Koi Kitchen 6" x 8" x 14" high
2.3
5
16
16
I have owned a feeder like this before. It lasted several years and did a great job metering out fish food.
The feeder I received did not work. I contacted Dr.Foster and Smith customer service and I got great customer service. They shipped out a new one immediately. This one works great. If you are looking for a reasonably price feeder you cannot go wrong. I highly recommend this Koi feeder. Thanks again Dr. Foster and Smith.
July 20, 2012
Worked for me
I bought this item on 12/2009 and it lived a good life until now, 4/2012. The clock mechanism went out on it, but the motor still works when I press the manual feed button.
During that time I learned that the best food to use in it is large round pellets. The stick shaped food kept getting jammed and the small pellets would overfeed and fall through the rotating feeder door.
Never had a problem with the food pellets getting wet and clumping together, during all the time that I had the feeder the food always stayed dry. It lived 24/7 outside over my pond completely exposed to the elements. I live in South Florida and rainstorms are very frequent.
I would feed the koi two rotations, twice per day. With the hopper completely full, it would last just shy of two weeks (12-13 days) before I had to refill it.
The only thing I wish would be that the side latches holding the lid would of been easier to open.
April 24, 2012
Overall, Very Pleased With This Feeder
Over the past year we have figured out, via other reviews here, and through our own "trial and error" experiences, how to overcome some of the valid concerns listed in other reviews on the Koi Kitchen. Without rambling on too much, here is what we do to ensure as best we can that our Koi Kitchen feeder operates reliably - Important, as our koi pond is at our ranch, where we live only part-time.
1) YES - as one reviewer writes here, you do want to mix pellets with flakes to ensure that the pellets do not clog up the dispenser opening. We use a ratio of about 1/3 flakes to 2/3 pellets - It has been working out great - never clogged once.
2) YES - wild animals will wish to abscond with your feeder. This will happen with most ANY feeder. Ours was carried off quite a few feet, presumably by raccoons. But the good news is, despite being forcibly removed from the mounting stand, bashed around, and pushed about our property, our KOI KITCHEN FEEDER STILL WORKS! My husband used his engineer's mind to solve this problem of wild animal threats: We hung the feeder ABOVE the koi pond, a few feet up (not more than three feet) above the pond, from a tree branch. I can send photos of how we rigged it up for anybody that wants to see, just email me. Even though hanging and swinging from in the air, the feeder has made it through several storms and terrific winds, no problem, via the genius rigging system my husband figured out, and the overall great construction quality of the feeder itself. And not one leak either, even in heavy rains, during this entire year. If you don't have a tree branch, you can install a tall poll. It is worth it, because this feeder really is reliable and a great deal for the price, especially when it is on sale (30% off right now).
3) We did have one issue occur that is annoying but not a deal breaker: The clock went kablooey for some reason - It no longer displays. So the feeder works, but we can't re-set the timer. So I am ordering a new feeder, and we will move this one out to our big pond for the turtles, who don't need as much in the way of human-supplied forage. So that is one issue I am not thrilled about, but the feeder is so great otherwise, and so reasonably priced, I don't mind buying another one, now that it is on sale.
Hope that some of you find this review helpful.
Rebecca
May 17, 2013
How I fixed my jamming Koi Kitchen
I had one of these and used it for 4 years without problem. The display got garbled so I got another one.
Despite using the same size pellets (1/8 inch diameter), the new unit wouldn't turn the paddle wheel. After looking at how it was jamming, i unscrewed the bottom and used a knife to cut about 1/4 inch off each paddle all the way around. Now it works fine. It drops more pellets than the old one, but since I needed at least 2 turns per feeding before, I just set it for one turn now.
December 7, 2012
 "Foster & Smith Aquatics Koi Kitchen™")
