Detailed Explanation of New Techniques for Raising Grass Carp with Broad Beans

AbstractUsing broad beans that have been sprouted to raise grass carp can promote digestion, speed up the growth rate of grass carp, and make their flesh more delicious, crisp and tender. Select fingerlings of about 2.8-3kg for stocking, disinfect the fish pond before breeding, and during the breeding process pay attention to rational feed feeding. The broad beans need to be soaked first, the small sprouts urged out and rinsed clean before feeding, change the water regularly to regulate water quality, and do a good job in disease prevention as well as supervision against escape and theft.

Grass carp raised with broad beans has crisp and tender flesh and is deeply loved by the public. Generally, after one year of rearing, the fry can reach a size of about half a jin, and after another year of rearing, the body weight can reach about 5-7 jin. In the third year, when the breeding temperature is above 25 degrees C, feeding the grass carp broad beans for 120 days turns them into crisp-fleshed grass carp. To shorten the breeding time, many farmers now directly buy grass carp that have been raised for 2 years and raise them with broad beans to make them into crisp-fleshed grass carp.

Techniques for Raising Grass Carp with Broad Beans

I. Preparatory Work Before Stocking Fry

1. Build a pond-watching fish hut for rest and a warehouse for storing feed around the pond, and reinforce the warehouse to make it waterproof, so as to prevent the feed from being damaged.

2. Build the feeding platform for future feed feeding, and set up sunshade and rainproof facilities above it.

3. Plant some napier grass around the pond ridge for the grass carp to eat, which can also reduce the use of drugs and improve the quality of the grass carp.

4. Drain the water in the fish pond, expose it to the sun for one month, then fill it with 50cm of water, and splash quicklime into the pond at a ratio of 150kg/mu for disinfection.

5. The water quality in the pond is required to have no pollution and no peculiar smell. It is best to use reservoir water or mountain water. The oxygen content in the water is best controlled at above 4 mg/L, and the pH value can be controlled between 7-7.5.

II. Stocking Fingerlings

Select high-quality fry of about 2.8kg-3kg with no injuries or diseases, agile movement and a strong body for stocking. Generally, the stocking density can be controlled at about 2000 fish/mu.

III. Points to Note in Breeding

1. Feed feeding: Adhere to the four-fixed principle, feed once each in the morning and evening every day, and the daily feeding amount is about 2-3% of the total weight of the fish school. Adjust specifically according to the remaining bait on the feeding platform one hour after feeding, and ensure that the fish school can eat enough without wasting feed.

2. Water quality regulation: Change the water in the pond regularly. When the weather is hotter, change the water body according to the color of the pond water, ensure the water quality is clear and pollution-free, and provide a good living environment for the grass carp.

3. Broad bean feeding: The broad beans fed to grass carp must first be soaked to sprout. After the small sprouts of the broad beans are urged out, rinse them underwater until there is no bad smell before feeding. Ensure that the sprouting time and the feeding time can connect with each other, so as to avoid causing the grass carp to go without food. Broad beans that have been sprouted are favored by grass carp, and are easier to digest and absorb, promoting the growth of grass carp and making their flesh delicious, crisp and tender.

IV. Preventing and Treating Fish Diseases

During the breeding process, regulate the water quality regularly. Each month, splash 0.8 mg/L of a copper sulfate and ferrous sulfate mixture, 0.4 mg/L of trichloroisocyanuric acid, or 0.2 mg/L of chlorine dioxide into the pond, using the three alternately, so that the environmental factors in the pond can maintain ecological balance and provide the grass carp with a living environment in which they are less likely to get sick and which is suitable for growth.

V. Daily Management

Persist in inspecting the pond every day, checking whether there are holes in the pond and at the water inlet and outlet, to prevent the fish from escaping; observe the feeding and activity of the fish school, monitor water quality regularly, and prevent theft; conduct irregular spot checks on the body weight of the fish in the pond, so as to estimate the total weight of the fish school and the amount of bait to feed.