Three key techniques to master in snakehead farming

Speaking of snakehead, perhaps many people do not know what kind of fish it is, but when it comes to blackfish everyone is very familiar with it. In fact, snakehead is blackfish, it is just called by different names; some people like to call it snakehead, and some like to call it blackfish.

Three keys to snakehead farming techniques

The pond area is 0.5-2 mu, surrounded by a bamboo fence 1.5 m high, with a water depth of 1-1.5 m. Water should preferably be let in from the top of the pond 30 cm from the pond embankment, so as to prevent the snakehead from swimming upstream and escaping. Some water hyacinth can be planted in the pond to provide shelter for the snakehead.

The stocking density should be determined according to the source of bait and water conditions. Generally, at first, 8-10 fingerlings of 5-6 cm can be stocked per sq m. As the fish grow, they must be seined and sorted many times, with large and small sizes separated into different ponds for sparse rearing, and those of the same size placed in the same pond. The final stocking density is about 2 fish per sq m. If bait is sufficient and water is plentiful, the stocking amount can be appropriately increased. Generally, when overwintered fingerlings of 15-20 cm are stocked, starting in April and raised until the end of the year, each fish can reach more than 0.6 kg. When snakehead is raised alone, live bait or artificial feed can be fed. The former means feeding only live small fish (mainly tilapia), small shrimp, earthworms, etc. Where conditions permit, some discarded animal viscera can be fed, and electric lights or oil lamps can also be set up above the pond water to attract insects to fall into the water as bait for the snakehead. The amount of live bait fed should be properly controlled; feeding too much will cause oxygen deficiency and gasping at the surface. Usually, attention should be paid to replenishing when the live bait in the pond decreases. When feeding artificial feed, the fish must be trained to accept it from a young age, so that they gradually change from eating live bait to eating artificial feed. During bait training, never feed live bait midway. Artificial feed generally contains 70% trash fish paste, 20% soybean powder or eel feed, 5% yeast powder, plus some vitamins. Feed once each in the morning and toward evening, with the feeding amount at 5-8% of fish body weight, to be controlled according to feeding conditions. Feeding should be at fixed times and fixed locations, so that the fish become accustomed to the same position and finish all the feed at one time. The pond must be inspected every day; especially in thunderstorms or muggy weather, attention must be paid to fish jumping out of the pond. Before feeding, residual bait should first be removed to avoid water quality deterioration affecting growth. It is best to inject some new water in appropriate amounts every day to keep the water fresh.

What is snakehead  

Snakehead is commonly known as blackfish. It is fierce by nature, has strong reproductive capacity, and has an enormous appetite. It can often eat all the other fish in a certain lake or pond, and does not even spare its own young. Blackfish can also glide on land and migrate to other waters in search of food, and can live out of water for as long as 3 days. It is a “delicacy on the plate” for Chinese people.  

Blackfish rearing techniques  

1. Pond construction: choose an east-west oriented, rectangular pond, with a mud bottom, a pond depth of 2-2.5 m, and a water depth of 1.5-2 m. Anti-escape facilities must be installed at the inlet and outlet. Apply quicklime at 100-150 kg/mu 15 days before farming for thorough disinfection.  

2. Fingerling stocking: before the fingerlings are put into the pond, soak them in 3%-5% salt water for 10-15 minutes, then put them into the pond. For fingerlings with a body length of 10-14 cm, the stocking density is 9000-10000 fish/mu; for fingerlings of 16-20 cm, the stocking density is 8000 fish/mu.  

3. Daily management: pay attention to observing blackfish feeding, activity, disease trends and environmental changes. In spring, change 4/5 of the pond water every week; in the high-temperature season, make a small water change every 3 days and a large water change every 7 days. Install anti-escape nets at the inlet and outlet. It is better for the pond ridge to be more than 50 cm above the water surface. The discharged sewage should undergo necessary sewage treatment.  

4. Feed feeding: the feed for raising blackfish includes artificial compound feed, freshwater or marine small trash fish, and offal left after livestock and poultry slaughter. Before feeding small trash fish, they need to be sorted, and fish with hard spines, such as yellow catfish, should be removed. Before feeding, use tapping as a signal to gather distant fish near the feeding platform, reducing feed waste. The initial feeding amount is 10% of body weight, and later it can be appropriately reduced to about 5% of body weight. It should be fed one spoon at a time, so that less feed is wasted. Feeding should follow the “four fixed” principle, and 3-4 feeding points should be chosen for each pond. With intensive farming methods, for fish more than 10 cm in body length, after 8-9 months of farming, the survival rate is 75%-80%, the average body weight is 0.5-0.7 kg, and the yield per mu is 4000-5000 kg. Plant some aquatic plants in the pond, such as cattail, vallisneria, and alligator weed, with the planting area controlled at 1/3 of the pond area.

Nutritional value of blackfish  

1. Blackfish meat contains protein, fat, 18 kinds of amino acids, etc., and also contains calcium, phosphorus, iron and various vitamins essential to the human body.  

2. It is suitable for people who are weak, have hypoproteinemia, spleen-stomach qi deficiency, malnutrition, or anemia. In the Guangxi area, blackfish is often regarded among the people as a precious tonic, used to promote lactation and enrich the blood;  

3. Blackfish has the effects of dispelling wind and treating malnutrition, tonifying the spleen and replenishing qi, and promoting diuresis and reducing swelling. Therefore, in the Three-North region, postpartum women, rheumatism patients, and children with malnutrition often seek out snakehead to eat as an auxiliary dietary therapy.  

4. The vitality index of blackfish is 0, but the disease prevention index is 6.41.

People who have eaten blackfish should all be very familiar with it. Blackfish has high nutritional value, and blackfish is fiercer than ordinary fish. Therefore, farmers must master certain farming techniques in the process of raising blackfish in order to better facilitate the smooth progress of farming.