Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Am I missing something?

I feed once a day, in the evening. I do find that the later it is, the better the fish feed. Do you live at, or close by the pond? The reason I ask concerns hand feeding vs. mechanical feeders. I have a differing opinion than most here, in that I prefer to feed by hand. Certainly, there are occasions and circumstances that require mechanical feeders, but if one is able and can visit a smaller pond every day, I believe hand feeding will allow you more flexibility than a feeder will.

That expensive feed will do you no good if it doesn't end up inside of a fish, and in fact, might possibly do harm where water quality and aquatic growth is concerned. A mechanical feeder will throw whatever amount it is set for, irregardless of any external factors which impact how willing the fish are to feed on any given day.

What if there's a drought, accompanied by very high water temps and feeding activity slows? What if it rains and clouds the water? What about seasonal impacts, such as an influx of natural forage shortly after spawning, and the fish are consuming large amounts of fry instead of pellets? A feeder can't adjust for any of these things. Only having hands on your pond, and eyes on your fish, can.

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't get a feeder. Certainly they have their place, and fill a need pretty well. It just seems to me that they are not always essential, certainly not in every pond.