What are the environmental requirements for catfish farming

SummaryA farming environment with suitable water temperature and clear water quality will make catfish grow faster and produce higher yields. Catfish generally live in the middle and lower layers of lakes or ponds and can adapt to various environments; they can even grow when water quality is poor. They are scavenging fish that eat a lot but move little, so they grow very quickly. Generally, the farther south you go, the shorter the catfish growth cycle becomes.

Catfish mostly grow in the middle and lower layers of lakes and ponds. They are extremely adaptable to their environment and can grow well even in harsh waters. They are scavenging fish that usually eat a lot but move little, and they grow very quickly. Generally, the farther south you go, the shorter the catfish growth cycle becomes.

At present, wild catfish on the market sell at a relatively high price, even reaching one or two hundred yuan per jin, which has led more and more people to start farming catfish. Although catfish have strong survival abilities and low environmental requirements, if there is too much dirt in the water, the ammonia nitrogen content will increase greatly, making the water environment very poor and affecting the growth and development of catfish. If catfish are placed in water with suitable temperature and clear water quality for farming, they will grow faster and yields can be better increased.

Techniques for farming catfish

1. Two-stage stocking of fry

Fry that have just been introduced and transported back have inconsistent sizes and poor resistance. If they are put directly into a pond, they will consume too much energy due to excessive activity and be unable to finish the feed in the pond, and the leftover feed will also pollute the water body.

If a two-stage stocking method is adopted, first concentrating the fry in small ponds for intensive rearing and then putting them into large ponds for rearing, it is convenient for daily management, allows the fry to adapt well to the new environment, and ensures that they can consume sufficient feed while growing in the small ponds, promoting their growth rate.

When the fry in the small ponds reach about 10-15cm, the larger individuals can be taken out and put into large ponds for farming, while the smaller fry continue to be intensively reared in the small ponds. This method can make the growth rate of the fish school basically consistent, avoid the phenomenon of big fish eating small fish, facilitate unified management, and improve the survival rate of the fish school.

2. Reasonable feed feeding

Catfish are omnivorous fish and are very greedy. When feeding them, the amount must be strictly controlled. It is best to feed only as much as the number of fish in the pond requires, and never feed blindly. When feeding, use several feeding points, spread the bait evenly, and feed frequently but in small amounts to avoid uneven hunger and fullness within the fish school.

At the beginning of fry cultivation, mainly animal-based feed is given. As the fry continue to grow, plant-based feed can gradually be added and switched to, combining animal and plant feed to ensure balanced nutrition. Generally, the amount of feed given each day should be about 5-8% of the total weight of the fish school. According to the growth status of the fish school, adjust the feed amount once every 7 days or 15 days.

3. Implement rotational harvesting and separate rearing

Catfish are naturally ferocious and greedy. When feed is given, big fish often snatch food while small fish have no feed to eat. This makes the size difference in the fish school obvious. During the farming process, in order to facilitate unified management and make the fish school uniform in size, it is best to implement rotational harvesting and separate rearing, raising fish of different sizes separately to increase farming yields.

4. Overwintering of catfish

Catfish are generally harvested in autumn. In addition to selling the fish that have reached the required size, some adult catfish can also be kept for overwintering in deep-water ponds covered with nylon greenhouses, and then sold on the market the following spring as early-spring fish. This can not only solve the problem of difficulty selling catfish during the peak season, but also extend the supply time of fresh fish, and early-spring fish sell at a very attractive price, which can increase economic returns.