I finally went ahead and got some new Automatic Fish feeders. We actually tried a fish pond feeder but it was designed to fling the feed out into the middle of a pond and really didn’t work well for our situation for many of the same reasons that the first automatic game feeder didn’t work. These new Automatic Fish feeders are Ergo Automatic Pet Feeders. They are auger type feeders but as you can see they also have agitators which help to keep the feed from getting jammed up in the hopper.
The timers for these feeders are the real great bit. They have control right down to the second which is a good thing for being able to feed appropriate amounts to a wide range of fish loads and system sizes. Many pet feeders don’t have that much control. precise control over feed amounts is very important to an aquaponics system with automatic fish feeders.
To keep these feeders from being knocked down by critters I secured milk crates and was then able to set the feeders in the crates to hold them in place but still make it easy to access them for cleaning. Now these feeders are not weather proof or anything like that. They require a cover to keep rain out of them. So far I’ve done ok using 5 gallon buckets as covers over them. This company also makes a “pond feeder” version that is low voltage and has a cover but I haven’t tried one of those yet.
Since these pictures were taken I have since started wrapping the bottoms of the feeders with hardware cloth to keep rodents from chewing them up and found that I like the medium size feeders since they have both the agitator and the feed shoot. I hope the feed chute will help thwart the rodents. These feeders are not moisture proof nor are they bug proof, I don’t know of any large feeders that are. Please tell me if you know of any.
Automatic Fish Feeders for Aquaponics have been quite the challenge and I am still in search of the best options. So far these Ergo Automatic Pet Feeders or pond Feeders seem to be the best aquaponics options I’ve found. Want to buy one of these feeders?
Buy feeders here
For those who wish to go read the detail version check out my original system thread. BYAP System Thread Pages 53 (June 29, 2008) is the time frame for this Blog post.
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