₦airaland Forum

divinehand2003:
Lol
Was APC blind when they were presenting the budget during their emergency NEC meeting or to the NASS. I feel the presidency was testing the waters to see if the hunger stricken masses will accept that kind of budget. Thank goodness that silly clueless budget is withdrawn. Waiting to see if there will be any significant difference with the 2016 budget season 2

what about if they wanted to let the masses make comparison with both budget. Do you think that our economy would have survived with gej budget?

In my own opinion, it's never too late to do the right thing. I knew that baba will not be that extravagant. Let's go there!

I'm still laughing just can't stop laughing

Messi the best but I chose Ronaldo.

Op na wa for you ooh! All these do not justify him looting public funds. After all he was being paid for his job but If he is innocent he should go and clear his name.

Please send details, voltage types(110V or 240V) and prices of different range of sizes to jekes10@yahoo.com

What a wicked world. May you soul rest in peace.

robonski15:
After our successful analysis of our feed formula, a sample of the feed was submitted here in Paris to undergo a standard procedure to certify it OK or not. Today at exactly 2 pm i am pleased to announce to everyone that the certificate of clearance was issued, stating that the feed was confirmed to be 60.23 percent crude protein and certified as a regular catfish and aquatic omnivorous fishes..

More info to follow..

whoa!!! This is a very good news to start the new year with. Prof robonski15 and soft777 with everyone else involved in this great achievement. May almighty GOD empower you the more and bless your hard work more abundantly.

They are whao n berifull

soft777:
for example using a concrete pond as a study .
When you weigh your fish and get average weight of 200 gram , then the next week u get an average weight of 300gram means your fish has gained 100kg in one week .The third week you weigh again and get an average of 450g means all good, u got extra 150kg in 1 week interval .If at 4 week u get 500kg ,fine you got 50 kg extra but from your projection your weight have dropped and because you were getting 100 and 150 weigh gained before so with 50kg you will start to be very carefull and try to determine 3 things...........
1, Make sure its not your water quality problem that reduce the weight
2,Make sure you are giving your fish the right feed in quantity cause as they grow you must increase the amount of feed
3 make sure they are not sick or affected by diseases
These are the 3 major problems that can affects your fish weight gained, but if u see that all these factors are ok then you now start to realise your fish pond is getting to its carrying capacity so start to look for buyers and sell .
Or when you weigh your fish and discover your fcr is increasing .So at 1.2 fcr, using how i explained to calculate fcr in my previous write up , then you know its time to sell. because at fcr above 1.2 i fear loss will set in .
In every 2 weeks interval an increase in feed should be administered most time a 1/4 increase in feed for example , if you dont have acess to weighing your fish regularly in determining the calculation i stated on my topic feed on earlier post, you can use this crude but effective method .
For example if you give your feed 10kg daily, by 2 weeks time ,all things been equal , you need to increase by 1/4 , so by calculating this will give us , 1/4 of 10kg , that will give us 2.5 kg. Meaning the amount of feed to be administered after 2 weeks will be 10kg plus 2.5 kg this gives 12.5kg , and in every 2 weeks a good growing fish will need fish size change .This implies that in every 2 weeks interval if your fish is consuming 2mm feed by 2 weeks ago .Then by today they should be consuming 3mm, and what it implies is that, at 2 weeks ago consuming 10kg and 2mm should today consume 12.5kg and 3mm. That means you have increase both your feed quantity and size to meet up with your growing fish every two weeks.
These are when all condition are perfect because if you have disease out break or slow growing fish it may not apply.
When you buy fingerlings from hatcheries make sure they are of uniform size , because too many un uniform size will lead to carnibalism and there for reduction in your fish quantity and eventual loss.
Let me elaborate more, for new farmers to understand better ,starting with good quality standard fingerlings eating 1mm feed after 2 weeks , they should be taking 2mm and by next 2 weeks again, they should take 3mm , but you can feed 2mm to your fish from juvenile till they are 1month after juvenile and feed local feed .
Those going for grow out;
because fish reared for grow out will need to feed more of 2mm before changing to 3mm or local feed , because this will ensure there fast growth cause most 2mm foreign feed contains more percentage crude protein than 3mm , and above .
But for melange farming u can feed 1mm to fingerlings after 2 weeks you change to 2mm for 2 weeks then start local feed .I will elaborate further when i treat the topic melange farming revealing some detailed secrets on how to maximise your profits in mellange farming.
But if you know the technique like in my farm , we feed local feed from fingerlings to grow out which helps us maximize profits .
For better understanding of the technique i advise you book a day starting from febuary ,for a 1 or 2 day intensive practical training with our farm.DETAILS WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY !!!


If you are unlucky to be given last growers by bad hatcheries ,all hope is not lost what you need to do is add fish boosters to your feed and water ,at least 2 sachet to 100kg feed but please this is for people with low growing fish ,dont add fish booster to normal growing fish because they already have active enzymes in them that already support fast metabolism which is breaking down or cnverting there feed or fod to flesh so adding high concentrated boosters may be too saturated for normal fish and may cause health problems ,its only used for slow growing fish because the fish booster acts as catalyst, which are nutrients that helps fasten or increase fish metabolism making them to grow or help kick start there body enzymes for faster metabolic reaction.
When you sort your fish the slow growing or smaller ones can be boosted by separating them in a different pond and add 2 sachet of fish booster to there own feed and feed them.
Also on weekly bases add the liquid booster to there pond water anytime you change there water, though it may cost you little more ,but it is better than losing them to low sales cause of slow growth problems.
Though i still strongly insist that to make reasonable profit ,get your fingerlings from reputable hatcheries ,do not look at the time or distance ,better to be late than never.
How to catch your fish at regular interval to weigh them .I see some farmers draining down there pond , before they weigh , but that method will stress you and your fish. What you need do, taking earthen pond as an example .The night before you weigh them , take a 2 square meter mosquito net. insert it under the feeding point of your pond , and tie its four edges with a rope. Let the rope on the four edges be long enough to get outside the pond and use very strong stones to hold the rope edges firmly to the ground so as not to let the wind blow away the net.
Note this should be done a night before the next day weighing process , cause if u do it same moment when you want to feed them , as said earlier , catfish are very intelligent fishes ,they will not come there to feed when they discover you setting a trap there ,.
So after successfully doing this , by morning during feeding, they will all converge at the feeding point not realising the net under them...
Make someone to assist you by pulling the net handles, that is the ropes very fast this way you will catch a hand full of them and this should be done when they are fully engaged in their feeding. Do not wait till they finish eating, so that the new feed they are just eating will not add to the fish weight , giving you a wrong calculation .. The average of the fish caught is then weighed and returned back immediately.
How to weigh your fish to determine the average weight , for example if your net catches lets say 6 fishes, you weigh them all together lets say they give you 600g. This means you divide the 600 gram by the total number of fish you caught giving you 600 DIVIDE BY 6 that is 100g.
This implies that your average weight of your fish is 100 g.For concrete or plastic vat just put your weight checking on one of the days you do your pond water changing .when u reduce your pond water to change it .Take like 5 to 6 of them and the average weight taken . This way you have done 2 things with one method
Please for concrete pond users when you do partial or total water changes please endeavour to add either fish or poultry anti stress to your pond for 30 minutes before you fill it up back with water this does 2 things ,
1 Will help them begin to take food faster again after water changes .....
2,It helps condition the water as in making the water to settle down faster and properly.
Note anti stress is different from fish booster.
When you dont use anti stress t condition your water, its why some concrete pond users encounter fish disease more than the earthen pond users because when they change water regularly which is a good practice ,but without giving them anti stress .it causes stress t your fish so my candid advice for concrete or plastic pond users ,is to do flow through system when changing water.
Than the drain all and refill system.
NOW MY CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR EVERYBODY ,
A little secret, in as much as the iya eleja that is the fish buyers , likes to cheat ,we will not encourage ourselves to do the same but i see most farmers here, when they want to sell there fishes at maturity ,they dont feed a day or skip a day feed before sell, yes sure its normal practice , so the fishes do not vomit out there feed when harvesting and making a mess of the whole place. But skip a day will definately drop the weight of your fish there by reducing your profit
In fish farming every gram counts, do this 2 days before selling ,I call it super energy chunk feed ,its called chunk feed because you feed your fish with it 2 days before you sell ,and the feed will remain in your fish belly as a chunk for more days to come without fully digesting. This will help maintain your fish weight for the 2 days without feeding and its weight will be increased or stable and they will not vomit it out .
Its a 10kg feed mix 7kg palm carnel cake pkc with 3kg yellow grounded corn, pelletize them together and add 1/4 liter fish oil .if you cant get fish oil buy pure cow fat from abatior heat the fat without water in a pot till it gets to oil and measure 1/4 liter of the fat oil and mix with 7kg pkc and 3 kg grounded to powder yellow corn, then pelletize and give your fish . You see this 2 simple and readily available cheap ingredients will keep your fish weight intact.
This feed formula is only given 2 days before selling .you will discover drastic weight increase and there will be no vormiting of feed while harvesting ,but please dont give your fish this feed as a regular feed ,keep to your normal feed formula till 2 days befre harvest, because if u give your fish this chunk feed as regular feed , it will block there digestive system and this will be bad for your fish .
The formula should be given only 2 days before selling thank you for reading.......................
AFTER HAVING GOOD SEED .GOOD FEED FORMULA AND KNOWING HOW TO FEED ,THE NEXT STEP IS HOW TO MANAGE YOUR WATER;UNDER THIS TOPIC I WILL TREAT ALL POND SYSTEMS AND ALL POND TYPE IT WILL BE A 3 TIMES WRITE UP WATCH OUT. IT WILL BE EXPLOSIVE::::: merry xmass everybody!!!!

thanks prof. What a great insight!

[quote author=soft777 post=41355387]for example using a concrete pond as a study .
When you weigh your fish and get average weight of 200 gram , then the next week u get an average weight of 300gram means your fish has gained 100kg in one week .The third week you weigh again and get an average of 450g means all good, u got extra 150kg in 1 week interval .If at 4 week u get 500kg ,fine you got 50 kg extra but from your projection your weight have dropped and because you were getting 100 and 150 weigh gained before so with 50kg you will start to be very carefull and try to determine 3 things...........
1, Make sure its not your water quality problem that reduce the weight
2,Make sure you are giving your fish the right feed in quantity cause as they grow you must increase the amount of feed
3 make sure they are not sick or affected by diseases
These are the 3 major problems that can affects your fish weight gained, but if u see that all these factors are ok then you now start to realise your fish pond is getting to its carrying capacity so start to look for buyers and sell .
Or when you weigh your fish and discover your fcr is increasing .So at 1.2 fcr, using how i explained to calculate fcr in my previous write up , then you know its time to sell. because at fcr above 1.2 i fear loss will set in .
In every 2 weeks interval an increase in feed should be administered most time a 1/4 increase in feed for example , if you dont have acess to weighing your fish regularly in determining the calculation i stated on my topic feed on earlier post, you can use this crude but effective method .
For example if you give your feed 10kg daily, by 2 weeks time ,all things been equal , you need to increase by 1/4 , so by calculating this will give us , 1/4 of 10kg , that will give us 2.5 kg. Meaning the amount of feed to be administered after 2 weeks will be 10kg plus 2.5 kg this gives 12.5kg , and in every 2 weeks a good growing fish will need fish size change .This implies that in every 2 weeks interval if your fish is consuming 2mm feed by 2 weeks ago .Then by today they should be consuming 3mm, and what it implies is that, at 2 weeks ago consuming 10kg and 2mm should today consume 12.5kg and 3mm. That means you have increase both your feed quantity and size to meet up with your growing fish every two weeks.
These are when all condition are perfect because if you have disease out break or slow growing fish it may not apply.
When you buy fingerlings from hatcheries make sure they are of uniform size , because too many un uniform size will lead to carnibalism and there for reduction in your fish quantity and eventual loss.
Let me elaborate more, for new farmers to understand better ,starting with good quality standard fingerlings eating 1mm feed after 2 weeks , they should be taking 2mm and by next 2 weeks again, they should take 3mm , but you can feed 2mm to your fish from juvenile till they are 1month after juvenile and feed local feed .
Those going for grow out;
because fish reared for grow out will need to feed more of 2mm before changing to 3mm or local feed , because this will ensure there fast growth cause most 2mm foreign feed contains more percentage crude protein than 3mm , and above .
But for melange farming u can feed 1mm to fingerlings after 2 weeks you change to 2mm for 2 weeks then start local feed .I will elaborate further when i treat the topic melange farming revealing some detailed secrets on how to maximise your profits in mellange farming.
But if you know the technique like in my farm , we feed local feed from fingerlings to grow out which helps us maximize profits .
For better understanding of the technique i advise you book a day starting from febuary ,for a 1 or 2 day intensive practical training with our farm.DETAILS WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY !!!


If you are unlucky to be given last growers by bad hatcheries ,all hope is not lost what you need to do is add fish boosters to your feed and water ,at least 2 sachet to 100kg feed but please this is for people with low growing fish ,dont add fish booster to normal growing fish because they already have active enzymes in them that already support fast metabolism which is breaking down or cnverting there feed or fod to flesh so adding high concentrated boosters may be too saturated for normal fish and may cause health problems ,its only used for slow growing fish because the fish booster acts as catalyst, which are nutrients that helps fasten or increase fish metabolism making them to grow or help kick start there body enzymes for faster metabolic reaction.
When you sort your fish the slow growing or smaller ones can be boosted by separating them in a different pond and add 2 sachet of fish booster to there own feed and feed them.
Also on weekly bases add the liquid booster to there pond water anytime you change there water, though it may cost you little more ,but it is better than losing them to low sales cause of slow growth problems.
Though i still strongly insist that to make reasonable profit ,get your fingerlings from reputable hatcheries ,do not look at the time or distance ,better to be late than never.
How to catch your fish at regular interval to weigh them .I see some farmers draining down there pond , before they weigh , but that method will stress you and your fish. What you need do, taking earthen pond as an example .The night before you weigh them , take a 2 square meter mosquito net. insert it under the feeding point of your pond , and tie its four edges with a rope. Let the rope on the four edges be long enough to get outside the pond and use very strong stones to hold the rope edges firmly to the ground so as not to let the wind blow away the net.
Note this should be done a night before the next day weighing process , cause if u do it same moment when you want to feed them , as said earlier , catfish are very intelligent fishes ,they will not come there to feed when they discover you setting a trap there ,.
So after successfully doing this , by morning during feeding, they will all converge at the feeding point not realising the net under them...
Make someone to assist you by pulling the net handles, that is the ropes very fast this way you will catch a hand full of them and this should be done when they are fully engaged in their feeding. Do not wait till they finish eating, so that the new feed they are just eating will not add to the fish weight , giving you a wrong calculation .. The average of the fish caught is then weighed and returned back immediately.
How to weigh your fish to determine the average weight , for example if your net catches lets say 6 fishes, you weigh them all together lets say they give you 600g. This means you divide the 600 gram by the total number of fish you caught giving you 600 DIVIDE BY 6 that is 100g.
This implies that your average weight of your fish is 100 g.For concrete or plastic vat just put your weight checking on one of the days you do your pond water changing .when u reduce your pond water to change it .Take like 5 to 6 of them and the average weight taken . This way you have done 2 things with one method
Please for concrete pond users when you do partial or total water changes please endeavour to add either fish or poultry anti stress to your pond for 30 minutes before you fill it up back with water this does 2 things ,
1 Will help them begin to take food faster again after water changes .....
2,It helps condition the water as in making the water to settle down faster and properly.
Note anti stress is different from fish booster.
When you dont use anti stress t condition your water, its why some concrete pond users encounter fish disease more than the earthen pond users because when they change water regularly which is a good practice ,but without giving them anti stress .it causes stress t your fish so my candid advice for concrete or plastic pond users ,is to do flow through system when changing water.
Than the drain all and refill system.
NOW MY CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR EVERYBODY ,
A little secret, in as much as the iya eleja that is the fish buyers , likes to cheat ,we will not encourage ourselves to do the same but i see most farmers here, when they want to sell there fishes at maturity ,they dont feed a day or skip a day feed before sell, yes sure its normal practice , so the fishes do not vomit out there feed when harvesting and making a mess of the whole place. But skip a day will definately drop the weight of your fish there by reducing your profit
In fish farming every gram counts, do this 2 days before selling ,I call it super energy chunk feed ,its called chunk feed because you feed your fish with it 2 days before you sell ,and the feed will remain in your fish belly as a chunk for more days to come without fully digesting. This will help maintain your fish weight for the 2 days without feeding and its weight will be increased or stable and they will not vomit it out .
Its a 10kg feed mix 7kg palm carnel cake pkc with 3kg yellow grounded corn, pelletize them together and add 1/4 liter fish oil .if you cant get fish oil buy pure cow fat from abatior heat the fat without water in a pot till it gets to oil and measure 1/4 liter of the fat oil and mix with 7kg pkc and 3 kg grounded to powder yellow corn, then pelletize and give your fish . You see this 2 simple and readily available cheap ingredients will keep your fish weight intact.
This feed formula is only given 2 days before selling .you will discover drastic weight increase and there will be no vormiting of feed while harvesting ,but please dont give your fish this feed as a regular feed ,keep to your normal feed formula till 2 days befre harvest, because if u give your fish this chunk feed as regular feed , it will block there digestive system and this will be bad for your fish .
The formula should be given only 2 days before selling thank you for reading.......................
AFTER HAVING GOOD SEED .GOOD FEED FORMULA AND KNOWING HOW TO FEED ,THE NEXT STEP IS HOW TO MANAGE YOUR WATER;UNDER THIS TOPIC I WILL TREAT ALL POND SYSTEMS AND ALL POND TYPE IT WILL BE A 3 TIMES WRITE UP WATCH OUT. IT WILL BE EXPLOSIVE::::: merry xmass everybody!!!!
Thanks proff. What a great insight.

Nice write up that fell on deaf ears and they are bearing the consequences now. May God help us never to ignore wisdom.

I have heard! Next please.

soft777:
Hmmmm The tread is so hot , but i believe we are all one family , at the same time, we all have right to our different opinions, choices and views .
I personally believe that associations and groups have been existing in different sectors like industry agriculture mining health etc in nigeria and its no one mans idea .
No one person is an island of knowledge , we sometimes need to come together discuss and exchange ideas, on how to improve on our present existing practices for better yield .
The elimination of monopoly is the success of the developed world ,so i believe more association means more diversification
Kudos to all already existing association but i believe nigeria is big enough to accommodate all good associations . No association should feel treatend by this new association .Just call us your sister association and we are ready to work hand in hand with all other association, because at the end of the day we are all working towards the same goals and aim .There is no big deal about it. So lets not make it an issue rather an opportunity to shear or exchange reliable and productive information among ourselves to better our business and livelihood.
The success of our business is of optimal importance and this is were we should focus on .
you see my dear colleagues , its just like a football match , a coach may decide to play 4.4.1 formation and win a competition and another may decide to play 4.3.3 formation and win same competition, its called different style or techniques of playing .what i mean is that we may have one goal same ambition with no bad motives but different ways , systems , approach of getting our targeted goal.
When some of us sat down together months back , study the situation, troubleshoot, analyse it carefully and came to our remedy .
We had the full fish farmers at heart most especially members of this great tread . To no disrespect to existing association , we decided to do something different . We want to do something that will impact us as farmers positively and fastly because the alarming rate at which farmers here are counting looses and leaving the business is not encouraging at all - look at the poultry farmers they were able to lobby govt to barn poultry into the country.
The bill to ban imported fish to nigeria has been own for years , because to be truthful , we still can not meet the fish supply to even a state , talk more of a country . So i dont expect government to ban fish importation ...We are still very far from it but the only thing that can change that is when me and you can successful increase production both in quality and quantity before we can be granted this request and to achieve these we need diversity ,let every association work harder than hard , better than best ,twice as much to meet these goals .
We have decided to take the bull by the horn and decided to help ourselves by doing these things on our own together without waiting for government .................

SOME HIGHLIGHTED AIMS AND BENEFITS OF OUR NEW ASSOCIATION ........

1,We have decided to make our own quality floating feed, sourced from some of our research work on aquatic nutrition both locally and internationally ,the result is this 60 percent crude protein pure catfish feed with animal protein as its base and super growth enzyms inclusive to sell at almost, half the amount of all other feed out there for everybody to benefit , but we further will reduce the price to our own members.
2,We have started with the sales of quality and very cheap fingerlings made from alpha male brood stock which were carefully selected and crossed from the northern geographical location to the one in the south using pituitary alpha male gland to ensure its our own country local brood that can give alpha fingerlings that can withstand diseases and grow faster for better profits .Which by GODs grace its been successful , we decide also to sell at the cheapest amount 8 naira standard shooters fingerling for every body to benefit but will further reduce the price for our association members ...
3 we also decide to have a technical committee that will give free consultation to everybody at no cost ,but also go extra mile with our members by personally visiting any of our members farm that have problems for effective and prompt solutions .
4 we will encourage members with high capacity farms to allow farmers in there locality access to there facilities systems and training for every body at a good rate but almost zero rate to our members starting from next year .
5, We are going to help certified members with loans to increase there businesses without asking collateral or interest .
6,We have got the capacity to do, seminar workshop and influence to attend or sponsor some members to represent us in international conferences.
7,Help members to register there farms at affordable rates
8, cooperate and design a way to Cub the excesses of the fish buyers cartel and get a platform to sell at good rate and value add or processed fish for exportation.
Lots and lots more that i can not mention right now . .... so its a win win thing as we speak now 2 complete floating feed lines with horizontal mixers have been bought ready to be shipped to nigeria , the association office and vehicle is already on the ground ... .
Most of us take passion in helping to transfer positive information and the birth of the association will in no way derail or stop us in our quest to help growing farmers here or anywere .
The association is a choice thing and nmot a must thing GODBLESS

what a great ideal sir. Let the train keep moving. I'm on it!

Character deficiency syndrome

Itaarh:
Married people only

character deficiency syndrome

publicenemy:
As long as that N750 maintenance fee is deducted.



This will only affect factories.

you nailed it Bro. We are moving in the right direction. Nigeria shall be great!

robonski15:
[b] (Fish Farmers Association Of Nigeria)

Over the years, we have seen many fish farmers closing their farm(s) due to huge loss(es) that they recorded from an investment that is suppose to economically empower them; fish farming. We have seen many fish farmers/investors fallen ill or even been sent to their early grave as a result of debt or losses incured through fish farming due to lack of synergy among fish farmers where information(s) and idea(s) about the business could be shared, lack of protective measures of farm, bad construction of pond, lack of experience, purchase of bad seed (fingerling/juvenile), engagement of bad consultant, employment of incompetent staffs, usage of bad feed, victimization from fish vendors with pricing while some fish vendors even run away with our money, lack of regulation, recognition and support from the government and many more. A farmer that have invested so much (capital, time and labour) with the hope of making profit during harvest now ends up in debt or making little or no profit at all.

Considering all these limitating factors that is hampering our success as fish farmers, it is pertinent that we (fish farmers) as a matter of urgency think of a way out to help ourselves.

With a high sense of mental engagement, research and responsibility, some of us (fish farmers) have mutually come together to help all fish farmers in the country to come together under one umbrella to continually provide food and employments for the country while we protect our investment by legally forming a body in form of an association with the name Fish Farmers Association Of Nigeria (FIFAN) which will enable us to have a voice in the society. FIFAN exists to eradicate hunger while we help all fish farmers to grow.

So, how exactly can becoming a member of this synergistic group help to enhance your productivity and profitability?

Here are some of the benefits of joining FIFAN:
1)Access to our magnificent catfish feed.. I will shed more light on this on our next write up..
2) Government recognition and support: This will enable us to have a voice for better representation and promotion of our interest.
3) Continuing education: To broaden our knowledge on fish farm management, farm techniques, hatchery and so on through training, workshops, conferences and seminars.
4) Networking: It offers opportunities to meet other farmers in order to foster a smooth relationship among members either at a local meetings or workshops and seminars organized by the association. As the saying goes, "No man is an island". Business people do not thrive when they are isolated from colleagues. Regular interaction leads to learning, personal growth and business progression.
5) Price regulation: To subdue the strength of fish vendors that have hitherto dictate the selling price of fish while we regulate fish price for profitability.
6) To have access to information sharing and update about new development in the industry.
7) Professional services: We will have access to professional services such as consultation, pond construction,recommendation for loan, free/discount legal service, debt recovering, feed purchase at discounted rate and more.
8. Searchable member directory: We will have access to searchable database of all members, where members and potential clients can use to find a service provider.

N.B. The name (Fish Farmer Association Of Nigeria) is my suggestion but the floor is open for suggestions and deliberation.

Thanks[/b]

I'm on it sir. Good to rub shoulder with great mind like you and soft777. Any name of the above will be Ok. Thanks for the ideal.

soft777:
Dic 19 alle 4:32 PM
HOW AND WHEN TO FEED
After successfully getting good quality seed and a good feed formula the next step is to know when and how to feed to get the best fcr results, take proper note of the following.
1, Feed at a particular feeding point , for those with concrete pond try to feed on 2 points at same time it will ensure even growth of your fish and discourage shooters because ,all fish will eat, the more aggressive will feed on one part and the less aggressive on the other part of the pond ,catfish are very intelligent in a week, all the fish will recognize there feed point and just swim to there different feeding point once its time to eat
For earthen pond users feed also at 2 to 3 feeding points, because in earthen ponds sorting is rather too difficult ,so to ensure even growth use the lino carpet method, i discussed in my earlier post .That is put a nylon tarpaulin or lino carpet to the feeding area. Stick the carpet or tarpaulin to the soil of the pond with a stick ,a white color tarpaulin or lino carpet is preferable, it help little fingerlings and juvenile quickly find there way to there feeding area.NOTE YOU CAN USE MACINTOSH ALSO
2.Always feed at a particular given time , dont feed today 10 am tomorrow 2pm next tomorrow 6pm .this is very bad feeding system cause catfish knows there feeding time. If u feed lets say 10am always by 10 am go and check your pond and you will see them swimming around the feed area ,because they know its time to eat , feeding at exact and un interrupted time regularly help reduce catfish stress and they grow better convert there feed better because there enzyms and internal micro organism that help them digest and convert feed have been regularized by the catfish inner system to be active at that time so it makes them convert faster and better than irregular feeding time .I call this PROMPT FEEDING.
3,In concrete pond feed at 3 to 4 times a day and in earthen ponds 2 times a day is prefearable , for concrete pond users , when you know the total amount of feed your catfish eats in a day ,lets say 10kg a day ,what you do is divide the 10 kg into 4 this will give u 2.5kg ,then feed 8am with 2.5 kg, 12noon 2.5kg ,4pm 2.5kg and 7pm 2.5 kg .though feeding time may differ from farm to farm ,while in earthen pond divide your total feed ,fed a day by 2 and feed morning 8am and evening 6pm for optimal results.
4 , feed at optimal temperatures 25-30 degree , at this temperature fish metabolism are higher and they tend to convert there feed faster to flesh ,giving lower fcr,. This is the reason why in cold season like harmatan , fish grows lower cause most ponds have far more fall in temperature .
So in hot season feed minimum 2 times early morning before 10 am and early evening just when the sun is going down between 5pm to 7pm .
In harmatan season or a very cold rainy day ,feed 1 time to SATIATION ,because during cold weather fish loose appetite because of the cold temperature, and when you put too much feed in your water they will not eat or get aggressive to eat .Do not panic nothing is wrong with your fish ,it is just there nature when weather is too cold or too hot , catfish will stress because they have no scale on there body to cover there skin and tend to stay underground the water or pond bottom, which is warmer in cold time and cooler in hot weather . they stay under ground because the temperature under the water does not fluctuate faster or change rapidly than the surface water temperature .These are one of the secrets of there successful HIBERNATION in nature in the open streams .
When they stress they eat less, but they are perfectly ok dont go treating healthy fish. So what to do is in cold season ,feed 1 time during the afternoon when the temperature of the water is up or increased, that will encourage them to come up to eat,this should be between 2pm to 4 pm .
At this time if for example on a good weather you feed your fish 25kg in the morning and 25kg feed in the evening meaning 50 kg , this is on a good day using earthen pond as an example .
What you do in a cold day is feed 3/4 of the 50 kg which is approximately 38kg one time between 2pm to 4 pm and they will be fine for the rest of the day , or you do what is called feed to satiation, meaning you feed them till they get tired and refuse to eat.
In very, very hot day ,like the type some farmers experience in the north, feed very early in the morning for optimum result
5,When fish refuse to eat dont force your feed on them by pouring it unnecessary in the pond . It will cause pollution in your water and there by increasing the amonia content in your pond water ,giving you a very serious water quality issue.
6,When u want to change feed from floating or foreign to local sinking feed ,its advicable to mix your floating feed with your intended formulated local feed in the ratio 1:1 for first 3 days then 1 :2 for foreign and local respectively . for next 4 days making it a week .This does 4 things for your fish
a, It helps your fish start to accept the new local feed gradually before u switch to only the cheaper local feed alone.
b,It help your fish body system adjust to the new type of feed gradually so as not to be stress by sudden ingredients change ,they are more sensitive to change in feed than other animals
c,it help reduce wastage because some fish will pick your newly introduce local feed and go under the pond to vomit it and there for wastage of feed and water pollution
d,It keep your fish weight ok, because when you just change the feed drastically , not all catfish will eat, only few will eat and so those that dont eat will loose weight and this is not good for business,

7, Best way to feed local feed: dont pour local sinking feed by broadcasting ,like the way done when feeding foreign floating feed , .when feeding local feed you have to be patient gently put the feed were the fish are concentrated as in were the action is and put it gently a hand full after the other .That is wait and see that ,the first full hand you gently put in the pond is been consumed before you put another hand gently , dont just pour everything out of your feed pan one time ,its very wrong.

When you get to your pond CARRYING CAPACITY, which is the time when your fish stop growing and adding weight, no matter the feed fed they will not grow or add weight,at this point u need to sell your fish or losses will set in.
There is a method to calculate your pond carrying capacity but i will explain in a simpler method for everyone to understand .
A good fish farmer should be able to have a record of fish weight gained weekly in concrete ponds or 2 weeks interval in earthen ponds ,this will help you determine and decide fast when you are getting close to your pond carrying capacity and start to contact buyers before you exceed your carrying capacity ,then you start to feed with your profit .this is one of the main reason a farmer with good rearing success will still encounter lost in the business because he knows no knowledge of the actual time to sell .
Most farmers sell there fish 6 months because another farmer sold 6 months not knowing no 2 farmers can or may have same carrying capacity ,it differs from farm to farm,a fish that you can sell after reaching your pond carrying capacity in 4 months will be sold at 6 months wasting time energy and money ...... for example using a concrete pond as a study .
When you weigh your fish and get average weight of 200 gram , then the next week u get an average weight of 300gram means your fish has gained 100kg in one week .The third week you weigh again and get an average of 450g means all good, u got extra 150kg in 1 week interval .If at 4 week u get 500kg ,fine you got 50 kg extra but from your projection your weight have dropped and because you were getting 100 and 150 weigh gained before so with 50kg you will start to be very carefull and try to determine 3 things...........to be continued on teusday THANKS ALL FOR TAKING YOUR TIME TO READ GODBLESS !!!!!

God bless you so much sir. I have learned something new again.

eseosa77:
Sir where are u in Benin city.Am in Benin city too,sapele road precisely.Please where is the location of where you milled your feeds .

happy Sunday sir! Good to know that a nairalander on this thread is from Benin city. I live at ugbowo and the feed mill is at ramat park, ikpoba hill.

aumoria:
Sir, what type is/are your pond(s)?
Where did your mill/extrude the floating feed? What is your location? A mouthful of questions! I am spending a lot on feeds and with my vision for expansion I have to look for ways to cut cost.

tarpaulin pond 12x12x4 feet. I do flow through 4-6 hours daily and change almost half of water every 3 days, I live in Edo state.

In apc we trust. Sai Buhari. Please do everything necessary to stimulate the economy. Nigeria shall be great!

Sahara... eagle eyes!

I will borrow them N1000 if going to be used judiciously. We must make Nigeria great. With our collective effort will shall succeed. Nigeria shall be great!

Ttalk:
Can you please post the formula of the feed, it seems we're on the same page, mine will be 3month by Jan 2 and they are presently weighing similar kg like yours and i intend going to the mill tomorrow Saturday or next week depend on when i finally made up my mind.

I have posted my intended formula earlier and seeks contribution from experience farmers of which Soft777 considered is on the high side.

Please i count on your input.

@Soft777, please what crude protein content would you recommend for fish of 2month - 4month.

Also, what should be the minimum ANIMAL PROTEIN [fish meal]for local feed require for fish of this age?

This will really help me arrive at a reasonable price

Fishmeal (local) 50kg, blood meal 20kg, soya meal15kg, gnc 10kg, cassava flour 15kg with the minerals content. Soft777 formula. I did some little adjustment. Fishmeal 40kg, and peanut 20kg, maize 15kg in replacement of gnc and cassava flour with 5kg of wheat offal. Thank you sir. Note abx1 50kg Fishmeal formula was used for 3weeks after the completion of foreign feed (coppens ). The mill use an extruder so the blood meal does not cause much water pollution and it's floating feeds.

robonski15:
You have an excelent record keeping ..We love reading testimonies like this, it gladens my heart.. keep up with good management technique.. update us as you progress..

my respect sir. This thread is a source of information and inspiration for fish farmers to succeed. Thank you so much for opening it. You are a blessing to many.

soft777:
This is wonderful sir and these are success stories we love to see here , prof robonski thanks for this wonderful tread , if in 2 months you are getting a range of 350 to 600 gram that is an average of 475 kg ,then from my calculation your fcr is about 0.8 ,this is a superb result in fish farming .
If you keep it up sir in 3 months you will get an average 1kg , my advice is , dont sell ye,t contact me for super weight finisher feed formula,when they are 3 month and by 4 months you should be heading towards 1.8 to 2kg. Then you can sell .
Keep up the good work sir ,more grace to your elbow

thank you for your encouragement sir. It's all because of your wealth of wisdom sir.

eseosa77:
Congrats bro.Where did you buy your fingerlings pls

. Thank you very much sir. A friend helped me to hatched. Just paid for the services.

Boss soft777 thank you so much for your help so far I really appreciate you sir. I want to use this opportunity to let the house know that the feed formula that soft777 gave me is working magic. My fingerlings of 2months and 2weeks added an average weight of 100grams -150grams in two weeks. Some above 150grams. The fishes now have an average weight of 300grams - 350grams, 400grams-500grams and some above 600grams. They will be 3 months on 3rd of January. I will keep the house posted. Thanks to all the gurus in the house.