Detailed Explanation of the Key Points of Scientific Loach Farming Techniques

I believe everyone is no stranger to loach; you can often see them in rural fields. Loaches grow in the mud, and you simply cannot catch them with your bare hands. That is why when we describe someone as very agile, we say they are like a loach. Besides growing in soil, loaches can also grow in soil-free environments, so if you want to raise loaches well, you still need to learn some professional knowledge.

Scientific Loach Farming Techniques

Scientific loach farming techniques are divided into: pond farming, rice paddy farming, cage farming, wooden box and water vat farming, and fish-loach polyculture. Below we discuss pond farming techniques and rice paddy farming techniques.

Loach Pond Farming Techniques

1. Pond conditions

There are 3 farming ponds, rectangular in shape, oriented north-south, with a total area of 0.67 hm2, abundant water sources, good water quality, no surrounding industrial or agricultural wastewater pollution, no sources of infectious disease, a pond mud thickness of 10-20 cm, a complete inlet and drainage system, and a water depth maintained at 30-50 cm. The dissolved oxygen in the pond is above 4 mg/L, the chemical oxygen demand is below 2 mg/L, and the pH value is 6.8-7.5.

2. Preparation before stocking

1. Clean and level the pond. Care for and repair the pond banks and slopes. The water inlet is about 20 cm above the water surface, and the drainage outlet is set at the bottom of the fish collection pit at the pond bottom. The water inlet and drainage outlet are blocked with fine mesh cloth, the pond bottom slopes toward the drainage outlet, and a fish collection pit connected to the drainage outlet is set up, with an area of about 5% of the pond bottom area and 30-35 cm below the pond bottom.

2. Pond clearing and disinfection. Thoroughly clear and disinfect the pond to eliminate sources of disease. Before stocking, first drain the water and remove enemies such as snakehead and snakes.

3. Fry and fingerling stocking

Select fry with lively movement, strong constitution, uniform size, and no disease or injury for stocking. A total of 500,000 loach fry of 6 cm are stocked, at a density of 750,000 fry/hm2. Before stocking, soak the fry in 4%-5% salt water for 5-10 min for disinfection.

4. Feed feeding

When feeding, follow the "four fixed" feeding principle. Loaches are greedy eaters and like to forage at night; after domestication they can be changed to feed during the day. Feed 4 times a day, at 6:00, 11:00, 14:00, and 18:00, with the feeding amounts accounting for 30%, 20%, 15%, and 35% of the daily feeding amount respectively. In the later stage of farming, also feed animal-based feeds such as maggots, earthworms, minced trash fish and livestock and poultry offal, as well as plant-based feeds such as wheat bran, rice bran, bean dregs, and oilseed cakes.

5. Daily management

1. Water quality management. Keep the pond water transparency at 20-25 cm, the acidity and alkalinity neutral or weakly acidic, and the dissolved oxygen in the water above 4 mg/L.

2. Pond patrol and observation. In daily management, insist on patrolling the pond every morning and evening, remove residual feed, and increase nighttime pond patrols in stuffy and hot weather.

6. Disease prevention and control

Disease prevention and control work must follow the policy of "prevention first, prevention more important than treatment." From June to September, use dibromohydantoin for disease prevention and control every 15 d, with a dosage of 750-900 g/hm2 for water surface at a depth of 1 m, splashed over the whole pond.

Loach Rice Paddy Farming Techniques

1. Rice paddy construction: The rice paddy area should not be too large; generally about 1.5 mu is suitable. Rice paddies for loach farming need well-built field ridges, with polyethylene mesh or plastic sheeting buried on the inner side of the ridges to prevent loaches from burrowing and escaping. Build two barriers at the water inlet and outlet; polyethylene mesh can be used on the outside and metal mesh on the inside. Dig fish collection pits of appropriate size in the field; the pits can be square, round, or irregular, or dig several vertical and horizontal ditches with a width and depth of 30-40 cm, and the area of the fish pits or ditches accounts for 5-10% of the rice paddy area.

2. Loach fingerling stocking

It is best if the loaches come from a loach original seed farm or are caught from natural waters. They are required to be robust and free of disease and injury, at age 2, with females weighing 15-25g and males weighing more than 12g. In late February, before the rice paddy is filled with water, evenly splash 75-100 kg of quicklime per mu for clearing, leveling, and disinfection.

3. Feed feeding: After the loach fry are stocked, in the first month feed a mixed feed of half animal-based feed and half plant-based feed once a day, with each feeding amount being 3-4% of the total body weight of the loaches. After 1 month, apply topdressing once every 15 days, with about 100 kg of fermented organic fertilizer applied per mu each time, and at the same time feed silkworm pupae, rice bran, soybean cake, rapeseed cake, animal offal, and other feeds. In the later stage, it is best to fertilize and feed in the fish collection pit, which is conducive to concentrated harvesting.

4. Harvesting methods

Water-flushing harvesting: lay nets near the water inlet, release water from the water inlet, and because loaches have the habit of swimming against the current, lift the nets after a certain time to catch them. This method is suitable when the water temperature is about 20 degrees and the loaches are active;

Loach Cage Farming Techniques

1. Site selection

The farming site should be selected in sheltered and sunny shallow waters at the edge of lakes or reservoirs or in flowing-water ponds, with good water quality and no industrial pollution.

2. Cage setup

The cage material is made of polyethylene, twisted silk net type, and the cage frame is built with bamboo poles and fixed directly in the water. Cage loach farming is divided into fingerling rearing cages and adult loach temporary holding cages. The mesh size of fingerling rearing cages should be such that the fry cannot escape, and the cage body area is 10-25 square meters. The mesh of adult loach temporary holding cages is 0.5-1 cm, and the cage body area is about 50 square meters. The cage height depends on the farming water body, and generally the upper part of the cage is 40 cm above the water surface. Taiwan loach does not like strong light, so cages should be set in shallow water at the lake edge, with 15-25 cm thick mud spread on the cage bottom.

3. Loach fingerling stocking

The stocking amount of loach fingerlings in cages should be determined according to water body conditions. If the water is fertile and flowing, more can be stocked; otherwise, less should be stocked. Generally, 900-1200 loach fingerlings of 5-6 cm are stocked per m².

4. Feeding management

Cage loach farming mainly relies on artificial feeding. A 2m² feeding platform should be set inside the cage, 20-25 cm from the pond bottom, and the bait should be placed on the feeding platform when feeding. Artificial feeding can use ball-shaped feed made from bran, silkworm pupae, and earthworms, or artificial compound hard pellet feed. Animal protein in artificial compound feed should account for more than 50%. The daily feeding amount is 3%-5% of the loach body weight, fed three times in the morning, noon, and evening.

5. Daily management

Inspect every morning and evening, maintain the permeability of the water inside and outside the cage, and allow enough bait organisms to enter the cage. At the same time, often check the netting and repair any holes immediately. Check whether the loaches are active normally. In the high-temperature season from July to August, the water surface covered by alligator weed should account for 1/2 of the cage area; at ordinary times, remove excess alligator weed in the cage so that it covers about 1/3 of the cage area.

6. Disease prevention and control

Normally do a good job in fish disease prevention and control. When feeding, adhere to the "four fixed" principle, promptly remove residual bait on the feeding platform, and regularly splash quicklime or hang bleaching powder bags. Method for hanging bleaching powder bags: wrap bleaching powder in two layers of gauze and hang it around the feeding platform, hanging 2-3 bags at a time, which can effectively prevent disease occurrence.

Loaches have relatively strong disease resistance, and coupled with strict checks when purchasing fry, diseases basically do not occur. However, during the farming process, pond disease prevention, treatment, and medication work should still be done well.

Loach Wooden Box Farming Techniques

1. Wooden box structure: The loach farming wooden box has a length of 2-3 meters, a width of 1-1.5 meters, and a height of 0.8 meters. The inner wall is required to be smooth. On one or two sides of the box, open water inlet and drainage outlets with a diameter of 3 cm, and set wire mesh on the water inlet and drainage outlets and the box cover.

2. Fertilization and stocking: Place mud and chopped straw or compost in the box, about 3 kg per box, inject warm water, with a depth suitable for covering the soil layer by 30-50 cm. Before stocking, it is best to disinfect the fish body first.

3. Careful feeding: The feed is rice bran, snails, silkworm pupae, fish viscera, etc.

4. Daily management: Because the stocking density in wooden box farming is relatively high, water quality management is very important. When it rains, prevent the box water from overflowing and causing loaches to escape, and also prevent pesticides and chemical fertilizers from polluting the water entering the box. Every day, remove residual bait and often observe the feeding and activity of the loaches. If abnormal phenomena such as frequent intestinal respiration or sudden cessation of feeding are found in the loaches, immediately change the water. If diseased or dead loaches are found, promptly remove them to prevent fish disease from spreading. In the later stage of farming, appropriately add new water or remove loaches that have reached market size to reduce density and promote growth.

Feed Sources for Loach

First, use manure to fertilize the water body to increase organic matter, algae plants, and rotifers, water fleas, aquatic earthworms, mosquito larvae, paramecia, and so on in the water.

Second, animal-based bait suitable for loaches to prey on, such as small fish, small shrimp, field snails, spiral shells, earthworms, insects, and snails.

Third, collect slaughterhouse offal, agricultural and sideline product and processing offal, minced trash fish, bean dregs, rice bran, soybean cake, rapeseed meal, wheat bran, and the stems, leaves, and seeds of tender plants.

Fourth, artificially cultivate live bait that loaches like to eat, such as yellow mealworms, earthworms, maggots, and silkworm pupae.

Fifth, prepare special complete feed for loaches.

After seeing so many loach farming techniques, do you think loaches are actually very easy to raise? If you want to raise loaches well, you should read more about farming techniques; believe me, science will not be wrong. Everyone can choose a loach farming method according to their own actual situation. After all, each method has its own advantages. Wishing everyone success and wealth.