the way when you use the bracket. When I attached it, it leaned forward too much. I was afraid that the cylinder would come out and touch the water making this feeder pointless. I had to modify the bracket by cutting out the middle flexible tab and cutting notches in the outer tabs. Now it sits level and works well. It would probably work well on a rimless tank. Oh, and the noise - its not THAT loud. Online videos are not accurate. While I wish it was quiet, its still not enough noise to balk at. Another issue - I had to buy a 90 degree USB adapter since I did not have enough room on the back of the tank to accommodate the supplied USB. This is not Neptune's fault since we all have different configurations. Last issue is removing the food cup. If you try, the lid will come off and there will be food all over in the tank. You may want to remove the entire feeder from the bracket first which is also a pain to do since it feels like I'm going to break the feeder when I do this. Overall does the job while I'm out of town.

I bought this to compliment my apex system. I don't feed flakes, just small pellets. I find that Hikari Marine S pellets work great for my 30 gallon salt tank. I have it programmed to feed twice a day. You can by a similar product for less, but it won't interface with the apex system. It does do a good job at keeping the food dry. Small volumes of feeding are a little difficult. Shaving the orange slider and/or modding with a little scotch tape may be necessary. I did make a plastic ring from a round plastic container to collect the pellets on the water surface long enough for them to sink, otherwise they just float into the sump. Basically I cut the bottom half a a plastic container off and suspended the "ring" from my mesh top with wire. The feeder drops the pellets thru the mesh into the "ring" where they get waterlogged and sink. I had to buy a new one because my daughter dropped the first one in the tank. I secured the second one to the side of the tank rather than just setting it on the mesh top. Overall, it's a great feeder. A little noisy, but not I actually like to hear it. It reminds me that it's working. Pricey, but if you have an Apex, it's the best option.

Probably the worst product Neptune makes. First off, this thing is absurdly loud. Yes, yes, you've read all the reviews and probably are hoping all the people complaining about the noise are drones regurgitating the same line they read on some other website. Listen to me, this thing is way way too loud and it's annoying. There is no reason for it at all. It's just flimsy plastic with an interface to Apex which is largely useless in a feeder. If the amount you could dispense was more adjustable (through Apex ideally) or if there were multiple chambers, or the ability to feed flake then we would be on to something. As it is, there is a very crudely made sliding door that either dispenses anywhere from 3 to a dozen tiny pellets, or a huge bolus of pellets that grossly overfeed a tank smaller than 30 gallons or any tank that is not well stocked with fish. There is no in between setting and no way to consistently dispense the same amount of pellets. My fish (clown, blenny, wrasse, and firefish) would not touch the Neptune pellets. I've never seen fish refuse food like that. I had this thing attached to my tank for an extended vacation and turned it off after a couple days when I had a massive algae bloom. I tried a different pellet and same thing. I can only assume the primitive portion control (which is not consistent and not adjustable enough) ends up overfeeding. Unit is now sitting in my craigslist pile.