Suggestions on auto feeders for pond?

[HeatherTuller]

I have 4 large goldfish in a pond this year. Going camping. Need suggestions on a feeder that is waterproof and critter proof. Oh- and actually feeds my 4 goldfish well. lol please help! 

[KBOzzie59]

Story

One winter I brought in our goldfish, I lost track of how many we had, following spring we moved them back out and there was still one in the pond.  No feeding, no heater, several nights/days of sub freezing temps.  It was out there for 5 months.

 

How long will you be gone?  No more then 4 or 5 days just feed heavy the day before and the day you leave.  Is there substrate in the pond?  If yes, they will sift through it and if you have access to some "extra" floating plants like duck weed, pogostemon stellatus octopus, water sprite, toss it in as well.  They will pick at that when hungry.

Edited July 7, 2021 by KBOzzie59
forgot the N on theN

[Colu]

You can get Fish mate p21 automatic pond feeders of Amazon

[HeatherTuller]

Ok. Thanks! We’ll be gone for 2 weeks. So, they will need to be fed. 
 

Thanks Colu. I will look this one up. Have you used this feeder outside? Rain? Small Critters?

Edited July 8, 2021 by HeatherTuller
Spelling

[Patrick_G]

Have you checked out the new Aquarium Coop auto feeder? I own a no name version for my goldfish pond and it works great. 

[Colu]

On 7/8/2021 at 10:51 PM, HeatherTuller said:

Ok. Thanks! We’ll be gone for 2 weeks. So, they will need to be fed. 
 

Thanks Colu. I will look this one up. Have you used this feeder outside? Rain? Small Critters?

No I haven't used it but it has good reviews

[HeatherTuller]

I took both of your advice. I bought the feeder, which worked well AND I put tons of duckweed in there. Fish were fine and a lot more happy when I came home.

Extra bonus: Apparently, the cover of the duckweed has made them feel a lot more safe. They aren’t hiding anymore and seem to be displaying… ahem…. Some new “behavior”! 🤣😂

[gardenman]

Some koi hobbyists who want really big koi (and who have really, really good filtration), make self-feeders where there's a bar, ring, or ball the koi hit when they want food and it triggers a small motor that dispenses food for the koi. It takes the koi about an hour to figure out the system and then they're eating machines.  They go through a lot, and I mean a lot, of food each day, but as long as your filtration can handle the bioload you get huge koi. Probably not practical to do for a short vacation where the goldfish would be fine with nothing, but there are crazy hobbyists out there who make all kinds of stuff to autofeed fish.

[HeatherTuller]

On 7/28/2021 at 6:32 AM, gardenman said:

Some koi hobbyists who want really big koi (and who have really, really good filtration), make self-feeders where there's a bar, ring, or ball the koi hit when they want food and it triggers a small motor that dispenses food for the koi. It takes the koi about an hour to figure out the system and then they're eating machines.  They go through a lot, and I mean a lot, of food each day, but as long as your filtration can handle the bioload you get huge koi. Probably not practical to do for a short vacation where the goldfish would be fine with nothing, but there are crazy hobbyists out there who make all kinds of stuff to autofeed fish.

OMG!!! 😂