programing question for a auto brine shrimp feeder

[jaws789872]

OK what I have a dwarf seahorse tank that I am trying to feed baby brine shrimp to 4 times a day. I have a container that sits next to the tank that I keep live brine in and 4 times a day a pump kicks on and over flows the brine tank into the seahorse tank feeding the seahorses 4 times a day. It all works great except using the time command the pump has to kick on for 1 minute which is too long. the first feeding feeds way too much not leaving much brine for the later feedings. If I add a defer command will it lessen the amount of time the pump is on? for example, this is my program now:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 10:00 to 10:01 Then ON
If Time 14:00 to 14:01 Then ON
If Time 17:00 to 17:01 Then ON
If Time 21:00 to 21:01 Then ON

So at 10, 2, 5 and 9 the pump kicks on for exactly 1 minute, and it works like a charm, but if I wanted to shorten the time the pump was on to say 20 seconds:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 10:00 to 10:01 Then ON
If Time 14:00 to 14:01 Then ON
If Time 17:00 to 17:01 Then ON
If Time 21:00 to 21:01 Then ON
Defer 000:40 Then ON

would this accomplish this?

[SNP]

If you use the oscillation command you can reduce runtime down to seconds.


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[SNP]

Look at page 61 of the comprehensive guide:


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[jaws789872]

The problem with the OSC command it its a set amount of time between. I cant have them being fed at night when the lights are off. Basically the lights start ramping up at 10am and ramp down at 9pm. I would have to have some advanced skills to get it to come on at the exact times listed above and I couldn't figure out how to do that.

[SNP]

Just add the below command and it'll only work outside of the times you set.

If time 21:00 to 10:00 then off


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[SNP]

You can obviously tweet the above and make the feeding window smaller. Also do you have to manually load your feeder everyday?


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[jaws789872]

Yeah, I hatch the shrimp at my hatching station, then load the tank container in the morning. It will actually last about 3 days but on the third day the pickings are a little slim. That's why I am tryng to get the pump to not pump as long so it makes each feeding more consistentDSC_0093.jpg

[zombie]

Your current code (before adding the defer) is actually 2 minutes. If you want 20 seconds you need a 1:40 defer.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

[jaws789872]

I will tell you in 10 minutes If you are correct on that Zombie, but I think that is not correct. Even if the 14:01 statement actually went to 14:01:59 wouldn't the 14:00 statement actually then start at 14:00:59 as well? I am pretty sure it only runs for 1 min as it is pragrammed but I might be mistaken and I would really have to rethink things because 20 seconds might not be enough then.

[jaws789872]

You were absolutely right, it was staying on for 2 minutes. And the defer worked so now I have to just adjust my defer time to whatever works best. Thanks Zombie for pointing that out. That makes a huge difference.

[zombie]

The reason for that 2 minutes is because the apex evaluates that line based on any time that has 14:00 or 14:01 in the time. So it becomes 14:00:00 to 14:01:59.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

[jaws789872]

Interesting. Thank you so much. This programming seems to be working like a charm now. I deferred for 1 minute 20 seconds so it is running for 40 seconds. Tomorrow I will be able to evaluate the timing better when I start with a fresh batch of brine.