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I know it depends on how quickly the fish eat pellets as well as other factors but how many seconds do you set your feeder for?
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It depends on many factors. Water temps , goals , type of fish , size of feed , fish density and more.
Right now my feeders are set for 1 second 3 times a day.
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Lunker
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Eric what time of day are those 3? Can we assume half hour to hour after dawn, mid-day and hr before dusk?
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I started feeding almost 2 months ago. I'm in the process of building a house at the pond site so I'm not there a lot. When I set up the feeder I had no idea how well the bluegill would take to a feeder so I set the timer for 7am and 7pm, 1 second for each. I was at the site a few nights ago and watched the 7pm feeding. The fish were all over it. Obviously well trained already. A few minutes later I threw out a few handfuls of feed and the fish continued to feed aggressively. So I threw more out and they still fed. Now I have the feeder set for 5 seconds at 7am and 7pm.
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Lunker
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I have two Texas Hunter Feeders and I am feeding Aquamax 600. My feeders go off 7 times a day for 3 seconds each... The management company said that I need to feed 5 pounds per feeder per day.
My feed times are
6:30 am
8:30 am
10:30 am
2:30 pm
4:30 pm
6:30 pm
8:30 pm
All of the feed is normally gone in less then 5 minutes and honestly except for what falls closer to the bank in say less then a foot of water... most everything is gone in less then 2 minutes...
Comments? Criticism? Debate? Discussion?
ps. My LMB feed on the pellets and the bream that are feeding on the pellets...Its almost as fun watching them feed as it is to catch them...
Last edited by Pinetar; 08/04/11 07:41 PM.
7 Acre +/- pond. Stocked with CNBG, RESF, GS, TFS, FHM, in March - June of 2008, Stocked with 200 3" F1 Tiger Bass in March of 2010... Additional stockings of CNBG, Tilapia, FHM in May of 2011.April of 2012 and May of 2013.
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Wow you must go through tons of food..
I believe in catch and release. I catch then release to the grease.. BG. CSBG. LMB. HSB. RES. ![[Linked Image from i90.photobucket.com]](http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k247/jmilczski/Fish/PBSubscribe.gif)
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Lunker
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BGK, I do, but according to a Biologist that I'm friends with the AM 600 puts on weight ounce to ounce to the fish that are eating it....
I know my stocked 3" LMB are approaching 3 pounds and they are only 16 months old!!
7 Acre +/- pond. Stocked with CNBG, RESF, GS, TFS, FHM, in March - June of 2008, Stocked with 200 3" F1 Tiger Bass in March of 2010... Additional stockings of CNBG, Tilapia, FHM in May of 2011.April of 2012 and May of 2013.
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Are your LMB feed trained? Or are they just gaining that weight from pellet stuffed gills? Do you aerate your pond? Are you putting out 10lbs a day? Seems like alot of extra waste would be put in your water, which aeration would take care of.. But I say if there eating it and your pond is staying healthy (and you can afford it) go for it more the merrier..
I believe in catch and release. I catch then release to the grease.. BG. CSBG. LMB. HSB. RES.
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If you can, take a video at feeding time and post it. I'm switching over the LMB in my pond to feed trained ones. All the feed trained ones are tagged, so they are easy to spot. It's going slowly, and I've only seen 1 other LMB that doesn't have a tag in it feeding. One day I'll catch that one and slap a tag in it too.
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Lunker
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esshup... are you wanting me to take a video of mine feeding or were you talking to BGK? How are you able to tell if your feeding LMB are tagged? When mine feed its like a violent explosion. All I see is a blow up... Ill go down and film with my phone shortly and see if I can figure out how to upload video..
Last edited by Pinetar; 08/05/11 07:02 AM.
7 Acre +/- pond. Stocked with CNBG, RESF, GS, TFS, FHM, in March - June of 2008, Stocked with 200 3" F1 Tiger Bass in March of 2010... Additional stockings of CNBG, Tilapia, FHM in May of 2011.April of 2012 and May of 2013.
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Definately not talking to me my bass are very skiddish, I've never seen one around the feeder I thought about getting some feed trained though..
I believe in catch and release. I catch then release to the grease.. BG. CSBG. LMB. HSB. RES.
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Man I've just noticed we've really jacked RobA's thread.. Sorry buddy
I believe in catch and release. I catch then release to the grease.. BG. CSBG. LMB. HSB. RES.
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Pinetar, you.  I have my feeder on a platform that is about 5' above the water. I can see the LMB swimming down below the platform, and I can see the yellow floy tags on the left side of the dorsal fin. Mine do splash a bit, but it's definately not a frenzy! Now, whan I had the RBT in the pond, that was a different story. They'd be jumping at least a foot out of the water.
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Lunker
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Lunker
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Sorry Rob for plowing into your thread... will repost my video on a new thread...
7 Acre +/- pond. Stocked with CNBG, RESF, GS, TFS, FHM, in March - June of 2008, Stocked with 200 3" F1 Tiger Bass in March of 2010... Additional stockings of CNBG, Tilapia, FHM in May of 2011.April of 2012 and May of 2013.
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Sorry Rob for plowing into your thread... will repost my video on a new thread... I don't mind. Post here if you want. Interesting reading.
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ok, Thanks, will do... of course I goto the pond for the 8:30 feeding and the feeder goes off, Phone ready to video... Feeder goes off, phone starts recording and sd card is to full to record... arghh... will try again this evening...
7 Acre +/- pond. Stocked with CNBG, RESF, GS, TFS, FHM, in March - June of 2008, Stocked with 200 3" F1 Tiger Bass in March of 2010... Additional stockings of CNBG, Tilapia, FHM in May of 2011.April of 2012 and May of 2013.
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@pinetar - Interesting about multiple feedings per day. LMB are definitely grazing eaters. I've read that they take 18 hours to digest, but pellets don't have bones and I postulate they don't take as much time to digest as natural feed (most of the papers I read were based on wild LMB not farmed feeder trained). What were your thoughts on that, is that why you do so many feeding per day?
You have 7 feedings, what is your times or rough feed amounts?
Are you going to collapse those feed times as day light times compress?
Do you measure water temperature?
You have longer feed seasons in Alabama, when does your water/ feeding slow down? If at all?
How many feeders do you have? Do you feed at multiple spots?
What size brand do you have?
I feed 4 times per day (your 7 is interesting).
I use a Aqua Pro 25DF and currently using AM 500 will be switching to 600 next 50lb bag, which should be around roughly August 16th.
7:30am 50 secs
11am 15 secs
2pm 15 secs
4:30pm 30 secs
This is currently about 22-25 lbs per week.
I'm increasing the feed times by 3% per day or roughly 20% per week. Ultimately, by the end of August, I'll start lowering the feed increase down as the metabolic rate decreases, also I'll move my last and first feedings as I don't want them feeding too late in the evenings.
I've got a spreadsheet and day by day growth chart that I'm attempting to follow their growth to see how closely it fits the stories and papers that I've read.
I do dusk feed checks for like a 5-10 sec burst. The fish feed like mad, it's gone in seconds except the stuff close to the dock, they get that later after I leave.
2 questions I have related to this:
For the Aqua Pro DX Is there a formula for the amount of feed dispersed per second of operation? (Ultimately I could spend an evening exercising my 7th grade algebra prowess, but I'm looking for either the AquaPro folks to provide something or some other smart guy to have done the work for me.)
Does anyone else do formula based managed feeding?
I've got to do is get the formulas based on water temperatures for my region then dial it in with real data and tune the chart in over multiple harvest terms.
Everyone is telling me hand feeding is the way to go, but I can't afford to do this as I'm still a working man trying to pay bills at a "real" job.
Great thread, I was just getting to post this one.
Again, Pondboss forums rule.
Ken
Ken Mac - 1st 1/2 acre pond 2011, planning on a 10 larger scale aqua farming.
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Now set for 3 feedings
7am - 2 seconds
11am - 1 second
6pm - 2 secomds
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Feed rate will vary with size and density of food. The easiest way to measure it is to get a friend to help. Wearing heavy gloves, set the feeder to dispense feed for a set number of seconds (say 5 seconds) on test mode. Hold a plastic bag over the opening and have your friend start the test cycle. When the food is no longer being dispensed, weigh the feed.
That's the only way that I know to figure it out.
It's a moot point if the fish are not consuming all the dispensed food within 15 minutes.
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I have my feeder set to go off at
7 am. 12 seconds
11 am. 12 seconds
3 pm. 12 seconds
7 pm. 12 seconds
I'm just feeding the forage.... CNBG & RES stocked in April plus all the wild GSF. All seem to be putting on weight and I think the CNBG have already spawned a time or two. I caught a nice CNBG today that was 8 inches .... I stocked 4 to 5 inchers.
Last edited by AlvordFishin; 08/06/11 11:26 PM.
The BEST investment I have made in my pond is subscribing to PondBoss!
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Joined: Mar 2009
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Lunker
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Lunker
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@pinetar - Interesting about multiple feedings per day. LMB are definitely grazing eaters. I've read that they take 18 hours to digest, but pellets don't have bones and I postulate they don't take as much time to digest as natural feed (most of the papers I read were based on wild LMB not farmed feeder trained). What were your thoughts on that, is that why you do so many feeding per day?
You have 7 feedings, what is your times or rough feed amounts?
Are you going to collapse those feed times as day light times compress?
Do you measure water temperature?
You have longer feed seasons in Alabama, when does your water/ feeding slow down? If at all?
How many feeders do you have? Do you feed at multiple spots?
What size brand do you have?
I feed 4 times per day (your 7 is interesting).
I use a Aqua Pro 25DF and currently using AM 500 will be switching to 600 next 50lb bag, which should be around roughly August 16th.
7:30am 50 secs
11am 15 secs
2pm 15 secs
4:30pm 30 secs
This is currently about 22-25 lbs per week.
I'm increasing the feed times by 3% per day or roughly 20% per week. Ultimately, by the end of August, I'll start lowering the feed increase down as the metabolic rate decreases, also I'll move my last and first feedings as I don't want them feeding too late in the evenings.
I've got a spreadsheet and day by day growth chart that I'm attempting to follow their growth to see how closely it fits the stories and papers that I've read.
I do dusk feed checks for like a 5-10 sec burst. The fish feed like mad, it's gone in seconds except the stuff close to the dock, they get that later after I leave.
2 questions I have related to this:
For the Aqua Pro DX Is there a formula for the amount of feed dispersed per second of operation? (Ultimately I could spend an evening exercising my 7th grade algebra prowess, but I'm looking for either the AquaPro folks to provide something or some other smart guy to have done the work for me.)
Does anyone else do formula based managed feeding?
I've got to do is get the formulas based on water temperatures for my region then dial it in with real data and tune the chart in over multiple harvest terms.
Everyone is telling me hand feeding is the way to go, but I can't afford to do this as I'm still a working man trying to pay bills at a "real" job.
Great thread, I was just getting to post this one.
Again, Pondboss forums rule.
Ken Ken... My feeding times are what was recommended to me by the biologist that is helping me manage the pond. I posted my feeding times above earlier in this thread. I have two Texas Hunter Feeders and yes I feed over two heavy cover / structure areas. The model I have is DF125 90 lbs. sinking fish feed or 70 lbs. floating fish pellets) I am feeding approx 100 pounds combined from both feeders every 10 days. I am shocked at the feed time on your feeders... My duration is set at 2 - 3 seconds per feed. If you are familiar with Texas Hunter Feeders the feed is blown out by a fan... maybe its a different kind of feeder thus the difference in my feeding times versus yours. Yes I check water temp on a weekly basis and chart it, along with ph and I log most of the LMB we catch and any remarkable bream. The feeding slowed down last year in early November and I stopped feeding totally the second week of November. BTW... two remarkable bream my 9 year old son caught this weekend... A 1 pound 1 ounce CNBG.. and a 1 pound 4 ounce RESF. These are double the size of anything we had caught previously. Pretty exciting stuff!! Had a great time digging for worms out behind the pump house... we "caught" 25 worms and caught 21 various Bream.. more importantly spent a quality couple of hours with one of my children!!!
7 Acre +/- pond. Stocked with CNBG, RESF, GS, TFS, FHM, in March - June of 2008, Stocked with 200 3" F1 Tiger Bass in March of 2010... Additional stockings of CNBG, Tilapia, FHM in May of 2011.April of 2012 and May of 2013.
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So I got a puny little thing, but total cost is only $90.00 bucks. http://www.aquaprofishfeeders.com/product_pages/fish_feeders/hanging_directional/index.htmlThat's a real nice monster unit. http://www.texashunter.com/difife.htmlApproximate Output on 10 second feeding: Game Fish Chow 2.6 lbs or AquaMax 600 1.6 lbs That can put out some serious food pellets. feedings * secs * # units * #of days = total secs of output 7*3*2*10=420secs @ 1.6/lbs*10secs = 67.2 lbs is about your ~100 lbs. Assuming your doing something similar to Aqua max 600. That's nice info, Thanks >> The feeding slowed down last year in early November and I stopped feeding totally the second week of November. That's Alabama, just a bit warmer than Northeast Ohio (that's sarcasm). I was surprised by that data point cause Ohio season doesn't end too much before that time. Although my opinion of that is purely based on USGS data points and not actual practice. When does your feeding season start in the Spring? Mine got going in May this year, and hot and heavy around Memorial day. What temperature was the water when they started slowing up feeding? What was it when they stopped? Did you proactively start lower your feed rates? What technique did you use for managing this? I've heard 65-85F is optimum feed temperatures. Further that at below 65, they slow up and that by 50F they stop. But I've also heard that at that 65F transition point they actually feed more for that short time frame. In my area, it's a like less than a weeks worth of feeding, but it seems to be an optimum time for them - according to anglers - not Aquafarming or research papers. In terms of times, I assume that you're going to cut out the 6:30am and 8:30 pm feedings soon as those will be dark. I notice that mine do like that 8:30 feed, I might add a little for them at that time. Ken
Ken Mac - 1st 1/2 acre pond 2011, planning on a 10 larger scale aqua farming.
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I have an old 25D and it works good for limited feeding. Pinetar the 25Ds are not power feeders. They spin and drop food. My guess is 10 seconds on mine = 2 seconds on a 75D = 1 second on a TH.
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