Pond Fish Feeders | How to choose and use an automatic pond fish feeder
There are a myriad of different designs and sizes of pond fish feeders available to the pond keeping enthusiast. The choice of model will mostly depend upon the size of your pond and the number of fish living in the pond.
Fishmate P21 Auto Fish Feeder
The
Fishmate P21 is a very popular make of automatic pond fish feeder that whilst
only holding a small amount of fish food, easily and reliably dispenses the food
at regular intervals. It is perfectly suited for smaller ponds and is well
priced.
The clever design will provide automatic feeding for your pond fish for a period of 21 days. You don’t have to worry about expensive running costs either. The single AA battery lasts up to 1 year and isn’t susceptible to wet weather conditions. No wonder the Fishmate P21 automatic fish feeder is so popular.
The Fishmate P21 fish feeder comes with simple to program controls that allow you to regulate the amount of fish food dispensed and the times when it is dispensed. If you own a large fish pond then you will need to choose a different auto fish feeder model because the P21 only holds about 1 1/2 cups of fish food (fish pellets, fish flakes etc).
Koi Cafe Automatic Fish feeder
Another
popular make of pond fish feeder is the Koi café model that includes a solar
panel for solar recharging of the 6 volt batteries. The model allows you to
easily alter the number of times fish food is dispensed; up to 8 times in one 24
hour period.
The dispensing time can also be set between 2 and 59 seconds. Different types of fish food are easier to dispense than others so this is a necessary function. Be careful not to select pellets larger than 10mm in diameter.
Some automatic pond fish feeders that have been designed for larger fish ponds and koi ponds are capable of casting fish food. This allows for a more even spread of Fish Food and encourages less waste because more of the fish food is eaten and less is allowed to fall to the pond bottom and rot.
As discussed in several of my articles “less is better” when it comes to waste in a pond environment. The container of these large pond fish feeders usually hold around 6 gallons of fish food, require minimal maintenance and refilling and can cast food up to quite a distance (20ft +).
Pond fish feeders that cast food out are more appropriate for larger areas of water that require food to be more evenly spread. Most of these feeders hold at least 6 gallons and require little maintenance. The electronic controls also allow feeding duration to be altered between 1 to 20 seconds.
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