₦airaland Forum

This is interesting.

It should be moved to FP asap.

It's apparently not oil pollution.

There was a discharge of a toxic chemical in the sorrounding water body, that killed the fishes.

Don't quote if you can't relate to my facts.

Those fishes are benthic fishes (they live below the surface level of the water)
Oil pollution affects the photic zone of water ( top layer) because oil floats on water.

And those fishes DONT live at the PHOTIC zone.

Weedsmoker:
I have never seen anyone who became a millionaire or billionaire through catfish farming,you can proof me wrong tho.

All I keep seeing is farms going bankrupt, closing down and the owners becoming debtors.

You are very right.
But there are people who makes millions in fish Farming.
Most farmers thinks that fish Farming is about buying feeds and feeding fish. That's wrong.
When you depend on that, the only thing you gain might be N200 per fish, when you are reselling it.

Perhaps you successfullly raised 50 fishes to 1kg and sell it. Your gain would be N200×50 or 45.
But have you considered the areas I mentioned?
Have you considered the gain that will come when you produce your own feed?

Hello NL.
Do you know you can actually start up a fish Farming business without lots of money?
I want to give us a little information on what I mean.

Fish Farming comprises of many lucrative areas which can earn you real money when you venture in it.
I'll try to briefly explain these areas one after the other.
1. Fish hatchery & breeding : if you focus on this, you'll only be producing thousands of fish after every breeding process. This process is achieved by fertilizing the fish's egg with the male's sperm and manipulate it to hatch into a fish.
Each successful breeding produces up to 200,000 fishes which is sold for N10 or N15 each. Depending on your location. Do the calculation.

2. Fish feed Formulation: this is the act of producing fish feed for your farm or for others to buy. One of the challenges of fish farmers and starters is money to buy feeds. If you are able to produce the feeds, you be sure of making real money from selling them. During my school days, I made money by selling the feeds I produced. Fish feeds doesn't need any expensive material to be produced. It needs just Maize, soyabean, oil, garri, fishmeal, blood meal etc, now you understand what I'm saying.

3. This is the one most of us do. Buying fish, putting them in ponds and feeding them till it gets to a market size. Do you know that there are hormones you inject your fish and they will grow ×2 of what others get?
Do you know there are drugs you add to your fish feed which will make them stay stronger , healthier and tastier than others? Fish Farming indeed is one of the businesses you can go into with 0 regrets.

4. I almost forgot to add fish Pathology. Imagine billing people to tell them how to treat their fish. In my 400L in school, I've started treating fishes even in neighboring states. You can learn that too and explode .

There are many things I can tell you bout fish Farming. But let me rest here first.

HOW TO SET UP A FISH HATCHERY BUILDING

It is important that hatchery designs and rearing practices minimize "un-natural" conditions that might impair overall expression of crucial post- release performance traits along with the readiness on the part of the hatchery managers to move away from the traditional Aquaculture practices to the modern practices. A standard hatchery could be designed to have the following;
1. The hatchery building
2. A borehole or Tube well
3. Overhead tanks
4. Outdoor spawning or nursery tanks.

THE HATCHERY BUILDING

The Hatchery building should be a well designed structure made up of laboratories, offices, stores, holding tanks of about 1×2m×1m (w×l×h) concrete tanks or space for big fibreglass tanks of similar sizes, spawning tanks of same dimensions or bigger, Aquaria section where several Aquaria are located, lecture conference room for meetings and conferences.

The holding tanks are tanks where the harvested adults are kept temporarily for breeding purposes. The building should be well electrified and standby generator bought to ensure regular supply of light whenever the main power supply company fails. Also, the entire hatchery complex should have facilities for aeration. A blower if affordable is preferable. In absence of that, a pumps should be provided to help aerate the system.

Present in the stores are facilities and equipments like pestle and mortar for grinding pituitary extracts, glasswares for saline solutions, meter rule and weighing balance, zinc jars for hatching artemia cysts, Knife, Razor blade, plastic bowls for collection of eggs, petri-dishes for collection of eggs, chemicals for anaesthetization and bath treatments, hand nets for catching of brood fish, feathers or plastic spoons for mixing the eggs and sperm, buckets etc.

The laboratory could be for pure culture of plankton or for water quality analysis or for disease diagnosis and treatment.

A BOREHOLE

The borehole is used as water source to feed the entire eco-hatchery unit. This is a must for any hatchery to thrive well. There is need for good water supply to fish juvenile due their very tender nature at this stage. Raising fish juvenile with poor water quality introduces pathogens to the system and this in turn harm the young fish that are still tender. The temperature of the borehole varies between 26.1 to 27.5°C. Due to the poor dissolved oxygen content of borehole water, aeration using air pumps or air blowers help to enhance the oxygen level.

OVERHEAD TANKS

An overhead tank should be provided for storage of water. Water from borehole has low dissolved oxygen. Attempts should be made to increase the DO level by aeration. The overhead tanks are generally of 2000 litres capacity or more. From these tanks, water is continuously fed to the spawning or hatching pool or to the entire hatchery during Hatchery operation.

OUTDOOR SPAWNING AND NURSERY TANKS
Besides the provision of indoor spawning and nursery tanks, outdoor equivalent should also be provided. The outdoor nursery tanks have added advantage of being used to culture plankton and grow bother the larvae and the plankton together. (SEE www.fishclass.icu for more explanation)

In my Hatchery Complex, breeding takes place indoors and the stripped and fertilized eggs are spread evenly on a suitable substrate or on fine nylon in an incubation chamber made up of glass of approximately 200L capacity in two compartments ( light and dark region). The eggs are laid on the substrate or nylon on the light source and immediately the larvae hatches, it swims towards the dark region and are later siphoned using hose pipe into the breeding tray of fibreglass with a capacity of 400L connected to pipe borne water. They are fed, first preferably with live foods for about 10 days and sometimes with artificial feeds of 0.7πg particle size before transferring to the Nursery ponds or outdoor concrete tanks.

Learn More at www.fishclass.icu

FISH GILL DISEASE TREATMENTS - GILL BIOPSY
Available now at signature.

AVAILABLE LESSON:

FISH TREATMENT - CLINICAL TECHNIQUES: ROUTINE METHODS, SEDATION/ANESTHESIA, USING THE MICROSCOPE, SKIN AND GILL BIOPSY

Link at my signature.
w w w. fishclass. i c u

waleyp:
Oh I see
Fishries is very good and i like it now

You can say it again!!

waleyp:
Oh I see
Fishries is very good and i like it now

You can say it again!

LATEST LESSON:

HOW TO TREAT SICK FISH - BEHAVIOURAL EXAMINATION, EXTERIOR CHARACTERISTICS, GROSS SIGNS AND DISEASES AND CLINICAL DANGEROUS FISHES

Check link at my signature.
w w w . fishclass . i c u

waleyp:
how were you able to generate funds as a start up?

Hello.
I Studied Fisheries and Aquaculture during my study days.
For my farm, I focused on Feed formulation and Fish pathology.

All Fish farmers and interested Fish Lovers and aquacultirists, I greet you all!

I have tried to post some free lessons on how to be a successful Fisheries and Aquacultirist here on NL but the Bots ain't friendly.
I won't post links anymore. I will only post topics which you'll have to go to my signature for the link.

Currently, I'm posting topics on FISH MEDICINE. Don't afford to lose your fishes to sickness or diseases.
Learn how to identify, diagnose and treat your fish and pond.

Please visit my SIGNATURE for the link or visit w w w . f i s h c l a s s . i c u

LESSON: COMMERCIAL FISH PONDS
www.fishclass.icu


Commercial fish ponds are typically earthen, rectangular, 0.9 – 1.2 m (3 – 4 feet) deep, and 0.4 – 8 ha (1 – 20 ac) in size. Commercial pond fish production faces problems that are similar to those in other forms of intensive animal agriculture. High stocking densities mandate high ney utrient input from feed, which in turn causes the buildup of toxic wastes. High nutrient levels also stimu￾late algae growth, causing large fl uctuations in dissolved oxygen. These suboptimal conditions place considerable stress on the fish. Water is an excellent medium for the transmission of infectious agents, and diseases can spread rapidly through susceptible populations. Diseases must be diagnosed rapidly and accurately; even a matter of several hours can be crucial to the outcome of an epidemic. Thus, herd health management with proper intervention to prevent problems is the best approach.
Some ponds are also stocked with fish that the owners tyhen charge customers to fish (fee - fishing ponds). These ponds are frequently restocked with large fish. Owners must keep fish actively feeding to provide a quality experience for customers.

LESSON: CLOSED CULTURE SYSTEMS: PONDS
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The Pond as an Ecosystem
Many of the principles that apply to aquarium ecology
also apply to pond ecology. It is useful to consider the
pond itself as a single, functioning entity, since the
pond ’ s health is vital to the fish's health. In many ways
the pond's vital functions are similar to that of a single organism. Respiration, acid - base balance, elimination of nitrogenous wastes, and other biological functions must be maintained. Some
factors, such as temperature, are beyond control; however, others can be modified considerably through
active intervention of the farmer and as an indirect consequence of management practices. It is also important
to realize that changing a single parameter, such as increasing pH, can have a profound effect on many other
variables.
Thus, it is not possible to treat the pond without
affecting the fish, and conversely, it is not possible to
treat the fish without affecting the pond ecosystem.
This makes water -
quality analysis as important to assessing a fish disease
problem as the physical examination is to routine clinical
assessment of land animals. Adjacent ponds may be identiical in size, soil substrate, source of water, and number
of fish stocked, but each will develop as a unique ecosystem and must be treated as such.

Several routine management practices are performed
to maintain proper pond health, including the
following:
1. Fertilization — May be used to stimulate growth of algae, which is the major producer of oxygen in the pond and which removes much of the ammonia.

2. Aerators- Supplemental aeration is used when oxygen
is low. Paddlewheels, diffusers, and other devices may
be used.

3. Liming — Is used to neutralize acids and to maintain a proper pH. It also provides carbonate ion needed for algae growth and calcium and magnesium
needed by fish. Liming is often done after draining a pond at the end of a production cycle.
In addition, algicide treatment has been used to control excessive algal growth but is usually not recommended.

LESSON: COMPONENTS OF BUILDING A FISH AQUARIA
www.fishclass.icu


Aquaria are mainly used for maintaining pet fish, although
some food fish are also cultured in these intensive systems.
Space does not permit a detailed discussion of the types
of aquarium culture systems used for maintaining fish.
I will write a post about it in the future. The purpose of this discussion is to describe
the basic components that are needed for aquarium
culture, with emphasis on pet fish.
An aquarium is analogous to a spaceship in that all
essential life - support systems must be provided; this
includes removing toxins and supplying oxygen, proper
temperature, and food. The basic components include
the following:

1. Aquarium (tank) — It is usually made entirely of glass.
Tanks are less frequently made of plastic (acrylic) or Fiberglass. Sizes typically range from 1 gallon to over
100,000 gallons (4 – 400,000 liters) in large public
aquaria. Most hobbyists have aquaria ranging from 5 to 125 gallons (20 – 500 liters).

2. Substrate — This consists of various types of gravel,
sand, or limestone. Some substrates are inert, while
others may leach minerals (e.g., crushed coral reacts with acids in the tank to release calcium and magnesium, increasing the hardness) or other substances.
Some types of gravels may also leach toxins, such as heavy metals; these should not be used in aquaria.
The most inert types of minerals are quartz, granite, and mica.

3. Filters — The major types of filters are corner, undergravel, outside, and canister types. Some have a water pump for increased circulation (power filter). Some
may be elaborate (wet - dry filter for marine reef tanks).
Filters usually perform multiple functions that can be classified into either mechanical, chemical, or biological filtration; the two most important functions are to circulate the water for oxygenation (mechanical) and to remove nitrogenous waste products via the bacteria
that colonize the filter bed (biological). Filters also remove particulates and/or pigments (chemical) that
reduce the aesthetics of the tank and may also be harmful to fish. Along with the tank size, the sizes and types of filters are primary factors that dictate the amount of fish biomass that can be held in any given
aquarium.

4. Aerators — These include airstones and other devices
driven by pneumatic pumps that increase circulation
(i.e., increase contact with the air - water interface) and thus oxygen levels.

5. Other water purification devices — These are primarily used in marine aquaria and include equipment to perform foam fractionation and protein skimming,
which helps to remove excess nitrogenous wastes.
Also included are reverse osmosis (R/O) units to purify water prior to using it to prepare artificial seawater.

6. Live plants — Many different types of plants are maintained in aquaria, including mainly vascular plants (i.e., higher plants) in freshwater tanks and macroalgae in marine aquaria. Plants provide oxygen, remove nutrients, and act as refuges for shy fish.

7. Decorations — These include coral, ornaments, and
various types of artifi cial plants. All items should have been tested as safe for use in aquaria.

8. Heater — This is a thermostatically controlled electrical unit that maintains a constant temperature. Some are only partly submerged, while others are completely submersible.

9. Disinfection units — These are used to remove pathogens from the water. Most popular are units that produce ozone or ultraviolet light to kill microorganisms. While they are useful when water
is being recirculated among multiple aquaria, their utility, when used for only one aquarium, is questionable.

TROPICAL MARINE AQUARIUM FISH
www.fishclass.icu


Marine fish are becoming an increasingly larger component of the pet fish industry. At least part of this growth is because of the recent strides that have been made in successfully keeping these fi sh in captivity. Better tank
design and its integration with more reliable and efficient pumps, filters, and other apparatus have helped to greatly
improve water quality, which is essential for marine fish health. Although proper veterinary care is still sorely
lacking in many situations, owners and retailers also have
a better awareness of diseases and the proper means of
treating them compared to years past. Another factor
that may contribute to the surge in marine aquarium
keeping relates to the greater amount of disposable
income in many households, which has allowed more
people to afford these beautiful but expensive creatures.
Many marine hobbyists have reef tanks, which are elaborate and usually expensive setups that are used for the
display of live invertebrates (corals, anemones, etc.) as
well as fish. When a dozen or more such animals are kept
in a single tank, this can become a sizable economic
investment.
The majority of marine fish come from Indo - Pacific
reefs (Indonesia, Philippines, Pacific Islands), with some
from the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and
the Red Sea Despite some significant advances in captive
propagation, the great majority of marine aquarium fish
are wild caught. A striking example of the dramatic difference in adaptation to culture between wild - caught and
captive - raised marine fish is the clownfish: The relative
survival rate of this group of 28 species as wild - caught
individuals is markedly less than that of captive - produced
stocks. The relatively rare
in captive - bred clownfish, is often called “ clownfish
disease ” because of its common presence on wild - caught
fish.
Important ecological differences between marine
and freshwater fish have a direct bearing on their health
in captivity. Compared with freshwater
ecosystems, the tropical marine environment has little
natural fluctuation in temperature, oxygen, or other
water - quality conditions. Thus, marine reef fish are not
adapted to withstand the poor water conditions to which
they are often exposed in captivity; this is exacerbated by
the fact that most marine aquarium fish are wild caught.

LESSON: TROPICAL FRESHWATER FISH
www.fishclass.icu

The largest segment of the aquarium fish industry is the
freshwater aquarium fish sector. Major groups include
the poeciliids and the egg - layers.

• Poeciliids (guppies, mollies, swordtails, platies)
These are also known as livebearers because they are
viviparous. (A few other nonpoeciliid fi sh are also
viviparous.) They are prolific, with many line bred
strains. These fish are often relatively inexpensive,
although certain strains may be high priced.
The so-called egg - layers encompass all other fresh water aquarium fish. Major groups include the
following:

• Characins (tetras) — These are active, schooling fi sh
that usually stay in the upper water column. Some
species may be a bit aggressive and nip fins or chase
tankmates. Most make good members of a community
aquarium. This group also includes the piranhas, which are not good for the community aquarium.
• Tropical Cyprinids (barbs, danios) — These are active,
schooling fish that usually stay in the upper water
column. Like the characins, they may be a bit aggressive and nip fins or chase tankmates. Most make good
members of a community aquarium.
• Anabantids (bettas, gouramies, paradise fi sh, etc.) —
These are generally peaceful fish that are good candidates for a community aquarium, except for the
popular Siamese fighting fish, which, although aggressive toward conspecifics, are shy toward unrelated
species. Anabantids breathe air by using an accessory
organ modifi ed from gill tissue (labyrinth organ).
• Cyprinodonts (killifishes, topminnows) — These are
generally small, often brilliantly colored fish, many of
which have short natural life spans (e.g., annual fi sh).
They are often shy among other types of fish and do
best in a separate aquarium. There is usually marked
sexual dimorphism.
• Catfish ( Corydoras, Pimelodella, Plecostomus, etc.) and
Loaches (clown loach, kuhli loach, etc.) — These are
generally peaceful, bottom - feeding fish that are useful
as scavengers to keep the gravel clean. Most make
good members of a community aquarium.
• Cichlids (freshwater angelfi sh, discus, oscar, African
rift lake cichlids, etc.) — These are a popular group of
fish that include a wide range of species having diverse
behaviors. Some make excellent members for a community aquarium (e.g., angelfish), while others are
extremely territorial and can only be kept with equally
aggressive species (e.g., oscar). Some species have
marked sexual dimorphism.
• Oddball fish (archerfi sh, piranha, freshwater butterfl y
fish, etc.) — These are species that are occasionally kept
by aquarists as novelties. They include a diverse array
of species.

Lesson from www.fishclass.icu

These are Tanks where the larvae are nursed to fry and finally to fingerlings. Small Aquaria, plastic containers, basins, concrete tanks and fibreglass tanks etc could be used for this purpose. When the larvae have been acclimatized in the larval rearing trays for about 10 days and initial feeding started, they are further separated into other units of various sizes and proper feeding carried out.

Within such systems, the farmer watches out for 'jumpers' (those that quickly outgrow their age mates) and ensures that they are immediately removed from the crowd and kept in separate tanks where those of their sizes are. Failure to do that promptly will result to cannibalism of the smaller ones by the bigger ones. Thus regular sorting takes place in the nursery Tanks.

If the larvae are reared outdoors in tanks, it is recommended that every two weeks, sorting should be carried out. Nursing Fish larvae in flow-through systems guarantees better growth and performance as contrasted with stagnant water systems. Aeration is equally important during this stage of larval production and the water quality should be monitored regularly since there are more metabolites being released as a result of increased feeding and metabolic activities.

If artificial feed is used, they should be of high protein content and of balanced nutrient including vitamin premix etc.

When hatchery tanks are newly constructed, they should be treated with alum ( potassium aluminum sulphate) if concrete, for one week or filled with either fresh water or salt water to attain neutral pH of fibreglass.
After breeding for operational hatcheries, disinfections with 12% sodium hypochloride solution at 200ppm for 24h should be carried with proper cleaning up.

The salt water or fresh water to be used should be filtred except when borehole water is used. The system should be aerated adequately. In fact, higher aeration is usually required in both spawning and hatching Tanks. Most importantly, the physicochemical properties of the water must be monitored regularly.

LESSON 4: LARVAL REARING TANK
www.fishclass.icu

The moment the larvae hatch out, they quickly swim away from the light region to the dark region and get clustered at the edges of the tank or at one corner of the container. It is crucial that they be siphoned immediately with the help of Teflon tubes or very tiny hose into the larval rearing trays/tanks where they stay until their yolk sacs are fully reasbsorbed before feeding commence.

The larval rearing tank is expected to be quite long to give room for active swimming. It could be constructed of fibreglass of 10m long and 60cm wide. It could also be wide enough to guarantee swimming space. It could also be in Aquaria using flow-through systems. Such flow-through could be in form of recirculatory system, raceway or silos. Details of these 3 systems will be discussed later.

Water flow is constant and regulated. The first exogenous feeding takes place here as soon as the yolk sac is reabsorbed. Usually, for tiny larvae (4-6mm at hatch) like those of catfish, the first food should be plankton.

LESSON 3: SPAWNING AND SPAWNING TANKS
www.fishclass.icu


These are sometimes constructed of concretes, fiberglass, large PVC units or big Aquaria for Tilapia and are located right inside the Hatchery or beside the Hatchery building for the purpose of holding the matured males and gravid/pregnant females until they breed. Spawning Tanks could take any shape ranging from circular, square, rectangular to oblong depending on the taste of the Hatchery owner.



When mature adults have been taken from the pond, they are kept in spawning tanks to spawn. Usually, a ratio of two males to one female is kept in each spawning pool. Fish like Tilapia may be kept in Aquaria of different sizes ranging from 10ltrs to 100ltr capacities or more for spawning to take place. About 10 Tilapia comprising 6 males and 4 females could be introduced into 100ltr Aquaria for spawning.



During spawning, all the necessary conditions ranging from constant renewal of water, light, adequate temperature, salinity for salt water fish and aeration etc, are out in place. Immediately after spawning, the adults are separated from the larvae. Bath treatment using potassium permanganate is given before returning the adults back to the pond.

LESSON 2: COMPONENTS OF AN ECO-HATCHERY AND BREEDING IN AN ECO HATCHERY
www.fishclass.icu

An eco-hatchery is a hatchery wherein the optimum ecological conditions required for successful breeding and hatching of fish larvae at economic operational level are attained.


The ability to simulate a near natural ecological condition into the artificial environment determines how sucesucces a hatchery operation will be. Test following are the major constituents of a standard hatchery:

1. Spawning Tanks
2. Hatching Tanks
3. Larval rearing Tanks
4. Nursery Tanks.

I'll explain these Tanks in Lesson 3,4,5 and 6.
Stay connected!

LESSON 1: FISH HATCHERY
www.fishclass.icu

A good knowledge of the types and magnitude of genotypes and their changes in performance can be achieved from the domestiation of Fish in captive propagation facility (Hatchery). Besides replicating the natural environment in the Hatchery, the Hatchery Manager is also able to reduce the effects of domestication by developing culture methods capable of reducing mortality. In Hatchery, some of the phenotypic expression may not be genetically correlated but environmentally induced such as the more readiness of hatery fish to feed on artificially prepared diet as contrasted to refusal of such diets by the introduced wild stocks.

Provision should be make for spawners by providing spawning tanks, hatching, incubation tanks with adequate water supply and aeration systems. There is always a drastic decline in Hatchery production upon neglect of these facts.

It is true that in the short term, the overall performance of hatchery reared fish in the wild is low. But in the long run, the benefit outweighs the demerits, since such strengthens the wild stock population and ultimately leads to a boost in fish yield to the society. Some times, fish to be released to the natural environment are of different quality, genetically and physiologically compared to those for immediate consumption.

Fish production for stocking in the wild must always meet rather precise size needs within a short period of time. The lowering or increasing of the temperature achieves this more readily. Consequently, standard hatcheries should have watere-recirculating systems for egg incubation, hatching and, possibly, for early rearing especially, when the ambient temperature regimes are unable to guarantee expected production.

Hatchery facilities could be designed to yeild the greatest population flexibility. However, the cost may be exhorbitant. It becomes quite obvious that there must be a balance between capital invested, labour and energy needs, production flexibilities as well as manageability of the Facilities.

Stay tuned for Lesson 2.

Remember to follow the post...
Let's go!

Hello all!
My name is Kingsley. I'm a graduate of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the University of Calabar. I also have a Diploma in Marine Science.

I joined NL just to teach it's members, the core and basic areas in Fisheries which can boost your career to 40%.
We all know that Fish Farming is one of the best lucrative business in the world but how to start it is a crucial concern.

I selected 3 areas in Fisheries which I'll be teaching us. These areas are:
1. Fish Breeding
2. Hatchery
3. Feed Formulation

If you get these courses, I bet you will thank me later.
These 3 areas are professional areas in Aquaculture. You can focus on one or even all, if you wish.

Other colleagues here are welcome also. Your contributions and suggestions are highly welcomed also.

I'll be posting lessons here according to the way I post in my website.
So if you can't follow my website, follow me here to get updated with recent lessons.

Stay Tuned!