nikaShow:


Hq, where is your location?

You can call 08072216267 for your mobile ponds

my location is around lyana school, along lasu road in Lagos. I will also try to call you tomorrow.

thanks

Good day House,my name is Macdonald Chinedu Mbara am from Imo State,Nigeria.
Sincerely am so happy about this forum,as it has helped me in so many areas.Am a graduate of nutrition and dietetics,awaiting my NYSC,but decided to start up a biz,and a friend of mine intruduced me to this catfish farming,i got the necessary learning and practicals about it.i started with about 7350(fingerling,juvenile and jumbo)sized fish and so far it has been challenging and encouraging as well.Right now they are about a month and 2weeks old.its indeed a good venture,and am so happy to be in this forum.Big ups to everyone here,including ROBONSKY.i also sent a msg to AFFON on whatsapp,but ive not been fixed into the group,i will like to be a part of the group as well,as anything that concerns fish interests me,cos i really wanna learn more.thanks

pls house i will also need yours assistance,my pond is not roofed and ppl adviced me to cover it cos the first rain might cause harm to the fishes.pls i will love to know if it will pose any threat to the fishes.Thanks

well,if i may add @HQ i ve someone who sells new tarpaulin pond he stays in ABA at 50k with its stands for 15k,making it a total of 65k per 10 by 10

Good morning house. Please where can I get quality fingerlings in the Abuja/nassarawa axis. Thanks for the help

Wow this write-up is explosive and eye opening, I just started mine along side an existing farmer and I had to quickly put a call across to quickly correct a mistake I made through a standing instruction I gave in order to cut cost based on feed rationing. Thanks so much more FISH OIL to your elbow.

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!!!!

@soft77 Wow this write-up is explosive and eye opening, I just started mine along side an existing farmer and I had to quickly put a call across to quickly correct a mistake I made through a standing instruction I gave in order to cut cost based on feed rationing. Thanks so much more FISH OIL to your elbow.

[size=8pt][font=Lucida Sans Unicode][size=8pt]My ogas in the house, @soft77 @Robonski, @Nuvember,

Please I have this concern, I had earlier booked 2000 juve with an hatchery while I was constructing my concrete pond and he told me he had set set aside 2150 for me. which he kept in one of his juve pond. I could not pick them up at the promised date because there was a 2wks delay due fixing problem of leakage and drainage in the new pond couple with finance.

When I finally went there to pick up the stock we could only count 1580 the rest had been lost to cannibalism, not that the fishes were so different in sizes, we complained bitterly that if we had came earlier he wouldn't have suffered that loss.

He said the place became small for them hence they began attacking themselves. I had to settle for the quantity he gave me which was 25% less than what I planned for.

My fear is that will this not continue in my pond as I cannot afford to lose so much!

Please help a BABY FISH FARMER![color=#000099]

olabakefish:
[size=8pt][font=Lucida Sans Unicode][size=8pt]My ogas in the house, @soft77 @Robonski, @Nuvember,
Please I have this concern, I had earlier booked 2000 juve with an hatchery while I was constructing my concrete pond and he told me he had set set aside 2150 for me. which he kept in one of his juve pond. I could not pick them up at the promised date because there was a 2wks delay due fixing problem of leakage and drainage in the new pond couple with finance.
When I finally went there to pick up the stock we could only count 1580 the rest had been lost to cannibalism, not that the fishes were so different in sizes, we complained bitterly that if we had came earlier he wouldn't have suffered that loss.
He said the place became small for them hence they began attacking themselves. I had to settle for the quantity he gave me which was 25% less than what I planned for.
My fear is that will this not continue in my pond as I cannot afford to lose so much!
Please help a BABY FISH FARMER![color=#000099]

@ Olabakefish. ... So sorry for the lose. But loosing 25% in the space of 2 weeks is extreme now. If the difference in sizes is not not much then I think there is something the man is not telling you.
For him now to let you go without any form of compensation is cruel to say the least. As long as he is still in custody of the fish , he must be liable for any loss thein.
For the cannibalism... You have to state the measurements of your ponds . the fish have to have well defined space, with good water management and adequate food supply to keep cannibalism at bay.

Its a welcome development

@Olabakefish,please can the first rain fall have adverse effect on catfish,pls i need ur help,thanks

ayosat:

@ Olabakefish. ... So sorry for the lose. But loosing 25% in the space of 2 weeks is extreme now. If the difference in sizes is not not much then I think there is something the man is not telling you.
For him now to let you go without any form of compensation is cruel to say the least. As long as he is still in custody of the fish , he must be liable for any loss thein.
For the cannibalism... You have to state the measurements of your ponds . the fish have to have well defined space, with good water management and adequate food supply to keep cannibalism at bay.

@olabakefish,please will the first rain affect catfish in anyway.am a first time fish farmer,with about 7000 catfish and they are a month and 2 weeks old,i really need ur help,thanks my name is macdonald.God bless

Pls, wen is seminar coming up? @robonski,sof77, and d experts here.

Also, pls I need a detailed feasibility studies n biz plan on catfish farming, anybody in house?

lovesuite:

@olabakefish,please will the first rain affect catfish in anyway.am a first time fish farmer,with about 7000 catfish and they are a month and 2 weeks old,i really need ur help,thanks my name is macdonald.God bless

Non that I know of.
The only thing is that most roofs are extremely dirty now, with dust everywhere , so if your ponds are close to any building, the first rainfall will wash the dirty roof tops into your ponds, but no harm done. Only change your water and that's all.

ayosat:

Non that I know of.
The only thing is that most roofs are extremely dirty now, with dust everywhere , so if your ponds are close to any building, the first rainfall will wash the dirty roof tops into your ponds, but no harm done. Only change your water and that's all.

@olabakefish,thanks alot about this info.

lovesuite:


@olabakefish,thanks alot about this info.

Hello olabakefish,sorry for disturbing you,please after sorting the fishes,i still witness some death rate,please what do you think is could be the cause of it.please,thanks

HQ111:
.

@robonski I did call them yesterday and the woman said 100k for 10 by 10. I think if its not too expensive. can I get it somewhere else cheaper or a cheaper alternative. I don't want to use concrete pond cos the land I want to use is not mine so want something movable. please let me know if I can get better option

We also make wooden tarpaulin ponds. We are at ikotun - igando axis.

lovesuite:

Hello olabakefish,sorry for disturbing you,please after sorting the fishes,i still witness some death rate,please what do you think is could be the cause of it.please,thanks

@ lovesuit... You did not specify the measurement of your ponds and the number of ponds you keep them in. This could have a relationship with the death of some of the fish you are experiencing. Also don't stress them too much while sorting. 7000 fish is quite a lot to sort at once, so do it gradually. By the way I'm Ayosat not Olabakefish.

pharmsy:
Good day to every member of the house. Please I have 50 female fishes that I kept for broodstock. They are 1 year and 3 months now but I've not been able to use them for spawning because none has egg. What could be the problem.is 1 year and 3 months not enough?

Caan U post a pix of the fish?

Wishing you all the very best!!!

atanda2001uk:
Thank u Robonski. Keep the struggle going pls. However, I wish we can have some people already in this line to come out too to help you. And I wish I am qualified to do it. However, I am a learner trying to establish myself gradually. Due to the bad experience I earlier had, I am taking my time and re-strategizing for a come back. May God continue to strengthen you and the other people that are dedicating themselves towards lifting our lots in this business. Amen.

God'll help you Atanda.
Wishing you all the very best!!!

HQ111:
Morning everyone, pls where can I get a plastic or tarpaulin pond with capacity to hold 1000 fish to maturity, I will appreciate any info on where I can get it and at what cost.

thanks and God bless

Whr is ur location? U can reach me on 08027247470.

Wishing you all the very best!!!

eggxel:
Good morning house. Please where can I get quality fingerlings in the Abuja/nassarawa axis. Thanks for the help

Contact Juvefarms. And if U dnt mind, we can send to you frm here.

Wishing you all the very best!!!

Gud morning house, if u av a catfish farm n u re situated in Akure or Ado Ekiti, pls indicate so that I can contact u.
Thanks

Good morning everybody, please tilapia fingerlings urgently needed. call 08032466515 if you have.

Thank you.

HQ111:
.

@robonski I did call them yesterday and the woman said 100k for 10 by 10. I think if its not too expensive. can I get it somewhere else cheaper or a cheaper alternative. I don't want to use concrete pond cos the land I want to use is not mine so want something movable. please let me know if I can get better option

yes, we can't construct detachable wooden tarpaulin of that size for you cheaper. Contact:08069635951, 09027003820

Firstly, loosing over 500 fishes in 2weeks is 'crazily too much' so it could be as a result of d following;
1. The numbers were not up to what he claimed he counted.
2. Over stocking, hence d need to know d size of ur pond so u can stock at d recommended rate.
3. The breeder was probably under feeding the fishes( after all they are already booked).
And lastly, he didn't bother sorting them since they are already booked. And the truth is, no matter how similar they may look in size, fishes grow very fast at that stage and trust me 2 weeks is enof for the more aggressive ones to prey on some there by reducing ur numbers....

I hope this helps? Regards

Please I have this concern, I had earlier booked 2000 juve with an hatchery while I was constructing my concrete pond and he told me he had set set aside 2150 for me. which he kept in one of his juve pond. I could not pick them up at the promised date because there was a 2wks delay due fixing problem of leakage and drainage in the new pond couple with finance.

When I finally went there to pick up the stock we could only count 1580 the rest had been lost to cannibalism, not that the fishes were so different in sizes, we complained bitterly that if we had came earlier he wouldn't have suffered that loss.

He said the place became small for them hence they began attacking themselves. I had to settle for the quantity he gave me which was 25% less than what I planned for.

My fear is that will this not continue in my pond as I cannot afford to lose so much!

Please help a BABY FISH FARMER![/size][color=#000099][/color] [/quote]

ayosat:

@ lovesuit... You did not specify the measurement of your ponds and the number of ponds you keep them in. This could have a relationship with the death of some of the fish you are experiencing. Also don't stress them too much while sorting. 7000 fish is quite a lot to sort at once, so do it gradually. By the way I'm Ayosat not Olabakefish.

Thanks@Ayosat,yes i have 6 ponds in total 2(17 by 6) and 4(10 by 10),but 3 of the 10 by 10 is new and is still under treatment cos of the chemicals.it should be ready in no time.thanks a bunch for the info.

Dejaylapel:
Good morning everybody, please tilapia fingerlings urgently needed. call 08032466515 if you have.

Thank you.

U can contact AQUASHESS FARM @ 08034896734

NUVEMBARZINTL:

God'll help you Atanda.
Wishing you all the very best!!!

God will help,its good you are taking your time to get it right this time,wishing you the best,@atanda

NUVEMBARZINTL:

Whr is ur location? U can reach me on 08027247470.

Wishing you all the very best!!!

well,@HQ i have a man that just supplied me 3 tarpaulin ponds,but he stays in ABA,if u need any just let us know

Soft777, Robonski, Nuvembarzint'l, Ayosat, Abix and other gurus, your attention is highly needed here. My concern has been on how to enhance locally pelletized feed to be as attractive to catfish as foreign and some Nigerian extruded feed such as Coppens, Multifeed and Vitalfeed.
For example I observed that catfish get frenzy when they eat Vitalfeed compare to locally pelletized feed, [not that they dont eat local pelletised feed] even when fish oil is added to their feed they are not as exited compare to when they eat Vital feed/Multifeed/Coppens etc

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THAT CONCENTRATES / ATTRACTANT, THAT MAKES CATFISH GET CRAZY?

I am asking this question because i know most of these extruded feed has high percentage of plant protein compare to locally feed that are rich and fortified with fish meal and other animal protein yet dont get the same palatibility compare to these extruded feed.

This is not a question of whether the feed is rich or not, but the feed acceptability/palatibility is one secret that is still missing in locally pelletised feed. How can we ensure that catfish devour locally pelletised feed the way they consume Vital feed/Multifeed/Coppen/Zeighlar?

Ttalk:
Soft777, Robonski, Nuvembarzint'l, Ayosat, Abix and other gurus, your attention is highly needed here. My concern has been on how to enhance locally pelletized feed to be as attractive to catfish as foreign and some Nigerian extruded feed such as Coppens, Multifeed and Vitalfeed.
For example I observed that catfish get frenzy when they eat Vitalfeed compare to locally pelletized feed, [not that they dont eat local pelletised feed] even when fish oil is added to their feed they are not as exited compare to when they eat Vital feed/Multifeed/Coppens etc
WHAT IS THE NAME OF THAT CONCENTRATES / ATTRACTANT, THAT MAKES CATFISH GET CRAZY?
I am asking this question because i know most of these extruded feed has high percentage of plant protein compare to locally feed that are rich and fortified with fish meal and other animal protein yet dont get the same palatibility compare to these extruded feed.
This is not a question of whether the feed is rich or not, but the feed acceptability/palatibility is one secret that is still missing in locally pelletised feed. How can we ensure that catfish devour locally pelletised feed the way they consume Vital feed/Multifeed/Coppen/Zeighlar?

@ Ttalk.. There is no way you will compare the feeds produce by all these giant companies to what private individuals produce. They have the advantage of professionals and well defined equipments at their disposal, not to talk of availability of resources. Individuals just wants to cut cost and bypass major ingredients in producing the feeds all in the name of making more profit. We also have fake and expired ingredients flying around , all at the mercy of our fish. So there is no doubt , the industrial produced feeds wiil generate frenzy approach than the locally produced feeds , except if the individual is ready to spend and have access to the right ingredients. But not to worry , our dear Robonsky is at the top of the situation, as his new feed with high protein content will soon hit the market and like he said , it's going to be very affordable by all.