Is the mandarin fish easy to raise in winter? Reduce stocking density and build a wintering pond before overwintering

AbstractThe mandarin fish is not very easy to raise in winter, because the optimal water temperature for mandarin fish growth is around 20°C, and the lower winter temperatures affect its growth. Therefore, a wintering pond needs to be built, and pond consolidation should be carried out on sunny days when the water temperature is above 10°C. Before overwintering, stocking should be sparse and the water deep, reducing stocking density, and mandarin fish of a certain size can be caught and sold. After snow, snow should be cleared promptly, and necessary antifreeze measures should be taken.

1. Construction of the wintering pond

Raising mandarin fish in winter requires building a wintering pond. A pond with a sandy bottom, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, with little silt, should be chosen, with an area of about 1.5-3 mu, a depth of more than 2 m, good drainage and irrigation conditions, no pollution, good water quality, and a small amount of submerged aquatic plants. Note that acidic ponds and ponds whose water easily becomes turbid are not suitable for raising mandarin fish.

2. Pond consolidation to control the number of bait fish

Generally, pond consolidation is carried out on sunny days when the water temperature is 10°C. When the water temperature is high, the fish move strongly and consume a lot of oxygen, and the fish are easily injured during this process. If the water temperature is too low, pond consolidation is also unsuitable, to prevent the fish from freezing to death. In adult fish ponds, mandarin fish fingerlings can be consolidated along with the harvest of adult fish. When seining, care must be taken to prevent the death of mandarin fish fingerlings caused by lack of oxygen. Half a month before seining, the number of bait fish in the pond should be well controlled. During netting, catching, selecting and transporting, great care must be taken not to injure the fish.

3. Temperature

The optimal water temperature for raising mandarin fish is 20°C, the optimal temperature for mandarin fish growth and feeding is 22-28°C, and the optimal water temperature for reproduction is 21°C. Winter temperatures are relatively low, so mandarin fish grow relatively slowly.

4. Stocking density

Before overwintering, we should stock sparsely and raise deep, sorting by mandarin fish size into boxes or ponds for sparse rearing, reducing stocking density, then draining half of the old pond water and adding new water to about 2.2, maintaining a certain water temperature, which is beneficial to the normal growth of mandarin fish.

5. Timely protection against cold and freezing

In winter, the temperature drops quickly, by a large margin, and lasts relatively long, and extreme low-temperature weather often occurs. We should take protective measures in advance to avoid unnecessary losses. Before overwintering, mandarin fish raised to a certain size should be caught and sold in time, and the breeding site should be carefully checked to prevent escape. In winter, snow should be cleared in time, and if there is ice, it should also be broken in time to ensure sufficient dissolved oxygen in the water.

6. Disease prevention

When removing ice and snow in winter, movements should be gentle and slow, and the fish body should not be bruised, as this easily causes fish diseases. We should prevent fish diseases in advance. 100-150 ml of povidone-iodine per mu can be splashed, or Chongchongcao can be taken orally to prevent parasites. Note that trichlorfon must not be used.