omochefran: Pls I am resident in benue how do I get a prof. To build the pond for me since I want to start small as advised.

Theyjih: Bros ur site no dey exist oh!

aquatic1:


Bros, the website is working perfectly, maybe you check it wrongly, you can recheck.

Catarium: Pls can anyone help me out here? I need to know if its safe to feed my fish early in d mornin and late evenin. Thanks.

Tawa-Temi:
My fishes are ready for sale, yipeeee

out seba: wow....congrats and hw mch did u sell / kg....?

out seba: Thanks Awesome for ur reply,I'v constructed and I stocked abt a month ago wit juveniles..recently commenced on 3mm feed frm durante..noticed dt I recorded sme deaths sparingly like 3 @ a time but in d past mnth 20 in all...wat wld b d reasn? I also treated wit aquaceryl plus for 5 days..mixed it wit thr feed...next question...I'm been advised to continue feedin wit coppen or durante 3mm upto 4.5mm b4 I introduce local feeds,does it sound nice?if not wat r ur tips...am hapi as dey r growin and cnt wait...pls awaitin ur response thanks

Mr. Awesome:



Its nice to hear that u finally started ur farm. We that catfish are very rugged and that they can withstand harsh weather conditions,poor water management and diseases;but they are not totally immune to all d above mentioned conditions. So,it's normal to lose few of ur fish before harvest.
Although,u didn't say d size of ur ond and how many juveniles u stocked but I'm just gonna assume u didn't over crowd ur pond. Having said that,I'm gonna try to answer ur questions as much as I can.
1)During raining season,there's usually a reduction of d PH level in ponds and direct(not from reservoirs) bore hole water;and that may be d reason why u lost few of ur fishes thus far but u can't also rule out d amount of dissolved oxygen and diseases all together. I also do not recommend fish medicine in fancy packages cos I really can't say for sure how potent these medicines are. Personally,I Tetracycline (Red and Yellow) capsules and it works perfect for me cos I think tetra is a broad spectrum drug for d prevention & treatment of most catfish diseases(although it doesn't work for all cases) and in the long run it's cheaper. I mix 20-50 capsules to their daily meal depending on what I want.
(2)Yes,it is safe to start feeding local feed at about the time they start consuming 4.5mm feed but if u mill d feed urself and u'r sure of d nutritional content,u can even introduce d local feed 1 month after socking fingerlings,but be sure to mix or mill d feed urself cos u can't be too sure of generic local feed from random feed mills.
Also,be aware that d nutritional content of local feed that can be fed to small fish is quite different from that of slightly bigger ones. Protein content of feed for post fingerlings should be 45-50% and that of juveniles of 3months and above should be 30-45%

P.S: No matter how small ur farm is, always have a small pelleting machine to mill ur own feed,cos u can't break-even by using only foreign feed.

miqos02: @awesome

can you help on constructing a pelleting machine?

Mr. Awesome:



I don't fabricate pelleting machines but I'm sure if u need one,u could find it at Aba,Enugu or Lagos.I recently bought a small one with a 5 horspower electric motor at Aba for 55k.

tuniski: 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.

out seba: Pls awesome,Tawa-temi,migos etc...wld really want us to further establish a solid communication netwrk...maybe via BB dt in no way means we hv stopped using dis forum...and also would want to knw whr u guys r located pls...thanks.

out seba: ....Dr. Seby is my name...

Tawa-Temi:
I just ordered for new Juveniles which was delivered today. The selling price was N16. So for newbies that are going into Catfish farming,the selling price should be btw N15-N18. Pls make sure they didn't sell fingerlings for you at that price.

cooldudeng:

Am about ordering from a supplier close to the farm i will be using, can you kindly furnish me with the percentage of mortality to expect. Details of the offer is stated below.

4000 post fingerlings @ N13 per one with 5% mortality free. Please is this a fair deal?

Tawa-Temi:


I think it is a fair deal. It is ok.
As per d mortality, that depends on u. Don't over stock them I.e don't put too much fishes in a pond. The water must not be too dirty, feed them well and the mortality may be fairly low.
Also, d source of farm is important. If the fishes are healthy, then no problem.
Goodluck!

miqos02: @tawa.can I get aqua feed in lagos

ikooko: Hello guys, hope we doing fine in our various farms?
This is another dry season with its own characteristic challenges for fish farmers. Ie availability of water, temparature etc etc. I also observed that marketing is bad right now, buyers offering btw #180-#250 as against #400-#500 in the last 2months.
Let us compare notes for a sucessful dry season farming.

Tawa-Temi:

N180-N250, are u kidding me? I sold 1kg for N470 barely 2weeks ago for a friend.

Tawa-Temi:

Of cos yes!