How to Farm Loach in Greenhouses? A Detailed Guide to Farming Techniques

Loach is a relatively common aquatic animal. Its appearance is very similar to that of the rice field eel (Monopterus albus), but it is somewhat shorter and smaller. As is widely known, loach has extremely high nutritional value, and its flesh is tender and delicious, making it deeply loved and sought after by everyone. So do you know how to farm loach? Let us learn together below about the method of farming loach in greenhouses!

Greenhouse Loach Farming Techniques

1. Pond Construction

Dig a pond inside the greenhouse, with a depth of 2 m. Tamp the pond bottom and walls firmly, spread 30 cm of fertile mud on the bottom, lay plastic film around the edges of the pond, and set water inlet and outlet openings at both ends of the pond. The water inlet should be higher than the pond water surface, and the water outlet should be set at the pond bottom. Install nylon mesh at the water inlet and outlet to prevent debris from entering and loach from escaping. At the water outlet, dig a fish ditch 2 m long, 0.5 m wide, and 0.3 m deep at the pond bottom, for use when catching loach and for escaping the heat. After the pond is built, fill with 10 cm of water, and use 80-100 kg of quicklime per mu dissolved in water to splash the entire pond for disinfecting the pond bottom. After 10 days, fill with water to 50 cm, then apply 2 kg/mu of urea to fertilize the water quality, and apply a top dressing again after 3 days. Wait until a large amount of brown diatoms can be seen at the pond edge, the pond water is yellow-brown, and the transparency is around 30 cm, then the fry can be stocked.

2. Fry Stocking

Loach fry are required to be robust and disease-free with no injuries, swimming actively, and the loach in each pond should be roughly the same size. Before stocking loach, they must be soaked and disinfected. One of the methods that can be used is soaking in 2-4% salt water for 5-10 minutes, with a density of about 2-3 jin of loach per square meter of water body. As the stocking amount increases and the fish gain weight, the pond water can be deepened to 0.5-0.7 m.

3. Feeding Bait

For 15 days after the loach fry are stocked, they mainly feed on natural bait, with some fish meal, soybean cake, and bait appropriately supplemented. The daily feeding amount is 2% of body weight. When the loach grow to 5 cm in early to mid-June, switch to feeding full-price compound feed for carp. In June, the daily feeding amount is 5% of body weight, in July-August it is 10%, and in September it is 5%. Daily feeding is divided into three times: morning, noon, and evening. The feeding amount should preferably be eaten by the loach within 2 hours. When feeding, the bait should be placed near the feeding platform.

4. Water Quality Adjustment

The water quality of loach farming ponds is best when yellow-green, with transparency maintained between 20-25 cm, pH around 7.5, and dissolved oxygen above 2 mg/L. In July-August, the water depth should be maintained above 80 cm. If the water color is found to be too dense, change the water promptly, generally changing water 1-2 times every 10 days, with each water change of 30 liang cm. In hot seasons, some aquatic plants can be transplanted into the pond, such as water hyacinth, alligator weed, etc., and a shade shed should also be built over the pond for cooling.

5. Greenhouse Management

For loach farming greenhouses in winter and early spring, on sunny days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., remove the straw covering the plastic shed, and at other times put the straw back on the shed for insulation. In summer, remove the greenhouse plastic film and float aquatic plants such as alligator weed in the pond for shade. In autumn and late spring, cover with the plastic film, and at night cover the film with straw mats.

How to Farm Loach in Greenhouses

1. Farming loach in greenhouses requires relatively advanced techniques, such as water adjustment techniques and disease prevention techniques. However, its yield and benefits are also quite considerable. It is the embodiment of production technology transformed into productivity and is the direction of our farming production development.

2. The water inlet and drainage facilities in the greenhouse must be complete, with sufficient water source, an east-west orientation, rectangular shape, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, with an average water depth of 1.8 m, smooth pond walls, no rough surfaces, and a soil pond bottom. Aeration facilities are laid around the greenhouse.

3. Disinfect the greenhouse with 60 kg/mu of quicklime 15 days before fry stocking, and add water after disinfection. Before stocking the fry, carry out screening, placing loach of the same size in the same pond. The fish fry are required to be disease-free and uninjured, swimming actively, and robust, and should be disinfected with 10 mg/L bleaching powder before being put into the pond.

4. Mainly use artificially compounded floating bait. The main components of the feed include: fish meal, soybean meal, wheat bran, corn, binder, feed additives, etc., with a protein content of 32%. Natural aquatic zooplankton bait is supplementary, with main types including rotifers, beetles, cladocerans, and copepods.

5. The pond in the greenhouse should be oxygenated regularly, with dissolved oxygen maintained above 5 mg/L. Monitor water quality regularly, with transparency maintained above 25 cm. In hot seasons, use the biological preparation “Yijiu” (composed of 8 kinds of beneficial microorganisms such as yeast and photosynthetic bacteria) once every 15 days at a concentration of 10 mg/L.

6. The stocking density can be appropriately reduced, to 180 fish/m2, increasing the size at harvest, which can raise the selling price and indirectly improve economic benefits.

How Much Does It Cost to Farm Loach

The farming cost of loach is relatively low. Usually, the rental fee for one mu of farming site is generally 400-600 yuan/year, the feed cost is 6000-7000 yuan, 100,000 fry are stocked per mu, 800 yuan per 10,000 fry, totaling 8000 yuan, nets 400 yuan, fishery drugs and disinfectants 100 yuan, water and electricity 200 yuan, and reserve funds 1000 yuan. Therefore, farming one mu of loach requires an investment of about 16000-17000 yuan, and the farming profit is about 13000-14000 yuan, and 2-3 batches of fry can be stocked each year.

What Advantages Does Loach Farming Have

1. Tolerant of low oxygen: Loach can use its skin and intestines for respiration, is very tolerant of low oxygen, and can achieve a high-density farming model, without the phenomenon of pond turnover due to oxygen deficiency seen in general fish.

2. Omnivorous feeding habits: Loach has omnivorous feeding habits, and feed is relatively easy to obtain. Grains such as corn, wheat, and rice, as well as by-products such as rice bran and bean dregs, can all be used as loach feed.

3. Strong reproduction: Loach has a very strong reproductive capacity. Under normal circumstances, one female loach can lay about 3000 eggs in one year, and reproduction can be carried out in all three seasons of spring, summer, and autumn.

4. Fast growth: Loach grows relatively fast. Generally, loach fry produced by spring breeding can reach a relatively large market size by winter, so capital recovery is very fast.

Through the above content, I believe everyone has gained a certain understanding of the techniques for farming loach in greenhouses. In fact, loach is a particularly easy aquatic animal to farm, and farming loach requires little investment, has high profits, and has very promising farming prospects.