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Automatic fish feeder for a pond holiday

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are packing for a week or a fortnight, and the pond cannot come with you. An automatic fish feeder for a pond holiday only helps after you have matched a dose you have already seen to the days you will be away, and after you have named a person to look. A full hopper is not a number of safe days. The [pond fish feeder comparison](/hub/garden-ponds/fish-feeder-pond) holds the product table. Shelves were read on 19 October 2026. Peter F. did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are packing for a week or a fortnight, and the pond cannot come with you.

Our top picks

hygger hygger pond feeder, 5.5 litres

Best overall

hygger hygger pond feeder, 5.5 litres
8.6/10about £98.99
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Fish Mate Fish Mate P7000, 7 litres

Best value

Fish Mate Fish Mate P7000, 7 litres
8.4/10about £74.75
View offer
Hozelock Hozelock feeder on stand, 800 ml

Alternative

Hozelock Hozelock feeder on stand, 800 ml
7.8/10about £101.89
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On this page
  1. 1.A few days can be safer with no food than with a guess
  2. 2.Work backwards from one measured day
  3. 3.Trial it, then leave a person and a note
  4. 4.Cold water and a fish that is already in trouble

A few days can be safer with no food than with a guess

For a short break, doing nothing beats a last-minute dump of food. NT Labs says that for a few days you should not pile food in just before you leave. Change the water a few days before you go, and do not add new fish in the fortnight before you travel. King British says most coldwater fish will be fine for one week, and that tropical fish usually will not. That week is their wording for coldwater fish, not a licence to leave a cracked feeder running. A machine switched on as you lock the door is the riskier plan. If the first cycle is too coarse, uneaten pellets sit in the pond while you are away. All Pond Solutions’ two-to-five-day fast is aquarium copy, so do not treat it as a garden-pond rule. One society’s view that fish can be left two or three weeks is not a rule for a stocked koi pond.

Work backwards from one measured day

Start from a portion you have caught, not from the litre figure on the box. The P7000 manual works in steps of about 15 ml, up to three meals, and tells you to load no more than about ten days of food for freshness. A 7 litre tub is not 7 litres of daily ration. Ten days of a small dose may leave most of the hopper empty, and that is the point of the cap. The Hozelock is 800 ml, about 100 g on Pondkeeper’s page, at about £101.89 on amazon.co.uk and £109.99 at Pondkeeper. Reviewers say about a week at frequent settings. That line is a review pattern, not a specification. A small goldfish ration and a heavy koi ration do not empty 800 ml at the same speed. Do not claim that the Generic, AFGSsm, Tbest, CISSIYOG or hygger listings cover a holiday of a set number of days. Hygger’s power lines contradict each other, which matters if the trip might outlast the cells.
hygger hygger pond feeder, 5.5 litres

Testsieger

hygger hygger pond feeder, 5.5 litres
8.6/10about £98.99
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Trial it, then leave a person and a note

NT Labs says to trial an electronic feeder for a week before you rely on it. Fish Mate asks for at least three days of supervision, and the manual says someone should check on a long absence. Prove the dose and the mount while you are still at home. Write the daily amount, the times, and the line that they must not add a handful on top. NT Labs suggests a measure or pre-packed portions so a friend does not feed as well as the machine. Name the person before you fill the hopper. A hopper with no name attached is a guess. Do not fill it the morning you leave and call that the trial.

Cold water and a fish that is already in trouble

The timer does not read the pond. OATA says that below 8 °C it may be better not to feed, with sturgeon as the exception. Hikari UK says not to feed its wheatgerm below 5 °C. Those are two floors. If you travel in a cold snap, switch the unit off. A block that sinks and moulds is another way to overfeed a pond you cannot see. If the fish are already off their food, gasping, or the water smells, do not add a feeder. The holiday decision is a few days with no food when the fish are well, a week only after a trial, and anything longer only with a measured hopper and a person who will look.

Common questions

Can I leave goldfish or koi for a week with no feeder?
King British says most coldwater fish will be fine for one week without food, and that tropical fish usually will not. NT Labs would rather you did nothing for a few days than overfed on the way out. That is not a rule for every stocked koi pond, and it is not permission to leave a feeder you have never watched.
Will an 800 ml Hozelock last a fortnight?
The Hozelock chamber is 800 ml, about 100 g on Pondkeeper’s page, with up to six feeds a day. Reviewers say about a week at frequent settings. That line is a review pattern, not a fortnight. A small goldfish ration and a heavy koi ration do not empty 800 ml at the same speed.
Is a 7 litre hopper two weeks of food?
No. The P7000 is a 7 litre hopper, but the manual tells you to load about ten days of food for freshness. Portions start from about 15 ml. Ten days of a small dose can leave most of the tub empty, which is correct. Do not read 7 litres as fourteen daily rations.
Who should check the pond while I am away?
Name one person, give them a way in, and leave the daily amount and the times. Fish Mate’s manual says someone should check on long absences. The note should say to switch the unit off if food is left floating or the fish look wrong. Someone who watched one cycle with you is a stronger check than a neighbour who has never seen the feeder.
What if the water is cold when I travel?
Follow the food, not the timer. Hikari UK says not to feed its wheatgerm below 5 °C. OATA says that below 8 °C it may be better not to feed, with sturgeon excepted. Do not merge those into one switch-off law. If the fish have stopped clearing a meal, turn the feeder off before you go.

Related pages

How to set up an automatic pond fish feeder

Automatic pond fish feeder buying guide

Best automatic pond fish feeder

Pond fish feeder

Battery or mains pond fish feeder: cells or a socket

Sources

Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the seven amazon.co.uk listings captured on 19 October 2026. No listing states an IP rating. OATA and Hikari do not share one temperature at which you must stop feeding. A battery or weatherproof line that clashes with another field on the same listing is not treated as settled.

  1. OATA, how to look after pond fish (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Hikari UK, wheatgerm (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Closer Pets, Fish Mate P7000 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Pondkeeper, Fish Mate P7000 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Pondkeeper, Hozelock automatic fish feeder (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Electrical Safety First, BS 7671 regulation 411.3.3 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. NICEIC, gardens and electrics (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. GOV.UK, Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  9. GOV.UK, General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  10. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 19 October 2026)