What fish are good for polyculture with loach, and how deep should the water be?
The loach is known as the “ginseng of the water”, and is a fish with very high nutritional value, distributed fairly widely in the southern regions of China. Loach meat is delicious and also rich in protein, loved by many people, and artificial farming is currently gradually increasing. However, loach is a bottom-dwelling fish, and if it is farmed alone it is too monotonous and also fairly wasteful.
What fish are good for polyculture with loach
1. Fish selection
When polyculturing loach, the key issue is to make sure the feeding habits of the polycultured fish are not the same as those of the loach. For example: rural areas generally prefer to raise common carp and crucian carp, but these two fish cannot be polycultured with loach, because like the loach they are both bottom-dwelling fish and both are omnivorous, so polyculturing them together will inevitably mean neither grows well. The fish best chosen for polyculture with loach are grass carp, bream, silver carp and bighead carp. These 4 kinds of fish are mid- and upper-layer fish; grass carp and bream eat grass, while silver carp and bighead carp eat plankton, so their feeding habits do not conflict much with those of the loach; moreover, the plant fragments left over after grass carp and bream feed can also serve as feed for the loach, which can save farming costs and raise economic returns.
2. Mixing ratio
The mixing ratio for polyculturing loach with fish must be scientific; the proportion of grass carp, bream, silver carp and bighead carp mixed in cannot be too large, and generally they can only account for 20% of the total stocked amount. In addition, because the water level of adult loach ponds is fairly shallow, these kinds of fish cannot be stocked as adult fish, only as fry.
3. Feeding management
Fish feed during the day, while loach feed at night, so when feeding, the fish should be fed first and the loach afterward, to avoid the fish and loach competing for food. Loach ponds should have strengthened daily management, with persistent pond patrols, and in summer and autumn especially attention should be paid to fish surfacing for air in the pond. New water should be added regularly to keep the water quality fresh and lively and raise the survival rate of the pond fish.
How deep should the water be to be suitable for farming loach
The pond for farming loach is best about one meter, and the water level is best around 70-80 cm. This serves the purpose, first, of preventing fish from escaping when the water rises, but also of not making them impossible to catch all the time, because loach can come to the surface to breathe on their own, so there is no need to worry about a lack of air. In addition, water at this depth is also very suitable in terms of temperature, fairly moderate. Too deep and the sun cannot penetrate, so it will be very cold; too shallow and the water heats up as soon as the sun shines on it, which is also harmful to the loach.
Feed ingredients for farming loach
1. Grains: grain feeds are generally called energy feeds, including rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, etc.
2. Oilseed meals: oilseed meal feeds are generally called plant protein feeds, including soybean cake (protein content 40-46%), peanut cake (protein content 45%), and sesame cake (protein content 40%).
3. Animal types: animal protein feed resources include fish meal, clams, river snails and fly pupae, etc.
4. Additives: loach feed additives include amino acids, vitamins, inorganic salts, fatty acids, antibiotics, hormones, mold inhibitors, disease preventives, antioxidants, attractants, binders, anti-float agents and softeners, etc.
What are the common diseases of loach and their prevention and treatment
1. Gas bubble disease
Cause: a certain gas in the pond water is supersaturated, usually dissolved oxygen, methane, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia or nitrogen. These gases enter the fish body's blood vessels through the gills and skin, making the gas in the blood supersaturated; too much gas escapes and forms bubbles, blocking blood flow and causing large numbers of fry to die.
Symptoms: the loach floats on the water surface, and the belly bulges like a bubble.
Prevention and treatment: strengthen daily management to prevent water quality deterioration; when the disease occurs, immediately add new water, and splash the whole pond with 4-6 kg of salt per mu dissolved in water.
2. Saprolegniasis
Cause and symptoms: caused by water mold. The body surface of the diseased loach is covered with white cotton-like hyphae, it swims slowly, and over time it becomes weak and dies; this disease occurs easily in spring.
Prevention and treatment: splash the whole pond with “Mu Mu An” at 100 ml/mu. If the condition is severe, use it once more the next day.
3. Print disease
Cause and symptoms: caused by Aeromonas hydrophila. The lesions are swollen and red, round in shape, and the affected areas are mainly on both sides of the caudal peduncle. It is prevalent from July to September.
Prevention and treatment: splash the whole pond with bromochloro hydantoin powder at 100-133 g/mu, once a day, for 2 consecutive days. Orally take “Yu Fu Kang” at 0.1-0.15 g per kg of fish body weight, once a day, for 3-5 consecutive days.
That is all for now on loach polyculture; we hope it is helpful to everyone. Loach is a bottom-dwelling fish, so when farming you can polyculture it with some upper-layer fish, which to a large extent prevents waste of resources and also brings correspondingly higher returns.