Feeding Methods and Technical Key Points for Penaeus monodon (Black Tiger Shrimp) Aquaculture

    1. Feed types. Penaeus monodon has omnivorous feeding habits with a slight preference for plant-based food, so in the early stages let it feed on natural food such as diatoms, green algae and various small animals or their carcasses, and feed some supplementary feed such as peanut bran, rice bran, soybean cake, etc. Later, as it grows and develops, gradually add some animal-based feed such as trash fish, small shrimp or small shellfish. Peanut bran, soybean cake and rice bran can be used directly as feed, and the leftovers can also serve as fertilizer for cultivating benthic algae, but a moderate amount is best to prevent the bottom sediment from turning foul.

    2. Daily feeding amount. For the feeding amount of shrimp, generally speaking, when feeding natural feed such as trash fish and small shrimp, for shrimp with an average body weight of 0.008-0.1 g, the daily feeding amount is about 80% of the total body weight of the juvenile shrimp; for 1-10 g shrimp, feed about 50%; for 10-30 g, feed 20%; for over 30 g, feed about 10%. If feeding artificial compound feed, for juvenile shrimp with an average body weight of 0.2-2 g, feed about 10%; for Penaeus monodon with an average body weight of over 30 g, feeding 4%-5% of body weight is sufficient. It is best to alternate natural feed and compound feed to achieve a complementary nutritional effect.

    3. Feeding method. Feed four times a day: once before dawn, once before noon, once at dusk in the afternoon, and once at 9-10 PM. The feeding amount should be larger in the morning and at dusk, and appropriately smaller at noon and at night.

    After the shrimp fry are stocked, when to start feeding mainly depends on the natural feed in the shrimp pond. If natural feed is abundant, feeding may be temporarily withheld; if there is not much feed organism in the water, feeding should begin after stocking, otherwise there will be a lack of feed, and when the shrimp are hungry they will kill each other and cause losses.

    The use of artificial compound feed is advocated. If feeding trash fish, shrimp and small shellfish, they must be fresh. When feeding peanut bran, cut it into small pieces and put them into the pond, and the shrimp will gather to feed; when using rice bran as feed, it should first be placed in a rice basket or a large iron tray, add a little pond water and stir it wet before feeding, to prevent it from floating on the water surface or being blown away and lost; trash fish should be cut into chunks or sliced with a slicing machine for feeding; small shrimp can be fed directly; small shellfish with relatively thin shells, when the shrimp are relatively large, can be put directly into the pond for the shrimp to feed on.