After a lot of research, hours of watching You Tube videos and consultations with renowned and successful fish farmers here on Nairaland and other forums we have decided to venture into commercial fish farming here in South South Nigeria.
We located the optimal site for this earthen pond, with a river less than 25 feet from the potential first pond.
We invite all to accompany us on this exciting journey into the possibilities of unlocking hidden millions in Aquaculture.

We are starting the day with 6 labourers. They will dig two ponds measuring 80 × 40 feet each. The ponds will contain 5000 hybrid juveniles.

Bia Op come and update o

Hope u did your research on maximum flood level of the river before sitting the pond,25 feet is close ,too close to a river that can flood in the rainy season and flush all the fishes away,that is the major problem in earthen pond

tahir01:
Bia Op come and update o

I am on it Sir. Thanks for stopping by

okoroemeka:
Hope u did your research on maximum flood level of the river before sitting the pond,25 feet is close ,too close to a river that can flood in the rainy season and flush all the fishes away,that is the major problem in earthen pond

Yes Sir. We have taken that possibility into consideration.
The river is not a fast flowing one and moreover the ponds have a a PVC pipe embedded at a level of 4feet. If the water table rises above that level it will automatically flow back into the river. Again, the pipes are secured with nets so the fishes can't escape through the pipes.
Thanks for your observation.

The guys did a great job today and the layout of the first pond is starting to take shape. We will work tomorrow after casting our ballots. Kindly, remember to go out and vote.

gottliebglobal:

Yes Sir. We have taken that possibility into consideration.
The river is not a fast flowing one and moreover the ponds have a a PVC pipe embedded at a level of 4feet. If the water table rises above that level it will automatically flow back into the river. Again, the pipes are secured with nets so the fishes can't escape through the pipes.
Thanks for your observation.

This is good, however, you need to think and plan beyond embedded PVC pipe, which cannot withstand the volume of water during flood. About 2 years ago, a catfish farmer lost all the fishes - his entire investment in his earthen ponds (which were many), despite the spikes to flood in Abuja. Immediately you cross from Onitsha, to Asaba, the communities around that place were flooded, and displaced few years ago. Then, there were many fish farmers that lost their entire investment to flooding.Take the issue of flooding serious and incorporate measures against such occurrence which in many cases are regarded as an Act of God, taking the topography of the area into consideration.

bilag17:

This is good, however, you need to think and plan beyond embedded PVC pipe, which cannot withstand the volume of water during flood. About 2 years ago, a catfish farmer lost all the fishes - his entire investment in his earthen ponds (which were many), despite the spikes to flood in Abuja. Immediately you cross from Onitsha, to Asaba, the communities around that place were flooded, and displaced few years ago. Then, there were many fish farmers that lost their entire investment to flooding.Take the issue of flooding serious and incorporate measures against such occurrence which in many cases are regarded as an Act of God, taking the topography of the area into consideration.

I appreciate your concern and observation. The area topography puts us at an advantage. I see you are a trainer in this field. Thank you so much for your input.

After casting their votes and a round of drinks, the boys continued and reached the first 3 feet and eureka.......water. We have already planned ahead so the pumping machine is at hand to pump out the water and allow them continue going down.

The performance of catfish in earthen ponds are better than concrete pond, flooding is the only setback in sitting ponds in flood prone areas even areas that will not flood will have an increase in the underground water table raising the pond water to a few feet in the event of continuous rainfall,but you can counter all those issues if u have a good weather app you can be able to know when it will rain continuous for days or rain with breaks,the problem months are August-september..and prepare counter measure

Thanks so much for your insight.

This job has really advanced with the kind of speed we expected. The boys just finished bagging to reinforce the pond walls. The have reached the desired depth of 6 ft and have commenced to install the piping.

We have completed this pond in record time. Kudos to my able partner and hardworking team. We stacked over 400 sand bags to protect the pond walls.
As the pics show, we have two stubborn tree stumps that we have to cut with an electric saw tomorrow.
Pond 2 loading.........

This pond is massive! Nice one. Following

czarina:
This pond is massive! Nice one. Following

Thanks. Welcome

Op this your pond is really wide and deep. You will need a canoe

okoroemeka:
The performance of catfish in earthen ponds are better than concrete pond, flooding is the only setback in sitting ponds in flood prone areas even areas that will not flood will have an increase in the underground water table raising the pond water to a few feet in the event of continuous rainfall

science has made weather easier to understand. You can check Google weather updates for the next two months to determine flooding but the issue is relocating the fishes... With this kind of massive pond and the location, I don't think heavy rain fall can affect it

@ Flutter$... We already have a boat.

Let me spread my mat here and learn from men wey sabi. Not all those ones selling handout.

gottliebglobal:
@ Flutter$... We already have a boat.

Question 1: Will you ever need to sort the fish you stock?

adisabarber:
Let me spread my mat here and learn from men wey sabi. Not all those ones selling handout.

Welcome. Spread the mat, well, well. Bia, Uju bring that extra pillow for my man here.

adisabarber:


Question 1: Will you ever need to sort the fish you stock?

Yes, sir. The second pond that will be used for that purpose is being prepared as we speak. We want to provide our fishes amble space to be able to grow to their optimal level.

gottliebglobal:

Welcome. Spread the mat, well, well. Bia, Uju bring that extra pillow for my man here.

thanks

gottliebglobal:
After a lot of research, hours of watching You Tube videos and consultations with renowned and successful fish farmers here on Nairaland and other forums we have decided to venture into commercial fish farming here in South South Nigeria.
We located the optimal site for this earthen pond, with a river less than 25 feet from the potential first pond.
We invite all to accompany us on this exciting journey into the possibilities of unlocking hidden millions in Aquaculture.

Great and exciting venture, bro.

I need to ask for more clarification over your statement up there.
Did you just scout out a land and commence digging the pond, or you actually bought the land?

Also, how close is this location from residences? I'm thinking about the security aspect.

@ whirlwind. Thanks for stopping by. I don't think one can just dig anywhere. We located the land and consulted the villagers as it's a communal land. We leased it for two years.
It's not a residential area but we have 24 hours security .

gottliebglobal:
After a lot of research, hours of watching You Tube videos and consultations with renowned and successful fish farmers here on Nairaland and other forums we have decided to venture into commercial fish farming here in South South Nigeria.
We located the optimal site for this earthen pond, with a river less than 25 feet from the potential first pond.
We invite all to accompany us on this exciting journey into the possibilities of unlocking hidden millions in Aquaculture.

Interesting!...

Men I jelos your pound, I currently have about 2,200 Cat fishes on earthen pound, they are 2 months 2weeks old, doing very well, I was hit by the flood of yesterday rain 26th Feb. I only lost 2 fishes. Please you have to put the issue of proper flood channeling into consideration. Feeding is another vital point. I introduced them to local pelleting at precisely 2 months and close to one week old, oh boy in less than 1 week plus now, they have consumed above 140kg of feed. Fish business is a nice one.

@ Debjoch1. This is the kind of news we love to hear. Congratulations my bro. Yeah, it rained yesterday and the walls would have caved in if we did not have the foresight of reinforcing the walls.
We have installed pipes that channels excess water back into the stream.
On feeding, we are still planning what might be the best source after 2 months. We could learn from you.
Could you post pics so we can see?
Thank you for your advice.

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I saw a system of preventing fishes to escape the pond in event of excessive flood water,a strong net was draped around the sides of the pond and reinforced and pegged strongly into the earth to a height of 2-3 feet,so even if the pond is covered with water no fishes will escape,and also the farmer has interesting stories to tell about fish eating birds picking fishes from the pond, monitor lizard eating fishes and the most bizzare is that he abandoned one pond because a crocodile is living inside,he has killed two crocodiles already,it's a fish farm owned by the Catholic Church it's big,one pond measures one plot of land and they have 17 ponds,I will try get pics tomorrow.

Is d pond only one?How do u sort yur fish,what is d pond dimension? If d pond is too big ,pumping out water will take a whole day.

bizzibodi:
Is d pond only one?How do u sort yur fish,what is d pond dimension? If d pond is too big ,pumping out water will take a whole day.

We will have two ponds. The other one is being prepared as we speak. The pond measures 80 × 40 feet with a depth of 6 feet.
We have built in pipes to control the level of water in the ponds. Thanks for stopping by.