I won’t deny that if some of your fish are getting fed, then that is better than no fish getting any food. An automatic fish feeder can be used to bridge the days when your tank sitter doesn’t feed. These fish will need to be fed another type of food (probably frozen food) which has to be done by hand. If these fish won’t eat what comes out of the automatic feeder, then these fish aren’t getting fed, rendering the automatic feeder partly useless. I’ve also kept several types of anthias that refuse flaked and pelleted food. My Banggai cardinal fish ( Pterapogon kauderni) and White Tail Bristletooth Tang ( Ctenochaetus flavicauda) flat out refuse flaked and pelleted food. Third, not every fish will eat flaked or pelleted food. The automatic fish feeders that are on the market only dispense flaked or pelleted food, which brings up drawback #3
Second, at this time there is not a commercially available (i.e., not D.I.Y.) automatic fish feeder that feeds frozen food. If you’re gone for an extended period time and are relying on an automatic fish feeder that fails, then your fish either go hungry or you’ll come home to a nutrient issue and/or algae outbreak. When they fail, they either don’t dispense food, or they dispense way too much food. The drawbacks to an automatic fish feeder are three fold:įirst, automatic fish feeders can fail. This automated feeding is beneficial for when you are away from your tank for several days or if you like to feed your fish several times a day and can’t or don’t want to feed by hand. The automatic fish feeder dispenses food and your fish should get fed (more on the should part in a bit). The biggest benefit to an automatic fish feeder is that you don’t have to be present to feed your fish. While you likely enjoy feeding your fish manually, there are merits and drawbacks to using an automatic fish feeder. Your finned friends simply cannot survive without being fed something. How can you avoid all of these water quality and health issues? By properly feeding your fish.Tagged as: automatic feeder, feeding fishįeeding your fish is something that you have to do. Phosphate, nitrate and other nutrients act as fertilizers, stimulating algae growth in the water (green water) and stringy growth on plants, waterfalls and sides of the pond. When this happens, your fish will become weak and susceptible to disease problems like parasite attack, bacterial infections, cloudy eyes and sudden death.Įxcess food also increases the nutrient levels in the water. This pollutes the water and can even stimulate algae problems. Uneaten food decays into ammonia and other undesirable substances. This “biological filtration” is the natural waste-recycling system that keeps our ponds and water gardens healthy and safe for fish.īiological filtration can be overwhelmed when too much fish food is added at one time. Under normal pond conditions the ammonia is converted to non-toxic nitrate by beneficial bacteria in the pond. When fish digest protein, ammonia is released as a waste product of metabolism. Understand that over-feeding also affects water quality. Over-feeding also causes a build-up of fatty tissue and problems with internal organs.
Koi and goldfish can eat so much food at one time that they develop intestinal blockages. Unfortunately this behavior also “trains” the pond-keeper to respond by adding more and more food to the pond. Pond fish become conditioned to respond to you by splashing around the water surface and acting like they are starving. When koi and goldfish see you approach the pond, they’ll always come to the surface and “beg” for food. But their main way of feeding is looking for food you give them. They enjoy cruising around the pond, nibbling on whatever they can find.
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