₦airaland Forum

One thing I learned while working on a fish farm is that not every fish grows at the same rate.

You can stock fish from the same batch, feed them the same feed, and raise them in the same pond, yet after a few months the difference becomes obvious.

Some fish grow rapidly and approach table size, while others remain surprisingly small.

On the farm where I worked, we had a local name for these smaller fish: Meluge.

Whenever we noticed too many Meluge in a pond, we knew something was affecting growth performance.

Sometimes the problem was stocking density. When too many fish compete for the same space, the stronger fish often dominate feeding while the weaker ones struggle to keep up.

Other times it was feed distribution. If feed is not spread properly, some fish eat more than others. Over time, the size gap becomes wider.

Water quality also plays a role. Poor water conditions can stress fish and reduce growth rates even when feeding appears normal.

Before harvest, we usually separated the smaller fish from the table-size fish. Selling everything together reduced the overall value of the harvest, so the smaller fish were often sold separately while the larger fish continued toward market size.

Another thing we observed was that many farmers focus heavily on feed costs but pay less attention to growth variation within the pond. Yet uneven growth can have a significant impact on profitability.

Not every small fish is a sign of poor management, but a large number of slow-growing fish should always raise questions about feeding, stocking density, water quality, and general farm management.

For those involved in fish farming, have you experienced something similar?

What do you call fish that refuse to grow at the same rate as the rest of the stock?