Snakehead gudgeon farming techniques: water temperature above 22°C, about 3500 fish per mu
AbstractWater quality: disinfect with quicklime, then test the water. Fry: select healthy fry about 10cm in body length, disinfect with salt water before stocking, about 3500 fish per mu. Feed: fry mainly feed on eel feed, rotifers and small pieces of chilled fish, adult fish mainly feed on aquatic insects and small miscellaneous fish. Pond division: once they grow to a certain size they need to be divided into separate ponds to prevent them from killing each other. Temperature: below 22°C, cover with a shed to keep warm. Management: patrol the pond 3 times a day, disinfect once every 45 days. Diseases: prevent red-skin disease and Dactylogyrus.
1. Conditions of the farming site
The area of the farming pond should not be too small or too large. A pond that is too small will affect the fish's development, while a pond that is too large is difficult to manage. A pond area of about 4 mu is optimal. Snakehead gudgeon like to dwell in burrows at the bottom and in the mud, so the bottom silt of the farming pond should preferably be about 15cm thick. The inlet and outlet drains of the pond must be covered with nets, which can prevent the snakehead gudgeon from escaping.
2. Regulating water quality
First drain off some of the pond water, keeping the depth at about 15cm. After draining is complete, splash about 200 jin of quicklime slurry per mu of pond for disinfection. After disinfection, add 60cm of new water every week, then put in some fry to test the water. Once the fry are all growing normally, add an appropriate amount of new water every 5 days until the water level is suitable for the growth of the snakehead gudgeon.
3. Stocking fry
1. Selecting fry: choose fry about 10cm in body length, with good colour, uniform size, and free of injuries and diseases.
2. Disinfecting fry: first prepare a large basin, add 300 grams of table salt, pour in an appropriate amount of clean water, then put the fry into the basin and soak for about 5 minutes for disinfection.
3. Stocking density: the disinfected fry can be put directly into the farming pond, with a stocking density of about 3500 fish per mu.
4. Reasonable feeding
1. Feed sources: during the fry stage, feed some eel feed, rotifers and small pieces of chilled fish. During the adult fish stage, feed some aquatic insects and small miscellaneous fish.
2. Feeding: on the third day after stocking the fry, feed sliced eel feed and chilled fish at a ratio of 9:1, with the feeding amount at 1% of the fish body weight. Feed with the same ratio and feed continuously for 10 days. After 10 days, increase the feeding amount by 1% and feed at fixed points. After 4 months, some sliced small shrimp or small fish can be added, and the feeding amount can be determined according to the specific situation. At about 6 months, they can be fed with live bait.
5. Separate-pond farming
Snakehead gudgeon look very lazy, but they often kill each other over food, so once they grow to a certain stage they can be divided into separate ponds according to body size.
6. Controlling temperature
Snakehead gudgeon have high temperature requirements. When the water temperature is below 22°C, the amount of feed they eat drops noticeably; at about 18°C they stop eating; at about 13°C they suffer cold injury; and below 10°C they freeze to death. If the water temperature drops to 22°C, cover with a shed in time to keep warm.
7. Later-stage management
Patrol the pond once each in the morning, at noon and in the evening every day to check the living conditions of the snakehead gudgeon and the water quality. After stocking the fry, add new water every half month, disinfect about every 45 days, and ensure the water clarity is above 28cm.
8. Preventing and treating diseases
To prevent red-skin disease, splash bromochlorohydantoin at 0.3 mg per litre in the pond every month. For fish that have already contracted the disease, mix an appropriate amount of oxytetracycline into the feed for treatment. To prevent Dactylogyrus, splash trichlorfon.