₦airaland Forum

pals4fero:
@Ttalk can I reach you privately please

Alright sir. goldgate2003@yahoo.com

Heroesworths:
My newly hatched fry seems not to be eating. And its becoming worrisome. I will appreciate it if the guru in the house can help me out. This is the first time of experiencing such.

Oga Robonski, over to you I can sight you

bixton:
Are you implying that a Kg of catfish should be sold for above #1000? While you're at that kindly find out how much is a Kg of a fresh sea fish (salt water) gotten from Nigeria?

I think sir you should be the one to tell us cost of fresh sea fish you are referring to. Yes farmed fish would have different production cost from cultured fish however, we are talking of close substitutes of catfish here which majorly are croaker fish, Titus fish and Mackerel fish that is at least 1000naira per kg whereas cattish is pegged at 600naira. How do do they arrived at such ridiculous price considering the high cost of feed and feed ingredients?

Emmafly:
dear house,
I am aware of the challenges a lot of us have with selling our stocks this period.
the main reason is as a result of excess supply of fish in the market.
this excess supply came as a result of over stocking by existing farmers and a lot of newbie farmers investing for the first time.
we can only help the situation by reducing stocking, not relying on high debt capital especially short term to do agricultural business, encouraging the next generation of newbies to learn the rope and stock small no matter how much they are willing to invest.
also our consultants that are after the fees deceiving people to come for training just to earn a living should desist from such. agriculture is not a make money quick venture and real farmers will help without receiving a dime like we do to ourselves on this forum.
you will notice that a bunch of consultants came together to fix price of fish on the round table at N600. these are not practicing farmers, they are opportunists that are enjoying govt grants while the real farmers can't make any profit from this price.
let's wake up. thank God price is based on the law of demand and supply not the sitting of a group of people. when supply reduces let's see how their N600 will work.
if i may forecast properly the price of fish will go up by November cos most farmers that have sold at this price can't come back and the taste buds of consumers have increased, therefore this is the best time to invest and not be discouraged.
let me use this opportunity to encourage farmers to freely enlighten us on how they are overcoming this harsh selling time.
for me I dry and sell. I also sell to pepper soup sellers. my price is not favourable to the middle men cos of the glut. I also don't wait till harvest. I harvest as soon as I have demand no matter the age of my fish or the quantity demanded.
I also advise farmers I meet not to stock their fish at once. farming is not a part- time job. it's an occupation. therefore it is not a venture you put 10000 Fish at once and expect to sell in two days or a week of your leave period. that's one reason for this excess supply. you have to do it slow and steady. you can stock this 10000 as 2500 Pieces every four weeks so that your sales will not put you under pressure. and you can sell one to feed the other.
most investors in the agric sector only want to make money and run away that's why they fall into the hands of fake consultants who tell them they can make 100% in 6 months with little capital. note: do u know a real farmer don't have all this time.
most of us don't even know the real cost of feeding fish today. let me hint you.
1200 juveniles will cost me N350k to buy and feed alone to achieve an aggregate of 650kg of fish in six months with good feed to get good result if not the kg will be even lesser with formulated cheap feed . this is not inclusive of overhead cost. so press your calculator to determine your selling price and then divide your profit by 6 to get your monthly profit and tell me if those consultants that determined price are farmers. .
the glut will soon be over.
thanks.

You made a valid point and I would say it is insulting to recommend such ridiculous price when catfish substitutes such as Croaker., Titus, Mackerel fish is above 1000naira per kg. Why then would they now bring a live catfish with better value below iced fish that is not live.
The only reason for this is an attempt to create a monopoly where only the big boys would be player. They have cornered incentives in form of subsidy, grants and loan meant for majority farmers.
Why is it easy for them to arrive at a selling price for farmers and they have nothing to do concerning inflated price of imported feeds. Are they in the business of importation of feed as well?

..

amba2017:
pls does floating depend on
feed formulations or a totally function of feed pelletizer/extruder?

Feed floating depend on both choice of ingredient and extrusion process

Emmafly:
thanks. I will prepare my write up and get back to the house.

though the necessary materials are
1 space. may be at the backyard of your house or farm but must be close to water supply for washing the fish
2. iron . a sound welder will handle this aspect.
3. sand and cement. - a good bricklayer will do this.
that's all you need.

1 you need to carve out a 2.5ft by 2.5ft space and tell your brick layer to build a single wardrobe style cubi of about 7 to 8 blocks high. the blocks when setting should be filled internally with filling so that heat can be retained for a longer time.
2. tell your welder to come take measurement of the top to construct an iron plate with a chimney like outlet for excess air to pass out for casting the decking.
3. then tell your bricklayer to cast the decking lightly with the iron plate serving as the base.
4. let the welder take good inner measurement and construct a standing tray hanger of about 10 layers.
5 also let him prepare the trays using good iron wire mesh.
6 let him also take a look and prepare a standard checkers plated door or any door of good quality and ensure that it can tightly close without letting out air unnecessarily.
7 tell your bricklayer to fix the door when it is ready..
8 let your bricklayer plaster all the inner and outer surroundings of the oven
9 get s standard coal pot..
10. oven is ready .
pictures will follow soon but you can ask questions.

Thanks for this new insight. Now my question sir
1. How long will it take to dry fish
2. How will this method reduce the PAH
3. Can one use gas to power it or combination of both charcoal and gas
4. How will this oven collect fish oil
And the pics

Emmafly:
the issue of price is based on the law of demand and supply in different value chain.
price is also determined by area too. you do not expect someone in ikorodu to patronise someone in badagry unless price is considered to cover primary costs when compared with the one in the immediate locality.
therefore we have to work on our value chain.
but we farmers are too lazy to climb the value chain and expect others to climb on our behalf. that's where the middle men come in. we prefer to sell our products to the bath women and the aboki melange buyers than going out to hustle for our own customers.
who are their customers. the pepper soup people, hotel and dried fish users. therefore the higher you go the better your price but it's not easy at first.

so do not expect any price update. it is you that should determine price based on your cost and source of capital.
so try this. locate the beer palours and hotels around you and offer them your price. no way it is better than the bath women cos you are the farmer and promise them on time delivery with little price for logistics.
also construct an oven and dry your fish. buy nylon and stapler package it and take it out to supermart and shops,companies and schools, parastatals and barracks and you will be surprised.
don't wait till harvest. start harvesting little by little.
I do not patronize melange buyers cos I say to myself where will aboki enter that I can't. package yourself and don't look like an hungry farmer and you will be surprised where you will enter. just look smart.
I can teach any one how to construct an oven free of charge. but its a brick oven which is the best not those glorified iron oven that will still not last. its affordable and the output can be exported cos there will be zero PAH.
though most farmers are very secretive with their customers but I tell you customers are everywhere even your neighbour.
if farmers determine price its okay but not these aboki melange and bath women. I determine my price 730 and you too can. feed price did not come down. did you determine it.
so take note. thanks

That's very kind of you to want to teach us how to construct brick oven. Please am interested. Looking forward to update on oven construction

winningbt:
please house I'm a jjc in this fish business just getting my earthen pond,please someone said I don't need to change the water until 3 months please how true is this because from what I have read it have to change the water 3 days.please don't jump am pass.

You don't have to change water in earthen pond unless you see the need to do so. However your earthen pond should be design in a way that there's constant inflow of fresh water and outflow of used water in order to always rejuvenate your pond

Watch out ill be the next number one

OnuohaClever:
hmmm, finally i am here.... 389 pages!!! this is the knowledge base of fish farming. Robonski, exclesior, Ttalk, abx1 and co., may the Almoghty God continue to enrich you guys greatly for unveiling the "hidden secrets of catfish business".

My journey into this business started on the 22nd April 2017 when i was lured into the fish rearing business by a supposed friend (who was only interested in selling tarpaulin pond and expensive fingerlings @N50 naira to me). I was abandoned to my faith as i never saw him again because i guess he has achieved his objective which is to defraud me instead of mentoring me.

i was at cross roads as i had no prior experience until i stumbled on this thread on "the hidden truth of catfish business" on the 25th April 2017, as a good student i took my pen and paper, studied each page on the thread. i must say that as a newbie, i am already equipped with the best practices in catfish business.

Like i said earlier i stocked 1000 fingerlings (only to discover that it wasn't up 700 fingerlings because i was short changed as a result of not counting my fishes when it was delivered to me -- lesson learnt according to the Thread: Always count your fingerlings before you stock.
During the first week, my fingerlings (60 of them) where dying in the first week until i deployed deep water aerator (having read about it in this thread) in the second week. The aerator is integrated into my 2Kva inverter system in my house. Oh least i forget, i have a backyard farm in my house at Abuja measuring 125 Feet by 50 Feet full fenced with borehole to be used for fish farming. i have been getting tips on best practices on fish farming with consulting anyone for the past two months. Now let me share my experience so far with you guys;

1. Most of my fishes attained 400g in exactly two months after stocking (remember i told i did not deploy aerator in the first week)
2. I lost about 60 fingerlings in the first week before deployment of aerator but after the deployment of the aerator i have only lost 1 fish in two moths
3. i measured the weight again of my fish after Two months and 1 week, guess what? they now weigh 500g. That is additional 100g in a week
4. i change my fish pond water every 7 days thus reducing the overhead cost of changing water every 3 days ( the aerators are on 24/7 every day of the month
i don't think i can go with this business without a deep water aerator technology because with dissolved oxygen, your fishes grow faster and there will be no need for medication (as i not bought a single one).
I have sorted my fishes into two different ponds and i have also stcked additional 2000 hybrid fingerlings and so far only three have died as they are in their second week. i will upload pictures later
I really want to appreciate you guys for putting out this info for people like us to utilize. Robonski, i also want to join AQUABREN, please endeavour to furnish with details of how to become a member on my mail workwithclever@gmail.com
Almighty God will continue to bless the works of thy hand.

I congratulate you on your success on first attempt. Your seed despite being expensive must have been very good seed. What feed did you use?
Where in Abuja your farm is located so i will pay you visit very soon

Please how much is the current price of melange

Can you believe where over 120 billion is budgeted yearly could not cater for welfare of its staff, Nigerian politicians are heartless

ademola1333:
pls does one need to cut off d top of d geepee tank?

Not the regular GP tank for water storage, but the bafflike type that is not as high as the storage tank

wumicipm:
am in Abuja, how do i participate?

You can reach me through my mail goldgate2003@yahoo.com
Where is your location in Abuja

daolielgs:
Please experts in the house, is there anything I can do to prevent the fertilised eggs from turning white (dying) about 6 hours after fertilisation? I'm a Corper that just fairly learnt hatching of catfish fries and currently the number of eggs that have turned white is about 40-50% of the whole after 6 hours. I checked at 4 hours and this was not up to this percentage (just about 20% at 4 hours after fertilisation).

Maybe majority of your egg do not fertilize. Please hatching is not something you learn fairly, it is business that required attention to details. Seek proper knowledge even if its going to cost you rather than wasting so much resources.
Observe the following
Oxygen level
Temperature
pH level

duullie88:
All I really want to know is don't fish get stressed after sorting moving from one pond to another. .
What is ur calculation for feeding one fish to maturity
Tanx for d quick response

Fish do get stressed after sorting but the stress can be reduced if you sort your fish the best way. Common salt can relief the fish from stress and your fish becomes active in less than 2hours when you sort the right way.
Budget 400 per kg, it could be less

duullie88:
Good day to err body in this thread
My question goes to the gurus in the house
1...how many bags of feed do u need to feed 1000 fingerling to maturity (1kg and above)
2...is livestovit good to reduce stress of fish wen sorting
3...does livestovit give d fishes appetite

Thank you all

It could range between 60 and 75bags of15kg. But that is not a guarrantee that your fish would attain average of 1kg what guarantee that is how you are able to apply your management skill to attain lower FCR.

Why do want to apply livetovis when there is enough stimulant in your feed. Seriously, I only recommend such at first 2 weeks after stocking and when your fish is recovering from aliment. As for stress its better to deal with what brings about stress by preventing stress rather than treating stress. If you want to boost your fish feeding rate., you train your fish to eat more. There is no point using multivitamins when you still under feed your fish

dking123:
After several attempts to get Robonski15 to either teach me hatchery or recommend any of his trusted friends to me failed, i watched some hatching videos online and decided to try it. Well it was a huge failure. I carefully followed the procedure, first i bought two male and one female brood stuck from an old farmer (that does not hatch )one male died before the procedure so i bought another one, i was able to get the pituitary gland, which i injected into the female in a saline solution ,this was done at about 10 am, by 6pm i extracted the eggs from the female(millions of eggs.) when i tested my water ph. It was 9.1 even when i had added sodium carbonate the previous evening, i decide to divide the eggs into two, one half i used the 9.1 ph water, the other half i used 7.5 ph water, at the end of the day, there was no life in any of the two. what went wrong?

There could be soo many things wrong apart from your water.
1. The maturity of the male and female broot
2.Latency period of injected female before. Stripping
3. Operation period which should not be more than ten minutes
4. Protection of sperm from direct contact with ordinary water
4. Placement of spawning vat for effective ovygenisation
5 Quality of water into the vat
6. Level of oxygen in your vat during incubation
7 Temperature and a whole lot of other things the video would not tell you. If you are aroud Abuja you can come over for free practical next weekend or I wiil do short video of my next spawning and send to you on whasapp

edyken001:
Please fish farmers in the house am a final year student , really interested in learning fish farming would love if any one can teach me,, am ready to work.. Just drop your number or email I can use to contact you,,, thanks

Where is your location

Ff

mercylicious234:
Greetings to everyone . how biz dey go?
Ab1x, robonski, TTalk,excelsior, juvefarms,chilan...everybody.

Doing great.You've been away for a while. How's you fish farm

Petrosonly:
Osinbajo makes first appointments ON MAY 27, 20177:07 PMIN NEWSCOMMENTS By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA – In what appeared a further test of his powers as acting president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday appointed a new Director General for the National Pension Commission PENCOM. The new appointee, Mr Funso Doherty whose appointment is subject to senate confirmation replaces Mal. Dikko Aliyu AbdulRahman who has now been appointed as Chairman, Governing Board of the Bank of Industry (BoI).

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/05/osinbajo-makes-first-appointments/

Correct

janeagbai:
plz sir can i have ur contact

You are welcome sir. goldgate2003@yahoo.com

kareka:
@ Ttalk please I intend using yellow corn as one of the ingredients for my fish feed but I remembered in one of ur write ups you gave some caution before it can be used

Yellow corn is richer than white corn. Its CP is about 9.%.You can use it at a low percentage from 3month

janeagbai:
plz did it give u a good result, could it mould 2getter and float in water

Yes, i had good result. Mind you excellent result cannot be derive by input of a particular ingredient but rather it is the total combination of your input that give result.

Bread is not a floating agent, it doesnt enhances floating. It is a soft carbonhydrate that is digestible for young fish. It could be one of the best ingredient in composition of transition feed because of its digestibility and act as soften agent

janeagbai:
good day everyone,
plz have anyone tryed using bread waste in making their fish feed. like the way breweries waste are added

plz expert in the house,
what do u think about using bread waste as part of the Feed making

Yes., you can use bread. I have used it before. You have to remove the water through drying in other to get the actual weight and to eliminate mold build up

@Chilanfarm this really refreshing

raynold:
please any fish farmer in Abuja. please i need your help and advice.

You can contact. me @ goldgate2003@yahoo.com