Pond Boss
Posted By: bigbambo AquaMax ....anyone else - 03/31/22 04:34 PM
experiencing quality problems?

I have been using AquaMax 500 since 2012 with no complaints. 2 years ago my feeder started grinding the 500 into chips and powder. I tore into it and found multiple clods of the 500 and lots of powder. I called AquaMax and was treated very fairly by replacing all my food and some extra bags.

Last year I bought my stock and had the same problem of clods and food grinding from the Texas Hunter 70 lbs fish feeder. Called again and was told that by the code & date, it was made at a different plant that normally doesn't make fish food.

I started sifting the bags but the feeder still grinds the food. I have taken the feeder apart at least 4x and can't find the problem. Any thoughts? Thanks

Tried to upload pic with this error You can't upload files of this type."
Posted By: anthropic Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 03/31/22 08:33 PM
I use AquaMax MVP and haven't had any similar issues. Of course, it may be manufactured at a different plant.
Posted By: bigbambo Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 03/31/22 08:52 PM
Don' quote me but I think I was told that a factory in Texas had a fire and these were made on the east coast.

I think a part, maybe the spinner tray, is worn out of spec. Not much to the feeder parts and the way they work and cycles fine. I can't view from the discharge without getting a free facial. lol
Posted By: Snipe Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/01/22 01:33 AM
Question,,, any chance you've had rain?? Obviously not on the bags but how about rain on the feeder?
Posted By: airborne3118 Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/01/22 08:32 AM
I dont know if this is the information you are looking for but I feed my tilapia Aquamax 4000. Usually my fingers are kind of oily after I feed and never any dust or crumbs. This year all of my bags have been very dry, powdery, no shiny sheen to them, and I am left with about a gallon of dust in the bottom of the bag.
Posted By: Theo Gallus Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/01/22 11:08 AM
I feed Aquamax 500 and 600 by hand, so I can't address mechanical feeding issues.

I do notice that the exact size of 600 pellets will vary from bag to bag (I only use 1, maybe 2 bags of 500 per year).

Quality on a lot of products has declined since the Wuhan Flu hit. Lance Cheese crackers have noticeably more peanut butter leaking out onto the packaging these days.
Posted By: bigbambo Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/01/22 02:05 PM
Originally Posted by Snipe
Question,,, any chance you've had rain?? Obviously not on the bags but how about rain on the feeder?

The clods I find are the size of a dime up to a charcoal briquettes and they are straight from the bag. Some are very hard and others crumble fairly easy.

Originally Posted by airborne3118
I dont know if this is the information you are looking for but I feed my tilapia Aquamax 4000. Usually my fingers are kind of oily after I feed and never any dust or crumbs. This year all of my bags have been very dry, powdery, no shiny sheen to them, and I am left with about a gallon of dust in the bottom of the bag.


I really thought that others would have found similar "500 rocks" and if it damaged their feeder. I don't think the feeder was made to hold up to such abuse and I'm not real happy.

They know about the problem and I buy bags 11 months later(dates on bag) that has the same problem? I now have a $900 feeder that's better suited for grinding coffee.

Theo, I agree but I find it hard to believe that the product is not run through a screener.........unless the oversized drum is full and everyone is sleeping. Somehow the price does not reflect the savings from cheap or the lack of, labor.
Posted By: Theo Gallus Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/01/22 03:16 PM
Originally Posted by bigbambo
Somehow the price does not reflect the savings from cheap or the lack of, labor.
$48.99/50 lbs of AQ600 for me two days ago.
Posted By: anthropic Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/01/22 08:49 PM
Originally Posted by bigbambo
Originally Posted by Snipe
Question,,, any chance you've had rain?? Obviously not on the bags but how about rain on the feeder?

The clods I find are the size of a dime up to a charcoal briquettes and they are straight from the bag. Some are very hard and others crumble fairly easy.

Originally Posted by airborne3118
I dont know if this is the information you are looking for but I feed my tilapia Aquamax 4000. Usually my fingers are kind of oily after I feed and never any dust or crumbs. This year all of my bags have been very dry, powdery, no shiny sheen to them, and I am left with about a gallon of dust in the bottom of the bag.


I really thought that others would have found similar "500 rocks" and if it damaged their feeder. I don't think the feeder was made to hold up to such abuse and I'm not real happy.

They know about the problem and I buy bags 11 months later(dates on bag) that has the same problem? I now have a $900 feeder that's better suited for grinding coffee.

Theo, I agree but I find it hard to believe that the product is not run through a screener.........unless the oversized drum is full and everyone is sleeping. Somehow the price does not reflect the savings from cheap or the lack of, labor.

Wow, that's horrible. No wonder you're mad!

You could try an alternate company, such as Optimal. Or maybe a different Purina feed, like MVP.
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/01/22 10:42 PM
Pics of my last bag of Purina LMB food. Extremely dry, to the point the pellets are falling apart. I'm gonna bite the bullet and move to Optimal Handthrow.

[Linked Image]

Attached picture Purina LMB.jpg
Posted By: anthropic Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/02/22 05:15 AM
Handthrown is expensive, but in my experience well worth it. Larger fish can get substantial meals without as much competition from BG and small fish. Optimal 1 inch feed has stayed good for a year in my trailer, better than little pellets.

While a few giant BG & CNBG will try to take the big chunks, LMB and HSB dominate. Turtles have a harder time stealing them, too.
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/02/22 12:43 PM
Re Texas Hunter feeders and feed seeming to clump up in them. I had that problem and found leaks around the seams and the sight window. Caulk along seams and window has helped.
Posted By: bigbambo Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/02/22 01:32 PM
Originally Posted by Dave Davidson1
Re Texas Hunter feeders and feed seeming to clump up in them. I had that problem and found leaks around the seams and the sight window. Caulk along seams and window has helped.

True, I have siliconed all inside hopper seams too but.....as I stated, this is straight from the bag and acknowledged by AquaMax. Just PO'ed about my feeder and was hoping for thoughts on a solution.

I will change to Optimal this year.
Posted By: FishinRod Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/02/22 02:49 PM
Originally Posted by bigbambo
Just PO'ed about my feeder and was hoping for thoughts on a solution.

Probably a stupid question (my specialty), but did you try customer support to see if it was a semi-common problem with their feeders? They could have a solution that might get you back to slinging food properly again.
Posted By: Snipe Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/03/22 03:10 AM
Originally Posted by Dave Davidson1
Re Texas Hunter feeders and feed seeming to clump up in them. I had that problem and found leaks around the seams and the sight window. Caulk along seams and window has helped.
This is where I was headed asking about rain but sounds like the clumping is in the bag..

Before we blame feed or feeder, have you tried opening up the cup on upper motor to allow bigger stuff through yet?
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/03/22 12:20 PM
No, once it starts, my clumps are the size of a silver dollar or 2 inches long and one inch wide.
Posted By: Snipe Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/04/22 04:48 AM
Wow,, OK. That seems a bit odd. The folks at Purina helped me get product last summer due to supply chain logistics during my feed trials but that was not a feed quality issue. I was able to communicate with several up the ladder to include CEO of Land-o-Lakes.
The actions they took to get me what I needed were 2nd to none, and I got a strong feeling they really care about the product.
bigbambo, if you talked to Purina directly, what did they say the reason was? Surely they offered an explanation or offered replacement product?
If your food is no longer "clumped" then your spinner plate needs adjusted down. It can be perfect for 1 bag and if you get ever so slightly larger pellets due to manufacturing process, maybe you just need to adjust spinner plate?
It's a simple adjustment, but very touchy. I can help with that if you need further explanation.

Edit: reading back through this, for those that are not familiar with TH feeders, this is not a feeder issue. The cup can be set to handle different particle/pellet sizes, but not much more than 3/8" or so. So.. a 2" chunk will only plug and restrict a portion of feed but can build enough that it will throw nothing, which becomes a problem if you're not at the property to watch and manage this-but shouldn't have to.
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/04/22 11:59 AM
Snipe, the problem is that, when the clump hits the spinner plate, it will stop and burn up the motor. Been there, done that.
Posted By: bigbambo Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/04/22 02:27 PM
Snipe, thanks for giving this much thought!

The actions they took to get me what I needed were 2nd to none, and I got a strong feeling they really care about the product.

Agreed![b][/b]

bigbambo, if you talked to Purina directly, what did they say the reason was?

Last year I bought my stock and had the same problem of clods and food grinding from the Texas Hunter 70 lbs fish feeder. Called again and was told that by the code & date, it was made at a different plant that normally doesn't make fish foodb][/b]

Surely they offered an explanation or offered replacement product?

I have been using AquaMax 500 since 2012 with no complaints. 2 years ago my feeder started grinding the 500 into chips and powder. I tore into it and found multiple clods of the 500 and lots of powder. I called AquaMax and was treated very fairly by replacing all my food and some extra bags.
b]
[/b]

If your food is no longer "clumped" then your spinner plate needs adjusted down. It can be perfect for 1 bag and if you get ever so slightly larger pellets due to manufacturing process, maybe you just need to adjust spinner plate?
It's a simple adjustment, but very touchy. I can help with that if you need further explanation.

Edit: reading back through this, for those that are not familiar with TH feeders, this is not a feeder issue. The cup can be set to handle different particle/pellet sizes, but not much more than 3/8" or so. So.. a 2" chunk will only plug and restrict a portion of feed but can build enough that it will throw nothing, which becomes a problem if you're not at the property to watch and manage this-but shouldn't have to.[/quote]

I have,
bought AquaMax
taken and sent pics to AquaMax
calls and run around replacing feed
free extra bags
disassembled feeder multiple times to clean out powder and clods plus, find out why it's grinding the food
gave away the extra bags because I only needed what I originally bought
A TEXAS HUNTER FEEDER THAT SERVES "FISH THE CHIPS"
bought and used 4 batteries in two years


I was hoping to build a case for AquaMax to fix my feeder. I thought many AquaMax users would have problems with their auto feeders. I know this caused mine to go bad cause it was choked at the spinner plate and has not worked since.
Posted By: Snipe Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/04/22 05:49 PM
Ok, maybe I'm too intense at trouble-shooting.. I blame it on my aviation background.
Obviously there is a problem with the feed-2" clumps are not normal (or good to feed).

Dave, I burnt one up also on Optimal Bass because I didn't know how to adjust plate for the size pellet I was feeding.
Carry on Gents..
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/04/22 06:20 PM
Originally Posted by Snipe
Ok, maybe I'm too intense at trouble-shooting...

Kenny, you're not. Questioning every possible option eliminates misses. Shotgun efforts potentially waste time and money.
Posted By: jgr Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/04/22 08:43 PM
Snipe, I have been using MVP since it has come out but this spring I ordered 4 bags each of Optimal BG and BG Junior and planed on blending. Is there some adjustment I need to make on my Texas Hunter Feeders? Something I had not thought of. Last year I had more powdering of my feed than I had had before so I thought I would try the Optimal.
Posted By: anthropic Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/04/22 11:43 PM
Maybe Purina has changed the formulation to use less fish oil. That stuff costs!
Posted By: Snipe Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/05/22 04:32 AM
Originally Posted by jgr
Snipe, I have been using MVP since it has come out but this spring I ordered 4 bags each of Optimal BG and BG Junior and planed on blending. Is there some adjustment I need to make on my Texas Hunter Feeders? Something I had not thought of. Last year I had more powdering of my feed than I had had before so I thought I would try the Optimal.
When you open up the side and gain access to the spinner plate, the hub has a grub screw in it. It's a 3/32 or 1/8 allen, can't remember which. It's best to mark shaft with a sharpie before loosening set screw. You will probably need to try it before adjusting but if it throws way too much, loosen screw and lift plate upwards about .030 (half the thickness of pencil lead) and test. You want it to flow smoothly but not throw 5lbs in a 1 sec setting. I feel like 8-10ozs per second is about right. When Scott first told me how to adjust, I went from a very low quantity to what looked like 4-5lbs in 1 second-obviously too much. It doesn't take much movement to change the rate.
Posted By: jgr Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/05/22 11:30 AM
Thanks! It looks like the Optimal will throw more at the same setting then MVP. It'll be another week or two before I get feeders set up. Our water temperature yesterday was still only 45 degrees.
Posted By: Flame Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/05/22 11:44 AM
Just curious why nobody has included Cargill feed in this conversation? been using it for many years and just got 10 more bags and have had no problems that you speak of? Just my 2 cent worth.
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/05/22 12:41 PM
Flame, it's probably do to the lack of pickup options. We're close enough to pick it up, but shipping it is a tad expensive. I've fed Skretting, Optimal, and Purina products, but Cargill is my bread and butter fish food.
Posted By: Snipe Re: AquaMax ....anyone else - 04/05/22 02:37 PM
My smallmouth training in 2 weeks starts with Skretting..1.5mm floating 68%, 15% lipid. Hatchery techs said "use this.." so I am.
I ordered mine, shipped I didn't think was bad at all considering comparison to other feeds in high Pro statis. I'd like to use optimal but protein content to this level is not available at this time.
© Pond Boss Forum