₦airaland Forum

Are you okay?

How is that a big trouble? That should be the problem of those who voted him. Besides Hon. Lasun that i know is very intelligent,brave and focus

I dont expect the Senate to do otherwise because most of them are looking for his favour on juicy committee appointment, the music will change the moment their hope is dashed by the time the list of Committee chairmen is released. Either way, i think Saraki is in hot sit cause i see a titanic clash between his nAPC supporters and the PDP in not too distance. Anyhow it goes the fight is going to be dirty but interesting

ab1x:
Please be more specific about what you mean by FCR;

First Call Resolution
FCR First Contact Resolution
FCR Federal Case Registry
FCR Fire Control Radar
FCR Flat-Coated Retriever (dog breed)
FCR Free Credit Report
FCR Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide and Rituximab (chemotherapy regimen)
FCR FIFO Control Register
FCR Foreign Credential Recognition (Canada)
FCR Flexor Carpi Radialis
FCR Feed Conversion Rate (animal nutrition)
FCR Functional Chief Representative (US Army)
FCR Full Cost Recovery (UK)
FCR Fire-Cracked Rock
FCR Federal Court Reports (Australia)
FCR Forwarder's Certificate of Receipt
FCR Faster Cast Rate (gaming)
FCR Flight Control Room (NASA)
FCR Forest City Ratner Companies
FCR Fault Code Reader (automotive engineering)
FCR Federal Contracts Report
FCR Football Club de Rouen (French: Football Club of Rouen; Rouen, France)
FCR Fixed Charge Rate
FCR Forwarding Agents Certificate
FCR Flow Change Request (LFAP - Message)

Oga Ab1x, you go kill person with laughter o, i mean Feed Conversion Ratio of your formula

ab1x:
The kind of feed mills that I am talking about here does not float. Don't get me wrong, there are some local feeds that floats however research have shown that they do not produce the kind of result the sinkable local feeds produced. I have one feed mill here that does floating local feeds but at the creation of the feed mill, a lot of people patronize them but when they tried it and did not get result they had to switch back to sinkable local feeds.

Of course, I found out why they did not get the same result like the sinkable local feeds, I learnt that most of the ingredient (soya, gnc, maize etc) go through boiling process before they are used to make the floating feeds. It all implies that all the nutritional value must have been extracted out to make the local floating feeds.

To reduce wastage when using local sinkable feeds, you need to apply on a spot feeding method and take your time to feed them gently and stop when you know that they have reached their saturation point.

I think this answered my question that your formula is for sinking feed

ab1x:
A month old fish should be able to pick 2mm local feeds also known as indomie size. Peradventure, they cannot pick it you can either continue with 1.2mm or 1.5mm because both has 56% and 48% respectively crude protein. Please, do not use 2mm coppens because it has 42% and 45% which is quite low considering their age.

Oga Ab1x, what is the FCR of your formula 1&2?

Ttalk:
My pple in the house, please what is your take on local feed, i observed that my fish dont rush locally pelleted feed the way they rush vital feed, aqual feed and foreign feeds. What could be responsible for this? Changing from Coppens, Multi, Aqua and Vital feed does not adversely affect their appetite and rush for food but the rush for food decreases the moment one change to local pelleted feed.

For those using these locally pelleted feeds, how can one enhance fish feeding habit using these feeds?

To Mr Ab1x, is your formula FLOATING FEED or SINKING?

On the other hand, who has experience in HATCHING using earthing pond? What are the pros and the cons of using this method?

cc Oga Robonski, Belexy, Ab1x, Ayosat, Phemmy and other gurus in the house

My pple in the house, please what is your take on local feed, i observed that my fish dont rush locally pelleted feed the way they rush vital feed, aqual feed and foreign feeds. What could be responsible for this? Changing from Coppens, Multi, Aqua and Vital feed does not adversely affect their appetite and rush for food but the rush for food decreases the moment one change to local pelleted feed.

For those using these locally pelleted feeds, how can one enhance fish feeding habit using these feeds?

To Mr Ab1x, is your formula FLOATING FEED or SINKING?

On the other hand, who has experience in HATCHING using earthing pond? What are the pros and the cons of using this method?

VirginFinder:
At least, you'll agree he has been partial so far.

If Pastor Tunde Bakare, the closest and only righteous person from the south in the sight of Buhari cannot make the first 30th appointment that means our best is only fit for second team. This is very unfortunate

sukkot:
i am sure he has a spot for bakare. there are still many appointments to be made

Then let me bookmark this

sukkot:
you are talking rubbish and it is your ego speaking and not your common-sense. you have to use your common sense sometimes. you nigerians are the most daft people i have ever encountered. years and years of suffering under corruption and now you have a leader who hates corruption but you want him to hire corrupt people from your tribe ? YOU ARE CRAZY. the man has worked mostly with northerners and he knows the people who are trustworthy amongst those he has worked with so naturally his trustworthy recruits will be mostly from the north. we dont need him putting corrupt yoruba or igbo people just to fulfill some useless quota. we need strong non-corrupt people on deck irrespective of where they come from and[b] i can emphatically tell you that looking for a non-corrupt igbo or yoruba is like looking for a needle in a haystack. so he has to choose tried and tested people whom mostly will be people he has been around mostly which is hausa. same way jonathan picked mostly ijaw and igbo people around him. it is what it is. he will live and die with his choices so let him pick people who will keep him alive. it is the hausa mans turn. the rest of you suckers step back and let this man do his thang. THANK YOU[/b]

No, no, no bro, Buhari has worked mostly with northerners, as well as few Yoruba with integrity. One of them is Pastor, Tunde Bakare whom Buhari love so much, what stops him from appointing Bakare or ask him to nominate corrupt free person from the South?. There is no need defending indefensible, Buhari erred bigtime in his appointment and it will take the grace of God for him to regain supporters that has been lost to this singular misstep.

In order to rescue Nigeria state from this present abysmal situation, this government needs support of every part of the country, in as mush as competent people is needed in position of authority so also is cooperating electorates from every nooks and crannies is needed to make a quick transformation. Appointment of competent Northerners to the detriment of southern followers will not make the government achieve anything tangible.

Besides, why haven't we hear any comment from BAT and other southern APC leader over the lopsidedness appointment?

GOLDLOVER:
Hello my brother, congrats on your first attempt. To even come out with some profit is encouraging to some of us who haven't taken the plunge yet. From all i have learnt in this thread and your experience i make the following deductions;
It is more profitable to get your fishes to over 1 kg in weight and this starts with the QUALITY of your SEEDS.
The key to more even weight distribution is SORTING. This must be done regularly { every 2 weeks according to Boss Robonski }.
To get 1000 fish to table size would require approximately 65 BAGS of feed.
Excellent water management cannot be over emphasized.
Marketing can be even more tricky than breeding the fish.
Once again thanks for sharing your experience with us. Good luck on your next harvest.

You get it, and in addition, your water management is the most important, this will enhance their feeding performance which will result in rapid growth.
Space is another magic factor in attaining rapid fish growth. An expert farmer can still manipulate the seed performance to an extent. It is safer to over-budget, 75bags should be your estimate

WhoBeThisMan:
thanks for the breakdown, God bless ur work.
In terms of profit, how much did you make compared to the total spent? And also was it difficult to get buyers? And how long did it take to sell everything?

Thanks

It can be funny when you want to sell a times because the buyers test your experience on the business to know how to deal with you. You have to be smart enough to know their evil plans or else you will be duped.

Regarding my experience on the marketing, having contacted about three buyers that promised to buy as soon as am ready to sell decline to pick my calls when i eventually wanted to sell, i have to tell one that i am not desparate to sell my fish and cut him off when he started blabbing.
I later contacted a freind who linked me with one buyer only for him to come with buckets and guys pricing my fish at 460naira flat rate. I send him out and locked my gate despite the fact that my feeds has already finished but i was stubborn enough to resist the temptation.
I later sold the following day @ 500 from 0.8 -1.2kg and 460naira for other smaller kg.
5 buckets [30kg] of 0.8 -1-2 @ 500 naira per kg
Others 460kg

Like i said earlier, buyers punish you if your fish are smaller but reward a smart farmer that his harvest is 1kg and above. You can conveniently sell at 550naira if 70% of your fish attain 1kg and above. For you to be a smart farmer target average 1.2kg and forget about the quantity but target the quality of your fish and you will not regret it

About the profit, i did not invest for the first time to make profit rather i used it to learn the business. If you asked me of my physical input plus the financial input i will say i make a loss. But for my financial input alone, i was able to recoop all my running cost which i intend reinvest as my capital input for subsequent stocking.

Fish farming is very challenging, interesting and enterprising, you have to be rugged enough for it to yield good result. My sincere advice to newbie like me is to always pay attention to details particularly advice of Professor Robonski, and other gurus, they captured it all in this thread free of charge. All you need to do is read, digest, test and execute and you will smile to the bank.

Whatever i have lost in input, i have gained 10times in experience and knowledge. Preparation for my next stocking has commenced in top gear.

NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER

WhoBeThisMan:
we are still waiting for the conclution of the story...

I am sorry for the delay my experience, i have been busy this past week at work and renovating my ponds for the next stage.

At five months and some days, i sold my fish and my breakdown is as follows;

Total fish sold 935
Total Kg 570kg
Average weight 0.61kg
Breakdown= 112fish weigh 1kg and above, 80 weigh between 0.8-0.9kg while other weigh between 0.7-0.3kg
Quantity of feed 40 bags weighing 585kg

FEEDING REGIME:
1 bag Coppens 2mm 30days
1 bag Coppens 2mm 13days
8 bags of Multi & Vital 3mm 40days
7 bags of Vital 4mm 28days
15 bags [4mm 8bags] [6mm 2bags] [9mm 5bags] 43days
7bags [6mm 3bags] [9mm 4bags]
TOTAL FEED=40BAGS

My Observation:
From my experience so far, i discovered that to feed 1000 fish to attain average weight of 1kg will required at least 1100kg or 74bags of feed which will cost N345,000 to feed to table size.

How can 1000 fish consume 74bags of feeds within 5month with limited wastage?[b][/b]
This will require maximum water management which will enhance the feeding. A lot of farmer find it difficult to feed their fish enough feed withing the required month because the fish do not eat enough thereby not growing enough.

Another thing i observed was that the buyers seems to PUNISH THE FARMER for under-growing the fish because this can only explain why fish of 1kg and above goes for 550 while below 1kg is priced as low as 430naira.

For your fish to attain 1kg and above, your fingerlings need to eat close to 2bags of coppens in the first 30days with good water management or 4bags of 2mm in the first 45days. I think this period will be a guide for fish farmers to ascertain how well their fish are doing and to know the quality of seed they have.

I expect my Oga's in the house to scrutinise and give better input so the forumites can benefit from your wealth of experience

Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion based on my previous experience having taken enough time to record, study and observe performance of my fish and should not be taken as standard or professional advice. However, it can be used as a guide for first timer with similar circumstances.

How can one control fluctuating temperature in concrete pond? I am asking this question because there seems to be general believe that catfish perform best at 85degrees F, but temperature can drop as low as 50degrees F at night?

Can one therefore cover grow-out pond to generate heat in order to increase the temperature at night, or one should simply add hot water?

Or maybe doing flow through at night is what is needed to control temperature fluctuation?

My Ogas, Robonski, Dr Belexy, Abix, Excellesor, Phemmy and other please i need quick response to this question before i parboil my fish in the name of increasing the water temparature

NOTE: 85degrees Fahrenheit is equal to 29.4 degrees Celsius, while 50degrees Fahrenheit is equal to 10 degrees Fahrenheit

robonski15:
Chairman the only thing that went wrong so far is the water management, without a proper water management nothing can be achieved. 2mm is ideal for feeding fingerlings, most farmers think the higher the protein the better but the truth is catfish requires only 28% crude protein but with a balanced amino acid at the end of the day they achieve almost same result as long as you keep your water clean and you feed your fish regularly to satiation..

www.agricnetwork.com

Thank you my sincere boss, my water management at the onset was very poor which i knew but only used the experience to test-run the business.
On the issue of protein requirement, i totally agree with you, infact i was surprise when i first came across the revelation on Fishsite article on the quality of protein. That made me to have reservation for most of the local feed being flaunt around, because the quantity of protein in a fish meal does not guarantee the quality of such meal.

walexy001:
My Ogas in the house pls what can I use to lower the pH of my water for my hatchery and what can be use to maintain or increase it a times . waiting for your quick response

I remember someone on this thread mentioned soda ash [sodium carbonate] to increase PH and alum to reduce PH

robonski16:
Bro we are waiting for the continuation of your experience

My Oga, no be small thing o, it an eye opener, i must confess that it was painfully exciting. Anyway let me discuss my mistakes

MY MISTAKES:
1.Stress: My mistakes started from the construction of my pond, rather than use the conventional outlet with big pipe that will allow water to flow rapidly from the pond thereby reducing the stress period of fish during changing of water, my outlet can take as much as two hours before water is drain from the pump and another 3 hour to pump water into the pump because i used the smallest pipe to run water from the tank to the pond.

2. Seed: Though i bought my fingerling from a reputable farm, yet what i bought was not sorted to guarantee even growth thereby making some fish to grow faster than the other
Also my seed cannot be said to be the first set which some people call shooters

3. Feeding: Rather than start with 1.2-1.5 which contain 56% protein to boost their growth regardless of what they ve be eating from where bought it, I started feeding my fish with 2mm simply because the fish was already eating 2mm from where i bough it.

4. Water Management: From my previous write-up, it was clear to me that there was no magic that would have made my fish attain reasonable weight at 4month

Before, i talk about my success, my Ogas who i believe have once be in my shoe should share with us how they were able to turn things around when they found themselves in this my situation

Mascotlawman:
please my brothers and sisters, u people have been doing a great work here by assisting others. God bless us all. I have been begging for this, please robonski15, Juvefarms and other gurus. please I really need assistance from anyone who can send the E-manual to me. My email is Mills8312@gmail.com , I will really appreciate ur help.

I used to refer people that want to know about catfish business to read this thread from beginning to the last page, it covers most of things you need to know about the business of catfish, and it is explicit because you will learn practical experiences of people and the contribution from different gurus which make it very rich

CATFISH BUSINESS - MY EXPERIENCE

It all started sometimes late last year in my quest for knowledge about fish farming when i stumbled on this thread by our amiable Hon. Robonski and so many vast contributors who has been contributing freely in educating novice and intended farmers with so many information enough to guarantee success in the business. Thanks to you all.

I will take enough time to share with friends here my experience so far, my judgement, failure and success. Please feel free to contribute, criticize and correct me where i am wrong and what should be done to improve my performance in future.

Firstly, i want to say to many, who intend to venture into this business but lack adequate resource not to be scare but rather take the bull by the horn and work within your limited resources. I must confess that this thread particularly boosted my spirit and put a stop to my procrastination.

PROCRASTINATION is a disease that retards growth, it makes one to lost out in quest for opportunity, while it blind you to see when to strike, blur your vision of success and deafen your inner mind to hear the subtle call to take action. It is simply a disease that perpetually make you stagnant [runt].
But the moment you take the bold steps all other things will begin to fall in your favour to achieve the set target.

MY SWOT ANALYSIS -[STRENGTH, WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITY, THREAT]
Before embarking on any business it will be very important to consider your strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat.

I started my catfish business December 2014 and eventually stock my pond in March 11, 2015 with 1225 post fingerling in 8X12X5feet, then comes my problems.

MY WEAKNESS:Let me start with my weakness in catfish business and how i was able to work around it to achieve my objectives.
The most important resource in catfish business is the adequate supply of freshwater, but my major constraints was water supply. I have no borehole and the only well can barely supply 100 litres of water.
I connected pipe from the well to a 3000litre tank beside the 2 concrete ponds to pump the little water into the pond morning and evening but this can barely cover the fish in the pond. Then i started buying 50 of (20litres of jerrycan) every Saturdays to complement the water in my tank. When i discovered that the water from my tank plus the 50 of 25litres water was not enough, i started fetching water every Saturday using my vehicle to carry as many as 25litre jerrycan from a nearby borehole in my neighbourhood every Saturday.

The experience was not funny because i go as many as 6times before i could get about 200litres of water. This adversely affect the growth of my fish because i was only able to change the water twice in the first month.
In the second month, i sorted the fish into the second pond thereby increasing the quantity of the water needed to go round the two ponds. As the fish begins to grow, the demand for water into the ponds increases while the water in my well was decreasing thereby increasing my task of getting water. I felt like abandon the whole thing at a point because i was always buying water and all the shock absorber and joints of my vehicle was really bad.

My problems was even compounded as my initial assumption that the water level of my well will start increasing from April when the rain starts falling ceased to materialised because the rain refused to fall. And by May the water in my well completely dried off and i was left with no option other than to buy and fetch my water. These were really trying period for me because the water continuously gets polluted easily and there was always needs to change the water often.

Why this sudden rush for resignation when he is not yet due for retirement. This simply indicate there is something wrong somewhere, could it be what i'm thinking? Then EFCC and ICPC must do the needful.

paulbeans:
The truth is that people are been exploited by those who organize seminars by just brushing the surface of catfish hatchery production. There is more to it than just hatching the Eggs. The are daily management tactics that is suppose to be applied which the organizers of seminars don't give to farmers.
There is another problem which is,giving people a single type of manual knowing fully well that what works in farm A would not work in farm B that is why farmers are facing so much problems like low hatching rate and death of fries. And that is why we have decided to organize a 4 weeks practical one on one sessions in each farmer's farm which we are going to work for. And We are going to give a special manual which is specifically made for each farm after analyzing and solving their problems. And there is guarantee for 20,000 PCs of fingerlings or more in the first production depending on each farms facilities and from then on consultancy service is free to our farmers. Call 09031625651 in order to book a session with us..... Maximum result guaranteed ....We are committed to your success..... You can also decide to visit our farm @ No 3A okeimoye street off iyana isheri Road, Ikotun Lagos.

I will kindly suggest you change the topic of your post and remove the introduction because it is exactly copied from Robonski's Thread:Hidden truth about catfish business.

Similarly, why not post those management tactics for people to read and be convinced in your ability to bring innovation into hatchery technique thereby giving people faith to believe in you which will bring about farmers patronising you.

Most farmers on this forum have been reading extensively in order to improve their knowledge and the Topic: Hidden truth about catfish business has explained extensively on catfish business including hatchery. You can also visit agricnetwork.com-fish farming section to read write-ups on this and other fish farm techniques.

Please post your new/innovation on catfish hatching technique and those information you feel trainers has been hidden from the trainee for people to read and see how this will bring people to patronise you.

My humble advice

To Tanoid who have become restless as a result of Buhari's Asset Declaration should not forget to tell Oga Jonathan to also declare his asset as outgoing president for Nigerians to evaluate his worth before and after being president.

It is less than a week when Buhari took the mantle of leadership and a lot of mess needed to be cleared so as to halt the Nigeria ship that is heading into abyss, if public declaration is more important than the economic chaos bequeathed this administration by the previous government then i advice tanoid to wait for 100days to see if the declaration will not be in the public domain.

For now Buhari needs to set the ball rolling

dkings101:
I was told I shd introduce Semo to substitute the Indomie. Have you heard abt the poultry protein meal? My research online shws it contain 82% of protein and can be used for aquaculture. I am thinking of introducing it in my next formula and drop the 65% for 72% fish meal. So I wd be having 75% fish meal and 82% protein meal...Wish would aid quick and fast growth.

Please what is the name of the poultry protein meal? Is it available at the poultry feed stores?

olubankemi:
You made me try. Thank you for your encouraging posts and advises.

I chose another person to help out and she call me daily for feedback.

I will pump the water out on Saturday by the special grace of God.

Please Robonski what do you say of local feed? Am using top feed now for finisher but my sister called yesterday to introduce to me a guy who does local feed for 3750 per 15kg meanwhile I buy top feed for 4000.

He said I should try his feed for two weeks and see the difference in my cat fish.

My sister said her boss divided his fishes into two categories. One pond do this guy's local feed and the other for other popular feeds. That truly the pond being feed with local feeds the fishes are bigger.

Please advise. I have like 6 weeks to harvest and am due to buy feed tomorrow so your advise is crucial at this moment.

As for the pond I need to rent, my husband said he will not allow me rent again until we move to our house. He want us to do it at our place where we can have full control so I won't be renting again.

Thank you.

I envy your passion and commitment and i pray success will be yours at the end of the day.

Now to your question, your harvest period will be 5month and 2weeks, dont you think it will affect your profit margin because of the additional feeds for that long period?

On the use of formulated feed, i think it can be used if you are using earthing pond that requires less management and attention compare to concrete pond that water management has become the prerequisite to bumper harvest.

Most of local formulated feeds either by Nigerian company or local feed miller are rich in protein but there shortcoming is that they pollute water easily compare to foreign feed. Once the water is polluted the feeding rate of the fish reduces thereby increasing your overall management cost without corresponding increase in weigh gain unless you are able to provide good water management system.

My submissions are:
1. You can use local feed provided you are using earthing pond and good water system.
2. Since your fish are already 4month they required less intake of protein and more of fat and energy food
3. Since your ultimate objective is to maximise profit, i think you should prepare to sell your fish the moment the average weight of your fish clock 1kg

bofoy:
YUROBAS thanks for disappointing GEJ but truly i say to you guys NIGER DELTA wil not forget this. U guys are happy abi, it will be beta that only the hausas rule dis country than any yoruba man becos we wil never support them

The thing dey pain you?

The change is here, history has been made, thank to all NL progressives who despite the hate campaign of PDP and her tanoil alike continue to canvass for change until it became a reality.

Progressives let celebrate

Tanoid can only watch in regret for being on the other side of history

onatisi:
bro ,no sensible govt will repair those refineries,they will rather sell them to private investors . But no investor will invest in oil refinery in nigeria when govt is subsidizing imported fuel.this is what gej was saying then. He would have removed the subsidy and make the oil business lucrative for private investors

Kindly tell us why govt cant repair that refinery? Are you saying all countries that built refinery at the time we build these refineries have abandoned them because it has become obsolete to maintain? Comon, with the capacity of those refinery, the parts can be fabricated with economic value. Do not be hypnotized by what corrupt government has been feeding the gullible Nigerians

Johnnyessence:
raw chicken liver u can get it from poultry house.

Thanks for your quick response, i also heard of using intestines, have you used it before? what is your experience as regard water pollution and infection?

Johnnyessence:
still be feeding them 4mm feeds oooo till 4months when they reach 4 months,change d feed to 6mm size then add some chicken liver to them to make them big more.

Raw chicken liver or boiled one?

"adding that subsidy in itself was never a problem to the country but the bad management of the subsidy"
Telling the incoming government to remove subsidy is diversion of responsibility, rather i will want government to restructure the system and make it work thereby making Nigerian using the subsidy management as yardstick to judge the incoming government effectiveness and efficiency.

Let put the cart before horse, Saraki should tell the incoming government to find a lasting solution to make our refinery work. The idea of extracting crude oil only to be refined in the less buoyant economy like Ivory Coast is sickening, abeg!

nortcentrallord:
This is still GEJ's administration why is no one remembering that now but when there was confusion with oil marketers laying false claims and using people intoxicated apc sentiments to lay blames on Ngozi and GEJ, everybody was saying GEJ and Ngozi is the cause. How we easily forgot that since the past 5 years, this was the first time we are experiencing fuel crises. Even during festivity there is always abundance. All those fighting in darkness should continue. It will surely boomerang.

Haba, stop lying