Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Feeding Program?

I am currently revising our feeding program as to feeder placement and daily feeding amount.
I would like to poll fish feeder users about their feeding program.

The following information will be appreciated and may be helpful to others as well:

FISH SPECIES?

TYPE OF FEED?

POUNDS OF FEED/ACRE/DAY?

Thanks in advance,
George Glazener
N.E. Texas

Rainbow Trout (3 acre pond, with approx. 400 fish at 8 inches to 4 lbs.)

Aquamax 500 feed

7:00 am - 3 seconds ( One Aquapro 75 feeder: you tell me the rate?)
7:00 pm - 9 seconds
I am currently adjusting the rate and amount of feed upward.
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HSB (2.75 acre pond with approx. 400 fish at 8 – 12 inches)

Aquamax 500 feed (One Stren 75 feeder)

8:00 a.m. - 1 second
I can’t seem to get HSB to locate and begin feeding?

Ed

Ed, I believe feeding 500/600 AQMX with a Stren (AquoPro) ADF-75D feeder - .7 pounds/second would be a pretty good number.

A good way to check is to make a mark on the inside of feeder, add a known weighed amount of fish food, determine how long it takes to deplete, and do the math.
Let me know how your numbers come out – it’s been several years since I tested.

1. BG , RES and LMB

2. Gamefish chow mostly but some 36% Land-o-Lakes fingerling food.

3. Only feeding growout fish behind blocking nets in 2 ponds.Currently only BG and RES. Area - 2000 sq ft in one pond (appx.1000 2in. fish and few larger ones ) and 700 sq ft (appx 500 2in fish a few larger fish and a few minnows) in the other. One 75-D and one 25-D feeder. Feeding twice a day for 2 seconds currently. Note for some reason my 75-D set on 1 second runs at the 2 second rate. Also the amount of food per second depends on the type /size of food. Time and rate changes depending on fish growth and time of year/water temps. from 1 to 4 times a day.

Link to feeder location and other factors.

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002045#000007

http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002011

I can't find a thread where feeder dispersal patterns and location were discussed but I will look some more.

1. BG, CC, GShiner, (Grass Carp)

2. Purina Game Fish Chow

3. Currently about 1.5 lbs for 0.9 acre per day - I will adjust this up to 4 pounds/day if BG or CC start utilizing more of it as the year progresses.

George,

Thanks for the response.

.7 lbs. of pellets per second may be pretty close for the 75-D.

Lets see.........at .7 lbs per second X (times) 12 seconds per day = about 8.4 lbs. per day. At $22.50 per bag (50#), thats about $3.80 per day.
Not real bad but.........fish are not fed to satiation.

Another interesting point to consider is; not all fish gather under the feeder at chow time in a 3 acre pond. I would estimate only 15% - 25% are serious chow hounds. Many times I have seen fish surface feeding on flies 500 ft. away when the feeder goes off.

Anyone else have estimates on percentage of their fish that actually visit the feeders?

Ed

Ed you may want to look at the links above wrt BG. Not much help with RT and HSB.

Thanks to all responders regarding feeding programs.

Ed and others, it looks as if we are on the same “by guess and by golly” page…..

*“12 seconds AQMX/day/3 acres = 4 seconds/acre x .7= 2.8#’s/acre/day?”

Species stocked in our 2 acre pond consist of LMB, HSB, CNBG, RES, CC, and Tilapia.

Our feeding program consists of mixed 500/600 AQMX feed, utilizing 2 Stren(AquaPro) ADF-75D feeders, on each end of 2 acre pond.

Based on estimate of .7#’s/second of, we are currently feeding approx. 2.5#’s/acre/day.

George Glazener
N.E. Texas

*To be adjusted seasonally and by observati0n of feeding habits.