A common goal for many pond owners is to grow bigger fish. One of the best ways to achieve this is through supplemental feeding. However, growing your fish is not the only reason to supplement their natural diet. Having a consistent source of food also allows you to mix predator and prey species and have both thrive. Whatever the reason, feeding (especially multiple times a day) can be very time consuming. A fantastic solution is automatic fish feeders.

Supplementing the amount of food that fish get from their habitat is almost always a good idea and depending on the population density of fish in your pond and the amount of natural forage, supplemental feeding can even help reduce the number of mortalities. For small ponds, or ponds with limited amounts of forage, this can be especially beneficial, since supplemental feeding helps to keep predatory fish from decimating the populations of smaller, less aggressive fish and allows for a larger population of fish. It also, of course, can significantly boost the growth rate of your fish.

No matter what your reasons are for supplementing your pond’s natural food supply, one of the easiest and most efficient ways to do so is with an automatic fish feeder. Automatic feeders run on timers and can be set to dispense any amount of feed during the day. When feeding your fish, it is important to remember that oxygen use increases significantly during digestion. Smaller ponds, ponds with large numbers of fish and ponds that don’t have a significant amount of water replacement or additional aeration are particularly susceptible to fish kill (when a significant portion of the fish population die) due to severe oxygen depletion. The best way to reduce the risk of fish kill after feeding is to feed smaller amounts multiple times a day. During the summer, early morning before it gets hot is the best time to feed.

Automatic feeders can be set to dispense feed at any time, multiple times a day. They are a great option for folks that are busy with work, travel, or who simply don’t have the time to hand feed as often as they would like.

For more information, call us toll free at (877) 389-2514, or email us at info@harriettahills.com.