Starting a catfish farm in Nigeria,really tired of going to all sites and evry1 is selling a book .
Here are some basic things you need to know or ask yourself.
[center]To help you determine if catfish farming is feasible for you in your
particular situation, a checklist is provided below. It does not cover
all of the possibilities, but it does list most of the important
considerations.[/center]

Management
[b]Do you already have suitable ponds or a pond site?

Do you have most of the equipment ( pumps, etc.) needed?

Do you have the necessary financial resources?

Have you made an estimate of investment
costs and annual cost and return?

Have you estimated the impact of changes
in fish prices and feed costs on projected income?

Will the expected profit provide an adequate
return for your labor, management and risk?

Can you afford to forego income until you sell
your first crop (usually 4-6 months after starting)?

Can you afford to absorb occasional losses?

Are you willing to devote the time and effort required?

Do you know of an established market for your fish?

Is there a market for your fish at the time of year
you plan to sell them?

Will you have harvesting and transport equipment,
or do you have a suitable arrangement
for harvesting your fish?

Will you be able to harvest fish year round?

Do you have an alternative marketing strategy?

Physical Factors
Is the topography of the land suitable
for pond construction?

Is there adequate ground water close enough to
the surface for catfish farming or is the amount
of rain run-off from your watershed sufficient?

Is the water quality suitable for your fish farming? This is very important.

Is the pond area protected from flooding?

Are the drains in existing ponds adequate
for rapid draining?

Is there daily access to the ponds, regardless of weather,
for feeding, treating, and harvesting?

Is the pond bottom suitable for harvesting
(smooth and stump free)?

Will someone live close enough to the pond to allow
frequent observation and necessary management?

Successful farmers must have a sound understanding
of the economics of their operation.
[/b]

So lets begin on a small Scale,my personal advice is to start really small,There are basically different types of pond,to illustrate the small scale production i will use wooden ponds.

The first thing is to know how much you are willing to part with.
Assuming we start with 350-400k.
This is the cost of some things.

Pond Construction
For a 18 by 6 by 4 ft = 80-100k This amount depends on which professional helps u constructs it( This basically can take about 800-1000 juveniles)it should be a complete pond with both outflow and inflow pipes

Juveniles = Assuming u start with about 1000. at 30naira per fish(juveniles) =30k i personally advice some1 without prior knowledge about catfish farming to start with combo juveniles and stock small quantity.

Feeding =it basically depends on how big you want your fishes to grow ( personally i Started with 2bags per week and continued to 3bags -4bags per week using coppens) feeding should cost about = 40*5= 200k my personal advice feed with coppens for abt 3months then change to local formula.

Bio-Disc = 50-70k ( Although most people use it for health purpose,i use it for my fishes) pls google to find out more about it.
water supply = I am assuming that there should be constant supply of water ( no need to add that to your cost)
At this point i must add that i use bio-disc to purify my water and basically some other things.I strongly recommend bio-disc.


If you have any question at all pls ask me, i will be glad to help out.

Please I want to know if you have a feeding chart for 1000 juvenile till harvest. I have done catfish farming before for about 2 years though I have learnt my lessons

adamawa: Please I want to know if you have a feeding chart for 1000 juvenile till harvest. I have done catfish farming before for about 2 years though I have learnt my lessons

Hi adamawa feeding chat do u mean how much they will consume per month?

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I really appreciate poster of this thread. But pls u did not breakdown d expenses well and more so if one intend to raise d fish till 2kg what is d cost implication and what will be d gain? Also what are d marketing feasibility. Thanks

Bb life: I really appreciate poster of this thread. But pls u did not breakdown d expenses well and more so if one intend to raise d fish till 2kg what is d cost implication and what will be d gain? Also what are d marketing feasibility. Thanks

Ok 2kg, really dat would depend on how. And when you feed them becos at abt 2months plus u already have about 0.8g to 1kg of some of the fishes. So if u keep them for about 5months u shud get some 2kgs and also remember you have to sort them, sorting basically means seperating big fishes from smaller ones. I personally advice that u feed them wit coppens feed for about 3months and then switch to local feed,which shud contain more of fish meal and protein in d formula used. And basically per kilo cost abt 500naira to 550naira so if all goes well, u shud be able to make as much as possible. Well marketing the fish is easy,who evr you buy your juveniles from shud give you contacts of market women or indivduals that would want to buy.keep in mind tht there isn't too much of catfish, people will always buy, and dnt be bothered about if the prices will fall becos there are too many fishes, evry1 has a purpose "making profit" so no1 will go below market price except if the fishes are small or weigh less than 1kg.

U7e nt told me d cost for feeding up till 5months. Pls do. I want cost on 1000 juveniles

Bb life: U7e nt told me d cost for feeding up till 5months. Pls do. I want cost on 1000 juveniles

This should guide you better.BW= body weight,but i am sure you wont have time to be checking for the temperatures so just use this.

At 50-60º F, feed 0.5-1.0 percent BW
At 60-70º F, feed 2.0 percent BW

At 70-86º F, feed 3.0 percent BW

At 90-95º F, feed 0.5-1.0 percent BW

but i am sure you wont have time to be checking for the temperatures so just use this.
between 75 and 85º F,= if you convert when this should be, it should be around 10am to 1.pm at this time feed them 10% of their total body weight.

e.g if your fish weighs 5 grams requires a ration of 10% of its body
weight,
Amount of feed to be fed per day = 5 grams x 10/100
= 0.5 grams feed per fish per day.
If there are 1000 fish in the pond, then;
= 0.5 g x 1000 fish
= 500 g of feed should be given to your fishes per day.

let me go further a bag of coppens weighs 15kg so feed about 500g of feed per day then in a week you shud use about 2 and half bags in a week. so from here do your calculations,i hope this helps you,if any other question please let me know,i recommend you use bio-disc to help retain oxygen in your water,becos as you feed oxygen also reduces.

u need a fish consultant in southwest? Call me on 08020905385.at the cheapest cost.

Pls am new on this and this is wat I want to start.pls I intend starting small say 100-300 fingerlings.pls how much wil it cost me to kip it for about 5months.

We @ msbfisheries our is the higher value chain activities in catfish biz as we buy off our customers output @ harvest provided you are originally our clients however with spare capacity we then buy from others outside our clientele base. We process some and sell most directly to our network of consumers with d long term drive of exporting accross our shores.

well done to the profs in this thread.how much is the bio disc that can contains 1000 fishes?.pls pple beware of those that are dropping their fone numbers and emails,i think this thread is to help the forumites with free info.tanks.

arramyjay:

This should guide you better.BW= body weight,but i am sure you wont have time to be checking for the temperatures so just use this.

At 50-60º F, feed 0.5-1.0 percent BW
At 60-70º F, feed 2.0 percent BW

At 70-86º F, feed 3.0 percent BW

At 90-95º F, feed 0.5-1.0 percent BW

but i am sure you wont have time to be checking for the temperatures so just use this.
between 75 and 85º F,= if you convert when this should be, it should be around 10am to 1.pm at this time feed them 10% of their total body weight.

e.g if your fish weighs 5 grams requires a ration of 10% of its body
weight,
Amount of feed to be fed per day = 5 grams x 10/100
= 0.5 grams feed per fish per day.
If there are 1000 fish in the pond, then;
= 0.5 g x 1000 fish
= 500 g of feed should be given to your fishes per day.

let me go further a bag of coppens weighs 15kg so feed about 500g of feed per day then in a week you shud use about 2 and half bags in a week. so from here do your calculations,i hope this helps you,if any other question please let me know,i recommend you use bio-disc to help retain oxygen in your water,becos as you feed oxygen also reduces.

please how much does a 15kg bag of feed cost?

Thanks for this beautiful insight to Fish Farming. I have read through your post and please can you take time to answer these few questions;

1. How many acres of land will i need to get to start a fish pond- either on a large scale or a small scale?
2. Is it possible to harvest Catfish all year round and how visible is this ?
3. Is catfish viable on a mobile fish farming sale,i.e delivery to the buyers via a fish van?
4.What sort of training will i have to attend or can u recommend a proper fish farming book to study ?

Lastly, is it advisable to rear another type of fish with the catfish i.e Tilapia etc..I am higly interested in starting a fish pond and would really appreciate your response.
thanks

Hello everyone! I wanna start both catfish and another popular type of fish (not yet sure), this month and I'll be happy if I can get valuable (free) information from the experts here. I've been to some places and they sell juveniles for 30 naira and 15kg of pellet feeds for 4500 naira. I wanna start with 1000 juveniles, all other necessary things are in place (water, pond, n plastic drums). I'll like to know how much it'll cost to feed the 1000 until they r ripe for sale. Thanks. BB: 275B7A68, email/yahoo msgr:philmo53@yahoo.com

hobat4cash: please how much does a 15kg bag of feed cost?

coppens net weight is 15kg = 5000-5100naira.

sojiboy: u need a fish consultant in southwest? Call me on 08020905385.at the cheapest cost.

Start your own thread.

good post, very educative. @RK.toyosi.the land area you will need should depend on the type of pond you will be using and the stocking density. if you are using earthen pond, you should increase the stocking density unlike using concrete pond where you can only stock at 5pc/ square meter. polyculture practice is encouraged but you really have to maintain your pond water quality, catfish can survive even at 0 dissolved oxygen level but tilapia can never, so you really have to consider this. can the feeds of catfish also be used for tilapia? maybe the OP should educate us on that, though i doubt it..

nice thread, starting my farm next month, how much is the biodisc and which shop is likely to be selling something like that.

venorite: Pls am new on this and this is wat I want to start.pls I intend starting small say 100-300 fingerlings.pls how much wil it cost me to kip it for about 5months.

hi if your fish weighs 5 grams requires a ration of 10% of its body
weight,
Amount of feed to be fed per day = 5 grams x 10/100
= 0.5 grams feed per fish per day.
If there are 1000 fish in the pond, then;
= 0.5 g x 300 fish
= 150 g of feed should be given to your fishes per day.
On an average u will need 15bags to feed them for 5months that is if u only feed wit coppens.
about 75k naira for 5months.

tinnymerit: well done to the profs in this thread.how much is the bio disc that can contains 1000 fishes?.pls pple beware of those that are dropping their fone numbers and emails,i think this thread is to help the forumites with free info.tanks.

pls click this to know more about bio-disc.
http://sanjivaniwellness.weebly.com/biodisc.html

RK.toyosi:

Thanks for this beautiful insight to Fish Farming. I have read through your post and please can you take time to answer these few questions;

1. How many acres of land will i need to get to start a fish pond- either on a large scale or a small scale?

2. Is it possible to harvest Catfish all year round and how visible is this ?
3. Is catfish viable on a mobile fish farming sale,i.e delivery to the buyers via a fish van?
4.What sort of training will i have to attend or can u recommend a proper fish farming book to study ?
Lastly, is it advisable to rear another type of fish with the catfish i.e Tilapia etc..I am higly interested in starting a fish pond and would really appreciate your response.
thanks

*if you are going to start on a small scale then u need a land that can take 18 by 6 ft pond,start with a wooden pond.


* yes it is possible it will depend on how often you stock again,i mean fingerlings or juveniles.

*You can deliver to your customers any how you want to boss.

*I have basically written what you should knw,but if you want me to help you start from the basics (from construction of pond to feeding for about 2weeks)and all then i can do that. But at a fee. There are books but every1 sells their and basically it isnt comprehensive enough.

* Yes it is,If you are really interested to learn about breeding tilapia then there is an institute in ghana which can admit you as an attaching student, u will be trained for 8weeks,at no cost. Update me as to what you decide.

philipinho: Hello everyone! I wanna start both catfish and another popular type of fish (not yet sure), this month and I'll be happy if I can get valuable (free) information from the experts here. I've been to some places and they sell juveniles for 30 naira and 15kg of pellet feeds for 4500 naira. I wanna start with 1000 juveniles, all other necessary things are in place (water, pond, n plastic drums). I'll like to know how much it'll cost to feed the 1000 until they r ripe for sale. Thanks. BB: 275B7A68, email/yahoo msgr:philmo53@yahoo.com

read through the post again you see your answer there. Any other thing let me know.

opes: good post, very educative. @RK.toyosi.the land area you will need should depend on the type of pond you will be using and the stocking density. if you are using earthen pond, you should increase the stocking density unlike using concrete pond where you can only stock at 5pc/ square meter. polyculture practice is encouraged but you really have to maintain your pond water quality, catfish can survive even at 0 dissolved oxygen level but tilapia can never, so you really have to consider this. can the feeds of catfish also be used for tilapia? maybe the OP should educate us on that, though i doubt it..

Tilapia eat virtually anything,yes you can use the pellets you use for your catfish.

deandavid: nice thread, starting my farm next month, how much is the biodisc and which shop is likely to be selling something like that.

Abt 70k i get mine from singapore,if you want it i can help you order it and then we meet up and i show you how to use it for your fishes.

Please what is the current price of fish per kilo in your area?

arramyjay:

read through the post again you see your answer there. Any other thing let me know.

.

I've read through it cos I can't find it there so I'm still askin d same question: Do you know how much (estimate) it'll take to feed 1000 fishes until they are mature enough to b sold? Thanks

Syenite: Please what is the current price of fish per kilo in your area?

500naira per kilo.

philipinho: .

I've read through it cos I can't find it there so I'm still askin d same question: Do you know how much (estimate) it'll take to feed 1000 fishes until they are mature enough to b sold? Thanks

To keep them for 5months boss, you need abt 10bags per month for 5months = 10*5*5000 = 250k naira for 5months.