New Techniques for Yellow Catfish Farming: How to Raise Yellow Catfish Well

1. Pond Conditions

Generally, any pond can be used for farming as long as the pond embankment is firm, there is no seepage, and the water source is not polluted. The area should preferably be 1/15-5/15 hectare, with a water depth of about 1.5 cm.

2. Stocking Fingerlings

1. Stocking method: There are three ways to mainly culture yellow catfish in ponds. One is to stock all fingerlings at once and harvest all at once at the end of the year; one is to stock all fingerlings at once, catch the large ones and keep the small ones during the culture process, and harvest multiple times; and another is rotational catching and stocking, that is, catching the large ones and replenishing the small ones.

2. Stocking size: Fingerlings are required to be above 8 cm in size, preferably 10-15 cm, to ensure a relatively high survival rate and shorten the culture time.

3. Stocking density: For mainly culturing yellow catfish in ponds, if the method of stocking fingerlings at the beginning of the year and harvesting all at once at the end of the year is adopted, generally 3000-4000 fish are stocked per 1/15 hectare, or 80 silver carp and bighead carp are added. It is not advisable to use omnivorous bottom-dwelling fish such as common carp, crucian carp, and tilapia as the added species, to prevent competition with yellow catfish for feed and habitat and affect their growth.

3. Feeding Feed

1. Feed source: For mainly culturing yellow catfish in ponds, compound feed should be the main feed. The protein content of compound feed is generally about 34%, and the ratio of animal protein to plant protein should preferably be 1:2. Animal protein feed is mainly fish meal, blood meal, or silkworm pupa meal; plant protein mainly includes various oilseed meals as well as rice bran, wheat bran, etc. If there is no compound feed, peanut cake, soybean cake, bran, etc. can be fed, but some wild weeds should be frequently fed to supplement animal protein.

2. Feeding method: According to the habit of yellow catfish gathering to feed, feeding platforms should be set up in the pond. Generally, 1 feeding platform can be set up per 1/15 hectare of fish pond. Feed 2 times a day, once from 7-10 am and once from 4-6 pm.

3. Feeding amount: When the water temperature is 10°C, the daily feeding amount can be controlled at 1.5%-2.5% of the body weight of the fish in the pond. When the water temperature is 20°C-30°C, the daily feeding amount can be increased to 2%-4% of the fish body weight, and care should be taken to let the yellow catfish finish eating in about 30 minutes. In addition, during stuffy and hot weather and rainy days, feeding should be appropriately reduced.

4. Daily Management

Daily management should mainly focus on water quality regulation, keeping the pond water fertile, lively, tender, refreshing, and with sufficient dissolved oxygen. The main measure is to frequently add fresh water, generally once a week. Ponds with high stocking density should be equipped with aerators. When the pond water is short of oxygen, start the aerator in time to ensure normal fish growth. In addition, every 15-20 days, use 10-15 kg of quicklime per 1/15 hectare of pond, add water to make a slurry, and splash it over the whole pond.