Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Do you get what you pay for?

Hello to all, first I would like to say that without finding this site I would have never decided to move forward with stocking my pond. This site and magazine rock!
Now on to my topic.
I have about 1.5 acre pond that I recently stocked bluegill in. Wanting to give them the best start I possibly could through the suggestions of this site I decided to feed them AquaMax500. I am unable to make it daily so decided to purchase a feeder. Read a couple topics that said if you want a feeder go with an AquaPro. Not on a huge budget I decided to start off with the 25dx.
I got it yesterday and the bucket did not match the literature. Have you guys seen this? The guy at AquaPro told me they have not changed the bucket. But the box was modified in order for the different bucket to fit. The bolts were also not long enough.
What I need to know is should I deal with this or should I send it back and purchase a different unit?

Also, hand feeding, the bluegill are not taking to the feed?? Not at the surface anyway.

Thanks

Welcome G & J Pond. Stop by the New Forum Member Introduction subforum and tell us a little more about yourself, your pond. We're trying to help out new members feel more comfortable and help them along...

Can you take a few pics and post them? We might be able to help you get it together. Is it a directional feeder or a 360° degree feeder? Many of us use a directional feeder, either a Texas Hunter, Sweeney or AquaPro with a few Moultries thrown in the mix.

I will hit the new forum member shortly, thanks.

I got it together and it works fine, I am just worried that this is a testimate to things to come with this feeder. If it doesnt work well out of the box, what about a year from now. You know what I mean?
It is a directional hanger.
But if you guys say keep, I will. My whole pond rides on your knowledge....

I just went to the website and saw what it was. I have two ADF75's and while I've had a couple of minor issues, they weren't anything that couldn't be fixed with minor adjustments.

It looks like they have a 4 year warranty; I'd fill out and send in the warranty card and keep my fingers crossed.

With that said, if I had to buy another feeder today I'd buy a Texas Hunter. A friend has a few, and they're pretty bulletproof.

With that being said, I will keep it, and when I add my other one I will go Texas Hunter.
Any one have any thoughts on the feeding. I just stocked 3-4" BG and want them to thrive. AquaMax 500 to big? I thought of mixing 400 and 500.
Good feeding times and quanity?

I got a real good tip on here from ewest a while ago on selecting food size. Eric said that the food should be approximately the size of the fishs' eyeball.

As for feeding time, feed as much as the fish can consume in 15 minutes. You might have to start out feeding lightly until the fish get used to where the feeder is located.

400 and 500 is a good choice for the fish that size, you might be able to get away with straight 500. Both are floating feeds. If you decide to go with straight 500, and see the fish sucking in and spitting out the food, that might mean that it's a bit too big for them to eat.

Sorry, I forgot about feeding times. You'll get lots of opinions, and I'm not an expert.

I have my feeders set for an hour after sunrise, and about 2 hrs. before sunset. Before it got really hot out, I also had a feeding event mid-day, but the fish slowed down feeding then, so I stopped it. They are really slowing down now at the evening feeding, and I will probably stop that event as well, until the weather cools down a bit. Too much feed will put a lot of excess nutrients in the pond, which will lead to an algae problem in the pond if you don't have other plants to utilize the nutrients.

Definitely start with a smaller pellet for that size fish. Make sure you are feeding from the same place at the same time each day when getting started. As far as the aquapro, I believe you definitely get what you pay for. I resisted selling feeders for a long time due to the extremely low mark-up for dealers. I was persuaded by customers who always had broke down feeders that were constantly trying to get me to fix them to start carrying some. I researched it thoroughly and became a dealer for Texas Hunter. I believe that if someone makes that kind of investment they want the best out there and I also believe in standing behind what I sell. I see a lot of different brands in my work and all of the other brands have issues which usually result in fish not getting fed for months on end because someone does not have time or skill to work on one constantly and whoever they bought it from will not send someone out to repair it.

-HH

I am actually thinking about getting some Moultries. Does any out here have advice on the few models they are selling and recommend one over the other?

Has anyone had issues with their units, either minor or severe?

Others love the unit and recommend them?

If completely against them please let me know why so I can consider something else.

Thanks

I can't comment; I've only owned AquaPro and have worked on (and liked) Texas Hunter.

GJ

Howdy - welcome to the forum! Great to see another Husker join the family.

Take a minute and let us know about yourself in the new member introduction - this will enable us to help provide the resources you need. Also, I'd love to know where you are in Nebraska. Besides myself, there's Omaha, Bruce Condello, and Bullhead who are pretty active forum members. I would like to host a get together one of these days - so let us know more about yourself and your pond management goals.

Welcome aboard again!

I have stocked 3-4" bluegill the past two springs, and have fed nothing but Aquamax 500. They have had no problems taking it, although I always start them off by soaking the food first. (Obviously limited to hand feeding) I place the food in a ziplock bag, add water and turn the bag to coat the pellets. Not too much water, you don't want "gravy" in the bottom of the bag. Let it sit for an hour or so. It gets soft, and you will have fewer fish rejecting the pellets. 4-5 weeks of this, and the BG will be used to feeding on the Aquamax and you can "wean" them off the pre-soaked food. I find early morning, and right before dark the best times to feed.

I stocked 2-3" CNBG, FHM & GS last fall. I installed 4 Texas Hunter feeders (3 big ones and 1 smaller one) and loaded them with AquaMax 600 (1000 lbs total). The feeders have worked flawlessly and they throw feed far and evenly. I recently put Aquamax 500 in the feeders because I noticed the CNBG were getting a little size to them and there were millions of fry swimming everywhere. I installed 2-3" bass 3 weeks ago - those are some lucky bass. I also bought a Moultrie directional feeder a couple of months ago and it has performed reliably. The feed is scattered a bit more sloppily than the Texas Hunters and it isnt thrown as far, either. I have this feeder on a 1/2 acre catfish pond and it works well enough. But for my larger pond where I invested by far the most $ I wouldnt settle for anything less than a Texas Hunter.

Well since my ponds are in small, say 1/4 - 1/2 acre the Moultrie should be fine for each of them.

Did you happen to get the feed that mounts to the ground or dock, or did you get the bucket type that you can mount to a post or tree?

Have you used the solar panel for it?

Thanks

I mounted mine on a 4x4x10 with the solar panel just below it so I can pull it down to load it and not have to move the solar panel.
We built and installed two 10' sections of dock and pinned them together. The feeder is shooting just north of the dock. Someday my kids will love me for this I think.
So far the feeder and the solar panel are working quite well.

do you happen to have some pictures of this you could post?

Thanks

I don't have pics but could get them later in the week. My Moultrie has adjustable legs and I've rigged it to sit on the edge of the center of the pond levee. When it spreads feed it sounds like a penny in the garbage disposal in your sink (loud) and feed exits the feeder at random trajectories so you have feed going up, down, left & right. The Texas Hunters begin with a whirring noise (fan motor) then a sound akin to pouring BBs into a funnel with feed blown in a tight area, quite far, as advertised. My only beef with the moultrie is I have more feed gobbed up next to the shoreline than I want. The solar charger works well and it has been reliable so far.

Here are the best pictures that I have at this time.
About in the center is the post with the feeder.