Introduction to the Farming Methods of the Swimming Crab! When Is It at Its Fattest?
The swimming crab has delicate, white flesh and is rich in various nutrients. It can be eaten fresh, or steamed, pan-fried, or stir-fried, and there are many ways to enjoy it. Many people like to eat it. So how do you farm swimming crab? When is it at its fattest? Here we introduce the farming methods for swimming crab and when it is at its fattest.
1. How do you farm swimming crab?
1. Preparing the site
Swimming crab is generally farmed in ponds. You should choose a pond near a sea area with abundant water sources, no pollution, rich resources of small miscellaneous fish, shrimp and shellfish, and convenient water intake and drainage. The area is generally best as a medium or small pond of 10—20 mu, the pond depth must be more than 5 m, the bottom substrate is better as mud and sand, and about 15 cm of sand should be spread on the pond bottom.
2. Pond preparation
After choosing the pond, it must be cleared. This mainly means removing excess sludge at the bottom of the pond and loosening and sun-drying the pond bottom. In addition, supporting facilities such as pond embankments, sluice gates and water channels must be repaired, and obstacles such as cement pipes, tiles and bamboo tubes should be placed at the pond bottom. Half a month after clearing the pond, open the sluice to let water in, and filter the seawater with a net to prevent harmful organisms from entering the pond. The pond depth should be about 80 cm. After water intake, cultivate feed organisms and keep the pond water transparency at about 30 cm.
3. Stocking crab seedlings
Stocking is generally done from late May to mid-June. For seedling specifications, choosing 80 crabs/kg is better. The crab seedlings are required to be uniform in size, robust in constitution, complete in appendages, strong in vitality, and with a soft-shell rate of less than 10%. For crab seedlings of 80-100 crabs/kg, the stocking density is 1000-1500 crabs/mu. Keep the water temperature above 18°C, the daily temperature difference less than 8°C, the salinity 18—32‰, the pH 7.8-8.6, the dissolved oxygen greater than 5 mg/L of water body, and the transparency at 30-40 cm.
4. Feed feeding
The swimming crab is an omnivorous animal. It likes to eat shellfish meat, fresh miscellaneous fish, small miscellaneous shrimp, and so on, and also eats tender sprouts of water algae. However, in the juvenile crab stage it tends toward omnivory, and the larger the individual, the more it tends toward carnivory. Feed once each in the morning and evening, with less in the morning and more in the evening. In the early stage of farming, feed about 8% of the total body weight of the crabs; in the middle stage, 12%; in the later stage, 5%; when the water temperature drops to 10-15°C, 3%; when the water temperature is below 10°C, no feeding is needed.
5. Daily management
In July, change the water once every 2—3 days; in August—September, change the water once every 1—2 days; in October, change the water once every 4—5 days. Patrol the pond once each in the morning and evening, carefully observing the feeding and activity of the swimming crabs, changes in the pond water, the condition of residual feed, and whether the gate screens and embankments are damaged or have leaks, and so on. Pay attention to preventing and treating diseases such as viral disease, bacterial disease, fungal disease, parasitic disease, luminous disease, emulsification disease, and shell ulcer disease.
2. When is the swimming crab at its fattest?
The swimming crab is at its plumpest around Grain Rain. It is a warm-temperate perennial large crab species. At the end of March, crab groups swim to shallow water areas to spawn, and mid-to-late April is the peak spawning period. From the first juvenile crab stage to maturity generally takes 3 years, and the crab body is at its plumpest around Grain Rain. Although it can also be caught in autumn, it is not plump.
The above is an introduction to the farming methods for swimming crab and when it is at its fattest. We hope it is useful to everyone.