Puffer Fish Fry Prices and Farming Methods Explained
Puffer fish, also known as bubble fish, blowfish, balloon fish, and so on, is the collective name for fish of the family Tetraodontidae in the class Osteichthyes. They inhabit the middle and lower layers of the ocean, with a few species entering freshwater rivers. When facing external danger, they make their entire body take on a spherical shape and float to the surface, while the small spines on their skin stand up for self-defense. Let's take a look at puffer fish fry prices and farming methods below!
How much does a puffer fish fry cost?
The price of puffer fish fry is about 0.8 to 2.5 yuan per fish, but prices vary greatly depending on the size, quality, place of origin, and market of the fry. Puffer fish are omnivorous, feeding on fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish, and also eating insect larvae, cladocerans, copepods, and the leaves of higher plants and filamentous algae. Common species include redfin puffer, dark-banded puffer, black gill rabbit puffer, concave-nose puffer, black-spotted cross-nose puffer, and so on.
Small-Size Fingerling Farming Techniques
1. Pond selection: The pond requires an adequate water source, unpolluted water quality, and small annual water temperature variation. If brackish or freshwater is used for farming, choose a place where water can be raised conveniently, with a short route and low lift, to build the pond. The pond bottom should basically not leak or seep water, and it should be relatively easy to build embankments and sluice gates.
2. Cleaning and disinfection: In winter or during the slack farming season, drain the pond water, dig out the silt at the bottom, and then expose it to the sun naturally. Before the fingerlings are put into the pond, use quicklime, bleaching powder, and so on to clear the pond and disinfect it. After one week, store water and release the fish, and apply sufficient base fertilizer to promote the reproduction of plankton.
3. Fingerling stocking: After the fingerlings are cultivated indoors to 1.2 to 1.5 cm, stock 10,000 to 20,000 per mu. The survival rate can be guaranteed if transport time is within 7 to 8 hours. The temperature during stocking should be above 18°C, and be careful that the temperature difference between inside and outside the bag is not too large.
4. Feed feeding: Before the fingerlings reach a total length of 3 cm, feed 1 kg of soybean milk per mu of pond every day to reproduce plankton. At the same time, pay attention to transparency, generally around 30 cm. If there is too much feed organisms, inject new water to reduce the biological density and keep the water quality fresh.
5. Thinning and cultivation: Twenty days after the fingerlings are put into the pond, they can reach 3 cm in size. While feeding soybean milk to control feed organisms, use eel feed to make soft pellets the size of soybeans and feed them on the shoal to train the fingerlings to eat eel feed, and at the same time thin them out for large-size fingerling cultivation.
Large-Size Fingerling Farming Techniques
1. Fingerling stocking: Before stocking the fry, disinfect them with 5 ppm bleaching powder or 1 ppm malachite green for 10 minutes. The temperature difference during stocking should not be too large. For ponds with an adequate water source, good water quality, and a large water exchange volume, the density can be appropriately increased, and as the fish grow, gradually catch the large ones and keep the small ones.
2. Fry domestication: Within one week of stocking the fry, use fresh and palatable fish meat, shrimp meat, shellfish meat, and so on as the opening feed for domestication. After the puffer fish become accustomed to eating, gradually mix artificial feed into the feed and gradually increase the amount of artificial feed.
3. Feed feeding: The feed is mainly eel feed. The daily feed amount accounts for about 3 to 7% of the fish body weight. When feeding, it is necessary to fix the location, quantity, speed, and quality. Generally, feed twice a day. It is best to set up feeding platforms in the pond so that feeding conditions can be checked in time.
4. Water quality regulation: Pond farming should add new water irregularly according to water color, water quality, transparency, dissolved oxygen, and the activity of fish and shrimp. Change a large amount of water once a month to improve water quality, and at the same time pay attention to changes in water temperature. In addition, note that puffer fish have relatively high requirements for dissolved oxygen.
5. Timely separate farming: Fingerlings of different sizes differ greatly in their ability to compete for food. When competing for food, larger individuals often attack smaller individuals, seriously affecting the feeding and growth of the smaller individuals. Therefore, individuals of different sizes should be raised separately. Separate farming is generally carried out once every 30 to 45 days.
6. Daily management: Persist in patrolling the pond every day, observe the puffer fish's activity, feeding, water color, and water quality conditions, and check the farming facilities. Measure the physical and chemical factors of the water body at regular times every day, such as water temperature, pH value, dissolved oxygen, ammonia nitrogen, COD, PO4-P, transparency, and so on.
Puffer Fish Disease and Pest Control
1. White Mouth Disease
[Symptoms] The diseased fish first has a blackened mouth, which then becomes ulcerated and whitened, and afterward the tooth sockets of the upper and lower jaws are exposed, showing a "rotten mouth" appearance. Severe cases show unusually frantic swimming and abnormal behavior of biting each other.
[Prevention and treatment] There is still no effective treatment method, so prevention should be the main approach. Sort and raise separately in time to avoid excessive density, and ensure high-quality feed.
2. Heterobothriosis
[Symptoms] When the number of parasites is large, the body color of the puffer fish turns black, the body becomes emaciated, and the gills show obvious anemia symptoms. The diseased fish lose their appetite, swim weakly, and gradually weaken and die.
[Prevention and treatment] General drugs are not very effective. Not using metal cages for farming is more effective in preventing this disease, and the farming seawater needs good exchange.
3. Gyrodactylosis
[Symptoms] In the early stage, the appearance of the diseased fish is difficult to judge. In severe cases, spots and congestion can be seen on the gill filaments, the edges of the gill flaps are gray, and the fish skin is eroded, reddened, and bleeding, with damage to the fins, ultimately leading to death.
[Prevention and treatment] Soak and wash the diseased fish with 20 ppm potassium permanganate for 15 to 30 minutes, and soak and wash the diseased fish with 200 ppm to 300 ppm formalin for 25 minutes.
4. Trichodiniasis
[Symptoms] The diseased fish show a darkened body and swim alone away from the group. Some also swim frantically in groups around the pond edge, often causing mass death of fry and fingerlings.
[Prevention and treatment] Use 0.5 g of copper sulfate and 0.2 g of ferrous sulfate per 1 cubic meter of water, prepare them into a mixed preparation, and splash it over the whole pond once.