What are the key techniques for increasing loach farming yields?
Loach farming yields can reach 250—400 kg per mu. There are different ways to farm loach, such as single-species farming in cement ponds, polyculture in ponds, and farming in rice paddies. Among these, single-species farming in cement ponds has a relatively larger stocking density; stocking about 30,000 fry of 5-8 cm per mu is fairly moderate. Below is an introduction to the method of building ponds to farm loach at home.
1. Building the pond
Build the pond in front of or behind the house or around the courtyard, choosing a spot with a water source that is sheltered from wind and faces the sun. The pond is generally built of brick or stone, and a depth of about 1 m is suitable. After the pond is built, smooth it with cement, and once it is dry, put in 0.5 chi of fertile mud, pour in 1 chi of clean water, and then the seed loach can be stocked.
2. Stocking the seed loach
After the pond is built, stock loach fry at a rate of 1—1.5 jin per sq m. The fry can be bought from the market, or bred and caught yourself; in any case, choose robust, uninjured fry of uniform size for stocking, and match them in a ratio of three females to one male. To tell males from females, observe their appearance: the male has a pointed head, narrow and long pectoral fins, a body as thick as the tail end, an upturned tail tip, and a thin bony plate at the base of the fin rays; the female has an oval, flat head. Female loaches have a very strong spawning capacity; one female loach can lay more than 4,000 eggs from early summer to early autumn, generally spawning 2—3 times a year, amounting to more than 10,000 eggs.
3. Feeding
Since loach is an omnivorous fish, cow dung, rice bran, or wheat and fly maggots can all be fed as bait, generally three times a day. The feeding amount is generally determined on your own according to how much they eat.
4. Fertilizing
During the feeding of loach, some organic fertilizer can be appropriately added, but when fertilizing, it must not be too much or too frequent, and the pond water must be changed frequently, generally once every 10—15 days.
5. Harvesting
To harvest loach, first drain the pond water, and adopt the method of catching the large ones and leaving the small ones, so as to ensure a certain number of loach fry in the pond, which is good for continued farming and high yields.