How to farm freshwater sea bass? The technical secrets of a farming expert who has not made a loss for seven consecutive years
In Baijiao Town, Doumen District, Zhuhai City, He Shenming is a household name. He loves to study farming techniques, is good at summarizing past experience, and has keen insight into market trends. After successfully testing his farming experience in his own ponds, he recommends it to other farmers, earning deep trust and support from local farmers and leading local farmers to prosperity through farming.
He Shenming is warm and sociable. Not long after starting sea bass farming, he was among the first locally to work as a fish broker, and later, together with his younger brother He Jingtang, distributed sea bass feed, with annual sales reaching about 5000 tons. His extremely high popularity and influence led to his consecutive election as a deputy to the People's Congress of Doumen District, Zhuhai City, and he is also vice president of the Fisheries Association of Baijiao Town, Doumen District.
Sea bass farmer in Zhuhai, Guangdong
Baijiao Town, Doumen District, Zhuhai City, located at the Pearl River estuary, is China's famous hometown of sea bass. He Shenming, who began farming sea bass in 1998, has rich experience in sea bass farming. At present, he farms 40-50 mu of sea bass. Facing the reporter, he joked, "When the wind blows, I can tell the quality of the pond water just by smelling the air." Amid the laughter and conversation was the confidence and assurance accumulated from many years of farming.
In recent years, the farming area has continued to expand, and sea bass prices have fluctuated wildly, sometimes even falling below the cost price. Some people make money, and some lose money. However, even in the first half of 2013, when fish prices were at their lowest, He Shenming did not lose money farming fish. This is because he has extensive connections and is thoroughly familiar with market trends. This year, He Shenming seized the good market and made a big profit.
Starting in January this year, sea bass prices climbed steadily. While others waited for better fish prices, He Shenming decisively harvested a pond of fish in March, at the peak of sea bass prices: selling price 11.3 yuan/jin, yield about 10,000 jin per mu, cost 8.0-8.5 yuan/jin, and profit reaching 30,000 yuan per mu. Not long after He Shenming finished harvesting, sea bass prices began to fall, and currently stand at only 9.5 yuan/jin. Therefore, farming fish well is not as good as selling fish well; mastering a certain ability to analyze the market is especially important for farmers.
Careful and thorough farming management Aeration and water exchange are key
Over more than ten years of sea bass farming, He Shenming's highest yield per mu was 15,000 jin, and the lowest was more than 8000 jin, with an average yield per mu of over 10,000 jin. His stocking density is 15,000 fry/mu, with 100 bighead carp/mu stocked alongside, a farming cycle of about 15 months, and a harvest size of 1.5 jin/fish.
"After stocking fry, you must focus on the survival rate; lowering the pH value and stabilizing water quality are very important." He Shenming said that during the fry stocking period, high pH and feeding ice-fresh bait spoil the water, easily causing enteritis and black body in fry, leading to a low survival rate. Therefore, before releasing fry, he uses "organic acids + glucose" to reduce releasing stress; when pond water pH is high, he uses "lactic acid bacteria + glucose" to lower pH and stabilize water quality; when feeding fry, he uses "Hailianke 3103+3505" mixed with Hailong fry treasure/fry opening feed for feeding; if fry develop enteritis, "vitamins + Kanglisha" can be mixed in for internal regulation. Through this reasonable management, He Shenming's seedling survival rate reaches more than 60%. "Fish farming must be managed properly from the moment fry are stocked."
He Shenming believes that ponds must be patrolled every day when farming fish, because sometimes fish run into trouble in the middle of the night. Weather changes relatively quickly and have a big impact on fish. "For example, when the east wind blows, air pressure is low, dissolved oxygen is low, and water quality changes quickly. At such times, you need to control feeding and pay attention to aeration."
He Shenming pays great attention to aeration in sea bass farming, and his ponds are even equipped with dissolved oxygen meters. He explained that when dissolved oxygen falls below 2.5 mg/L, aeration must be carried out promptly. "Normally, you need to run enough aerators, because when dissolved oxygen is high, fish digest well, and fish naturally grow well." He Shenming said ponds should ideally be equipped with one aerator per 1.5 mu, and in spring and winter the aerators should run all day.
In addition to emphasizing aeration, He also pays great attention to water exchange in sea bass farming. "Sea bass farming requires frequent water exchange." He Shenming told the reporter that because sea bass water quality changes relatively greatly, water exchange is necessary to maintain water quality balance. His ponds generally exchange water once every 3 days, each time replacing 1/3 of the water depth, usually draining at night and filling during the day.
Frequent water conditioning and bottom improvement with emphasis on prevention Cost lower by 0.5 yuan/jin
In the season when spring and summer alternate, sea bass "swimming" occurs frequently. Many farmers do not understand the specific causes of swimming and blindly try various plans. If the plans cannot address the problem in time, losses expand. The plans commonly used by ordinary farmers: oxygenating agents + formaldehyde or copper sulfate and other disinfectants to disinfect and kill insects, and splashing coarse salt and sodium thiosulfate for detoxification, have poor effects. But He Shenming is very adept at dealing with sea bass "swimming."
He explained that first use "granular oxygen + Hailianke 3502" for aeration and anti-stress; then after using "Hailianke 3201" to detoxify and purify the water, use "Hailianke 3202" to increase dissolved oxygen in the water body; finally, after conditioning the water well, if the "swimming" is still caused by an excessive number of parasites, suitable disinfecting and insect-killing drugs still need to be used in coordination.
In bass farming, insect-killing, disinfection, and water exchange are frequent, and the algae phase and bacteria phase are destroyed. Many farmers seldom condition water or improve the bottom, making yellow turbid water and high ammonia nitrogen and nitrite and other water quality problems prone to occur. He Shenming, however, advocates early internal feeding for prevention, frequent water conditioning and bottom improvement, timely testing, and timely treatment.
"Whether in the early or late stages of farming, you must pay attention to water conditioning." He Shenming told the reporter that he often goes to the Haida service station to test important water quality indicators such as pH, ammonia nitrogen, and nitrite. If ammonia nitrogen and nitrite are high, he regularly uses "calcium peroxide + Chidi'an" to condition water and improve the bottom, keeping ammonia nitrogen and nitrite at low levels; if the water is turbid, he regularly uses "Zhuoshuiqing" to purify the water, improve water transparency, and combine it with "lactic acid bacteria + yeast + algae culture paste" to fertilize the water and cultivate algae.
Many people worry that using water-conditioning and internal-feeding products will increase the input cost of drugs, but He Shenming calculates it very precisely. "My drug and water-conditioning cost per jin of fish is 0.1-0.2 yuan, but because of frequent water conditioning and internal feeding, the fish's physique is strengthened and water quality is also ensured. Therefore, his ponds hardly need disinfection, and just on disinfection drug costs he saves about 0.2 yuan/jin compared with others."
Emphasizing water conditioning and internal feeding, in addition to saving drug costs, also reduces feed costs. "Each bag of feed produces 1-2 jin more fish than others. One bag of feed producing 1-2 jin more fish (at a fish price of 10 yuan/jin) means earning 10 yuan more per bag of feed. If a pond uses 3000 bags of feed, that means earning 30,000 yuan more." Therefore, over one crop of fish, He Shenming's farming cost is at least 0.5 yuan/jin lower than others.
In addition, when water temperature is relatively low in winter and spring, fish are prone to cold injury and infection with water mold, which is difficult to control when severe and often causes serious fish deaths. "Paying attention to regular bottom improvement and disinfection can effectively prevent the occurrence of water mold." He said to regularly use "calcium peroxide + Chidi'an" for pond bottom aeration, disinfection, and deodorization, then use povidone-iodine for water body disinfection, 3-4 times a month."
Industry expert comments:
High farming technology and strong market analysis ability are the keys to his success
Commentator: Chen Bingchang, sales manager of the seawater section of Zhuhai Hailong Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Through diligence, focus, and exploration, Boss He Shenming continuously accumulated sea bass farming technology and achieved great success. Boss He attaches great importance to the quality and technical services of feed manufacturers. He has already cooperated with Haida for 7 years and greatly recognizes Hailong's technical services and feed quality, continuously applying them in the farming process and achieving considerable success. Whether in water quality, feeding, process management, or feed selection and technical application, through his more than ten years of farming experience combined with Haida's technical services, the final feed performance effect of his sea bass farming is at the cutting-edge level of the industry, achieving greater farming profits.