I am interested to know what the recommended Capital outlay would be, to initiate a fish farm business with the following caveats,
1. Land/Space rental - 1 plot with pond(s) construction with proper aeration
2. 2500 to 5000 Fingerlings
3. Feeds from Fingerling to Harvest
Any other items required to bring such an endeavor to fruition.
In the interest of full disclosure, please bear in mind that I have no experience with this and only seeking guidance from experienced hands here

Hello fellow catfish farmers/ intending farmers. My name is ayo and i've been in dis business 4 a while now. What i always tell my customers/ intending ones is that 4 u to go into catfish farming u need space, constant water, and d capital to start d business. U can start small and latter expanding. The mistake many makes is that they focus on d end result without knowing what it takes or finding out how to get 2 d result/ target. Lets take 4 instance, u want to stock 1000 fingerlings, after 4 months you will be looking at a total sales of say N450000(at 450/1kg). Meaning your cost would not be less than N225000 (with other conditions put right) for u to get d target of realising N450000. If you know you dont have tha t kind money, them go lower cos you realy must watch out and not over stock aswell. For d feeds you dont have to pay anybody for formula, thanks to d likes of coppens, vital feeds, durante pellet(local) etc. Which i've tried with excellent results. There are fish plastic tanks that u buy to start up with (2000 litres is more ideal) to raise 250 fingerlings to table size with ease. I've seen site that claim u can stock 500 fingerlings in 2000 ltr fish tank, but believe me u won't get d desire result you want with amount. Remember to also disinfect your fingerlings / juveniles when u stock to remove unnecessary loss due to infections (cos u may be buying from farms that don't disinfect their stocks). Then u start with coppens for 2 months b4 local feed. With dis u will get your result (also with d right kind of fingerlings / juveniles). Now d best news i'm revealling to u now is that, for the best fingerlings / juveniles call Ayo on 08035193433. I tell u there are testimonies on the kind of fish we deal in. For further enquiries or questions call 08035193433 or drop your e-mail at ayo.tiamiyu@yahoo.com . Thanks

My pond smell often even frequent changing of every two days. Pls help

@efe:

You are overfeeding if dirty & smelly inn 2 days.! Rather than just throw in feed and walk away, ensure your fish are hungry, feed in little quantities and observe if they are finishing before adding more food! Weather makes a lot of difference to fish appetite. They eat less when it is cold and when oxygen is depleted.

Excess food increases nitrogen levels which added to their waste aids the smell. You may also have over-stocked. Most interestingly, fish are mainly "nibblers" who eat in bits in d wild so don't expect them to behave like someone sitting behind pounded yam - they do better with small constant quantities.

Good luck

Thank you man for this advice. This suddenly started in late december and is affecting only one pond out of 2. I will observe it from now. Please what is the best time to feed fish in cold weather like we are now and in warm weather. Thanks

mr_oluway:

@fm7070, Sorry for the late response, my Multilinks Connection Expired. I just Loaded it today. Well, Concerning the Question you Asked, I cant really say the actual Weeks cos i didn't meet the seller of the fingerlings at home when i bought them. they helped him to sell it to me. But its a Fingerlings because i can Hatch myself but i just don't feel like Hatching since i have a Target to sell by April / May 2012 so that i can stock another fingerlings against December 2012 and it can be 2 avest in a Year, I bought them 12 naira eash

Mr_oluway.
Thx for the info. Although it is helpful but I need someone who have acurate dates.
I realise that people send wrong information to fish farmers atimes and this always make them to look like a failure even when they are doing well averagely.
For Instance, if you get fingerlings which is like 1month from a farm, you can never harvest 1kg of such fish in 3months, not even 800g. However, you can buy juvenile or post fingerlings which is about 2months or 2months+ from a farm you can get about 1KG in 3months or few wks after 3months.
A lot of people claim to harvest their fish in 3 months, but they did not state the age of the fish as at the time they stock it.

efe22:

My pond smell often even frequent changing of every two days. Pls help

@efe22
Apart from overfeeding, congestion may be the cause of your challenge. If you overstock your pond, and the water available to the fishes are not enough, it may cause smelling pond. This will also hinder the growth of your fish. It is better you understock than to overstock your pond.

@fm7070 thanks too. Please what is the right time to feed them?

@efe22:

Feed mornings about 8am. For the rest of the day, you can feed based on demand BUT once its 4.30PM, don't feed anymore.

Oxygen levels reduce at night and ur fish therefore come to the surface to aid breathing. Overfull fish are susceptible to death from lack of oxygen and are at greater risk from predators because they are sluggish - this is why many farmers find dead fish in the mornings and don't find evenings. 4.30 allows them digest most of the food in their system before oxygen reduces and keeps them healthier

@Nuclearboy, truth will never hurt you. Oh I which have discovered this thread earlier. I currently rear 200 catfish and spending 15k on feeds since Nov 22, 2011. This is my first time doing it. A friend who introduce me (commercial farmer) never tell me all this when I ask him and his fish is almost twice the size of mine we bought the same date. Thanks to NL members who are sincere enough to give vital info freely.

The guy I am talking about is a church member with more than 30 ponds with each having 500 - 1000 fish per pond.

Since I have already made mistake, please what I can do to speed up the size of my fish.?

2. My fish is two months and 4 days, and I have started feeding them 4.5mm. Can I introduce 6mm when they are 3 months old? Thanks

Mr_oluway n nuclearboy thnks 4d info. i also stock 500 (pure dutch) juvenile catfish on the 20th November 2011, though i hv nt weigh dem bt dey r grow faster. most of dem are '2' inch long nw. My target is btw march/april. I wudnt mind if u guyz cn drop ur phone num. mine is 08062474276.

2 feet long i mean.

@lutha
how did u arrive at your 2ft measurement.
its rarely impossible for 2month fish to get to that length
u guys should always post verified and confirmed information to us on this forum.

@Lutha why do you want to hijack this thread with your fake/false information.

Why can't you just emulate the life of NUCLEARBOY. Explain to us how you arrived at 2feet. Do you know the meaning of 2feet? Are you intelligent at all? NL members are not dumb ok.

Does local feeds enhance fish growth or just add to their weight? Thanks

@ Efe22. Local feeds are used to enhance weight. But u can also use it to enhance growth of the fish if u increase d protein content of d feeds.

Oh NLnders! I jst gbadun u guyz. U jst dnt tak shit 4 a fact. Like above when sm1 was sayn he feeds jst twice a day n got 1.3kg afta 6mths & funny 2ft long afta 2mths. Anyway, dats was a joke. Lmoa! Bt lets kip d comments cumin as we educate oursefs d more.

@Ayosat thanks. Abeg anyone know the right time to switch between 3, 4, 6 and 8mm. Thanks

Wow , Big thanks to Everyone replying on this thread, On 5th of January, i Bought 3 bags of 6mm Local Feed and i started Feeding 500 Catfish i separated aside ( the bigger once ) each Bag Cost me 3000Naira. main while, the Other Pond consist of another 500 Catfish was having 1 bag of 6 MM Coppense to Finish up before Joining the others for Local Feed. but they Finally finished it up on the 10th of January and they Started eating on the former Local Feed i bought. The 1000 catfish has Finished up the whole 45k ( 3bags of Local Feed i Bought) Today. But My Observation was that, Some fishes have weigh Close to 1KG , and some are 2 fishes to 1KG and some are 3 fishes to 1km in the First 500 Pond. then the second Pond, 3 Fishes to 1 KG, 4 Fishes to 1KG , 5 Fishes to 1 Kg, The total Money i have spent so far on Feed is N39,000. Now I'm planing to buy feed tomorrow and i will update u on what i found out on feed. I intend to Get a Formula from the lady that sold the feed for me and i promise to let u know how everything turns out tomorrow.

Hello people,

Please i need advice on how to treat a newly cemented concrete pond before stocking with fish. Some people say I should use maure while some says I should you palm oil. I know, not treating the pond after cementing will cause massive death of the fish due to pollution of the water by cement chemicals.

Please, good people, advise.

Thanks

, U don't need Much, Just Wash the Pond with HOT water and Salt with Brush, Thats all

@mashkov, d most & commonly used treatment is d manure. U cn get it frm d butcher @òdó eran. Pack it into a double sack 2 reduce d smelly liquid dt drops. U cn hv as many as possible bags of manure depending on d pond size. @least, 2 bags shld b drop in2 d pond. Remembe 2 reduce d double sacks to 1 so dt d manure cn mix wt d water quickly. Allow it 4 a week. Afta then, drain d water & put a fresh water. Afta 15min, u cn stock u fish. My li2 xperience.

I will advise you to buy juveniles if u are just trying to setup a farm. To transport it, Just get a 50liters Keg, Cut some part of the Head and the juveniles will be OK before you get to Ur destination.

@fhemmy, also try get very chill pure water along ur way 2 maintain water temperature if d distance is far.

Hello House,

I have heard and seen today a locally fabricated tarpaulin made fish pond, capacity (table size fish) can be up to 1,000 depending on the size. Anyone with an idea of where I can get this collapsible pond?

Thanks,

Although, my ponds r made wt tarpolin&hardwood. Bt i'll like 2c responses as regard fabricated tarpolin pond mentioned above. Am waiting pls, , .

Hi fellow Nl, my fish will be 3months old by end of this Jan and sadly, they are not growing as expected. I stock them as fingerlings and I was told to feed 2 times daily which am doing. The man we bought the fish at same seller and date has his now 3 times the size of mine. Is there other things I need to do? Please help. Thanks