WHICH SPACE DO I USE TO GROW FISH?

Farmer usually select the facilities to match the crop to be produced. So also with catfish, the kind of water facilities determine how fish are to be raised. Likewise, the method of raising fish has considerable bearing on the planning and construction of facilities. And once a facility is established, it is usually not practical to quickly change to another facilities.

A catfish farm may have a combination of facilities unique to that particular farm. Economy, Usefulness and Productivity are important.

It is important to know the kind of facilities you will need before construction is started.

There are about 5 types of facilities

(1)           PONDS              (2)      TANKS            (3)      RACEWAYS

(4)           VATS                  (5)      AQUARIUMS.

 But ponds are the most widely used the major factor in selecting water facilities in the nature of the production system to be used. A farm that will produce fingerling and food fish will need different facilities from those which will only produce food fish.

The nature of the land will also have considerable influence on the facility constructions, because from the best crop land to the most indisposed to other form of farming, catfish pond can be sited.

Let us take a look at the different KIND OF WATER FACILITIES.

1.              PONDS: There are several types depending on the types of catfish farming operation.

a.                     Growing ponds: a ponds in which catfish are grown to the size of food fish, the arrangement and size of growing ponds are determined by:

i.     Topography of the land

ii.   The size of the farm

iii. The pond design as related to the economics of production.

Large ponds are more economical to construct but harvesting cost can upset any saving in construction cost. A 20 acre pond are considered the optimal size.

a.                     FEE LAKE: A pond in which cat fish are grown or held until caught by sport fishers. A site unsuitable for a growing pond can be used for this purpose and this size very considerably since the fish in the ponds will not be caught with net.

b.                    HOLDING POND: A small pond in which brood fish are maintained between spawning season. These ponds are needed on farm producing fingerling and are often built in conjunction with spawning and rearing ponds. Holding ponds are about 1 acres or less in size. A farm may need more than one holding pond depending on the number of brood fish kept. Several small pond of about ¼ acre each are often preferred so as to make disease outbreak management easy.  A bout 100 fishes weighing about 1.8kg each or 500 fishes weighing 0.5kg each.

c.                     SPAWNING POND:  This is a small pond of about 1-5 acres where brood fish are placed for spawning. Hapas or pens are built in the ponds to place the fish.

d.                    REARING POND: A small pond in which the fry are placed for growing into fingerlings. The size of a rearing pond depend upon the number and size of fingerling for about 1¾ to 7 inches long to stock 15 – 50 acre of growing ponds.

1.                RACEWAY: - This type is increasingly becoming the most popular water facility in Nigeria, most especially in the urban areas, a good number of the most productive farmers use this type of facility.

A raceway make use of flowing water. It may be a long, narrow structure or a series of structure, sometimes ponds through which water flows. The water may flow naturally, or it may be forced to flow by being pumped.

 The most popular one in vogue now here is the semi race-way where the water flow through slowly. The main advantage of raceway is that catfish can be stocked in them in higher population per area of land than in ponds. Two kind of raceway are used, based on how water is circulated.

Raceways in which the water enter at one end and is disposed off at the other end are known as ‘open’ or ‘flow through’raceways. The water is not used again. This type can accommodate up to 50-70 fishes per square metre. If a standard room of about 4mm x 3mm (12sqm) is converted, 600 fishes 90% of which are recoverable at 1kg size worth 300 per fish can be harvested in 5 to 6 months giving a total measure of about N162, 000.00

Raceway in which the water enters at one end and is removed at the other end and filtered, aerated and use again are ‘closed’ raceways. Most closed raceway are not completely but are ‘modified closed’. The techniques of filtering water have not been highly perfected for large scale fish production; therefore water cannot be reared indefinitely without the addition of new water.

Raceway fish culture requires more energy than pond culture because pumping must be operated to circulate the water implying that you need 2 nos. Generator as standby against power cut (including a diesel/petrol reserved) or alternatively a solar power source. This type of farming is very profitable under close and diligent supervisor.

1.                TANKS:- The use of tank is not too popular here though they utilize flowing water. The shape may be (circular) or rectangular (linear) and could be open or closed like race ways, therefore they are useful for every intensive culture.

Round tanks range up to 20ft in diameter and 2½ft in depth, water circulate through the exit through the center

Rectangular version is about 20ft long, 5 to 6ft wide and 18 inches deep and could be arrayed in rows or staked to 2 to 3 layers. Except for small operations or temporary facilities no large cat fish farm use tanks for culture. Tanks are available custom made or can be constructed commercially on request. (4 & 5)VATS & AQUARIUM are obviously too small in size to be worth considering in this teaching.