Fish Mate P21 Automatic Pond Fish Feeder

Used this when I went on vacation and it worked a treat, keeping the fish in my pond fed regularly.

The limitation is that it only does one feed (over several hours) a day. It is also a bit complicated in getting the right amount of food dispensed, this is because of the variation in pellet sizes etc. One has to do a fair bit of trial and error before leaving it to do its job. This is essential if you don’t want your fish to starve of be over fed! However when you look at the cost compared to more sophisticated systems it is good value for money. If like me you normally feed direct and only need a feeder when going away for a few days, or a week or two its fine. I was away for two weeks and it was still working okay when I came back. Obviously if you have expensive fish, or you are away regularly, you may need something more sophisticated. I did also use a bottom feeding tablet just to be on the safe side but it was probably unnecessary in the end.

When setup worked well for the time I was away for two weeks , need to test it for a day or two to get it right for the size of your feed before leaving it, it could do with a cover or be a bit better in stopping the very heavy rain getting in, as had a bit of damp inside it , but still working ok. A pole to attach It to would also help so not to have to do a bit of diy with a bit of 2 by 2 wood, but All in all happy with it .

Great value easy to set up worked perfectly

This is quite a simple device, designed around the mechanism of a battery powered clock you might have on your wall. This means that it will feed once every 24 hours over the course of a few hours (as pellets slowly fall out). The device functions well when it is running, but beware of easy it is for it to stop working. Within about a week after beginning to operate it got stuck (I know it must have been about a week for unrelated reasons). Upon returning from my trip, I had found that a piece of packing foam had gotten stuck between the wheel of the feeder and the inside of the casing. I don't know if this was part of the transportation packaging or just some random piece of foam which was left in during the manufacturing process. I could not see this foam when I unpacked and set up the device so it was not very obvious that it was there. I would recommend running this device for a week or two before you intend to leave it unattended to ensure that it continues to operate. As I have quite a large pond compared to the number of fish, I think there were enough natural sources of food (insect eggs, etc.) that my fish were able to survive. But my fish have been hiding so far, although they appear to eat as pellets do disappear quicker than they would if they were left to sink.

Feeling a little mean only giving three stars here - as this is actually a fab product! However... there are some issues... and the issues being mine (I am saying mine, although from reading other reviews, it seems I'm not the only one with the issue) isn't completely watertight - both when it comes to the food compartment, and the battery compartment. Occasionally water will get in the food section. This doesn't happen each time it gets used, so I suspect this happens when it's been heavy rain. When the food gets wet it turns to "mush" and gets stuck, meaning no food for the fish. If it then gets hot, you get met with a "lovely" fungus ball when you open it. Secondly, somehow insects can get into the battery compartment! Each time after it's been used we have to clean out the creepy-crawlies that's decided to set up home in the battery section. That said - when it works, it's great. To solve some of the worry regarding water coming into the food compartment, we put a bag over it... not the prettiest, but it does the job. You can choose how much food you want it dispensing each day. Little hard to judge, so you might want to put it over a cup or similar a few days before going away the first time, filled with food, so you can see how much it dispenses, and then adjust the opening from there.

Still not quite sure about this. I have had it for a week now and have it indoors testing it. Having got the timing correct and the amount of feed. It only seems to release 1 feed a day. However that suits me as my fish are used to only being fed once a day. I am waiting for someone to cement a post into the surround of the pond and have purchased a large hanging basket hook which will hang out over the pond. Hope it works.

Takes a bit of practice to set the measure depending on the type of food you use. I also put mine into an ice cream tub on its side suspended over the pond with a cut out in the side for the food to drop this is just to keep the wind and weather off and works well for me.

Going on a holiday,? who is going to feed the fish in the pond? This little device works well I use small pellets for goldfish and they survived me going away for 2 weeks.

Works perfectly. Happy fish!

Funziona bene

ARTICOLO VALIDO MA POCO RESISTENTE. LO HO DOVUTO RICOMPERARE IN QUANTO SI E' ROTTO DOPO CIRCA 2 MESI. PARTE MECCANICA NON SOLIDA.

It works well -- just much smaller than I expected. It only lasts two days for our fish. But it's perfect for a weekend allowing us to go out of town without worrying about the fish.