How much do snakehead fry cost? A detailed guide to farming methods

The snakehead is a common food fish in our country, with few bones, a high proportion of meat, and rich nutrition. As early as two thousand years ago, it was listed along with stone honey, bee larvae, beeswax (propolis), oysters, turtle shells, mantis egg cases, sea clams, hard clams, and carp as a top-grade "insect and fish" in the Shennong Bencao Jing, and it has extremely high farming value. Below, let us take a look at snakehead fry prices and farming methods!

How much do snakehead fry cost?

The price of snakehead fry varies with breed, size and so on, generally around 0.1 to 0.5 yuan per tail. The age of sexual maturity in snakeheads also differs slightly across regions. They can reproduce naturally in waters such as ponds, ditches and reservoirs. Spawning grounds are generally distributed in shallow-water areas with lush aquatic plants. The number of eggs carried and the number of eggs spawned are related to the size of the parent fish, usually about 20,000 to 30,000 eggs per kilogram of body weight; a 0.5 kg snakehead generally spawns 8,000 to 10,000 eggs, with some individuals reaching 11,000 to 12,000 eggs.

Artificial breeding of snakehead

1. Selection of parent fish: The quality of snakehead parent fish is a key factor in artificial breeding. Individuals aged over 2 years and weighing 500 to 1500 grams are more suitable. You should choose parent fish that have reached sexual maturity, are free of disease and injury, and are large with good growth performance.

2. Distinguishing male from female: Snakeheads have no obvious secondary sexual characteristics, and it is difficult to tell males from females by appearance. However, during the reproductive season, the female's belly is enlarged and soft, the genital pore is slightly red and protruding, and the belly is grayish white. The male's belly is smaller and less soft than the female's, and the genital pore is slightly sunken.

3. Pairing of parent fish: After pairing snakehead parent fish at a 1:1 ratio, they are placed directly into a spawning pond to wait for natural spawning. The spawning pond area should preferably be 0.1 to 3 mu, and it is best to have a deep part of 1 m and a shallow part of 0.3 m on the pond bottom. Plant or place grass in the pond, and clear, fairly transparent lean water is preferable.

4. Artificial induction of spawning: For artificial induction of spawning in snakeheads, choose fish whose gonads have developed to the end of stage IV, with a water temperature of 25 to 28°C, generally from late May to mid-June. For artificial spawning agents, chorionic gonadotropin and carp pituitary are more effective.

5. Artificial incubation: After the parent fish spawn and fertilize eggs in the spawning pond, they can be scooped out with a small fish tray or hand net and placed together in an incubation pond or other container for incubation. Generally, a washbasin holds 500 eggs, a large plastic basin holds 5000 to 8000 eggs, and a small cage holds 10,000 to 20,000 eggs per square meter.

6. Fry rearing: Snakehead eggs generally hatch into fry after 2 to 3 days, and after 4 to 5 days, once the yolk is fully absorbed, live water fleas must be fed immediately. After 5 to 6 days of feeding, the fish body turns yellow and the total length is about 1.5 cm, at which point they can be moved to a small pond for rearing.

Snakehead farming methods

1. Pond selection: A snakehead pond requires good ventilation and sunlight, and an adequate water source, with an area of 1 to 5 mu and a water depth of 1 to 1.5 m. Plant some water hyacinth or alligator weed around it, and enclose lower areas with netting. This not only prevents the snakeheads from escaping, but also provides hiding and shade.

2. Pond clearing and disinfection: After the snakehead pond is selected, first drain the pond water, then use 140 to 150 kg of quicklime per mu dissolved in water and splash it evenly over the whole pond, and use tools such as rakes to turn over the mud for thorough disinfection. One week before stocking, fill the pond to a depth of 1 m and apply an appropriate amount of base fertilizer to enrich the water quality.

3. Stocking of fingerlings: There are generally two sources of snakehead fingerlings, one wild and one artificially bred, but before stocking in the pond both must be sorted. Soak fingerlings of basically uniform size in 3 to 5% salt water for 5 to 10 minutes, then put them into the same pond.

4. Stocking density: The stocking density of snakeheads depends on water source, water intake and drainage conditions, sources of bait fish and other factors. Generally, 3 to 5 cm fingerlings are stocked at 6000 to 10,000 per mu, 10 to 15 cm fingerlings at 4000 to 6000 per mu, and about 20 cm fingerlings at about 2000 per mu.

5. Feed selection: For snakehead feed, choose powdered feed produced by a reputable company, with a crude protein content of 45% and crude fiber of 3%. The raw materials are fish meal, bone meal, soybean meal, flour, vitamin and mineral premix, etc., supplemented with fresh live bait such as mussel meat and small fish.

6. Bait feeding: After the snakehead fingerlings are put into the pond, they must be trained. Once the snakeheads are used to eating dead bait, feed them once each day at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The daily feeding amount is 5 to 10% of the fish body weight, and should be flexibly adjusted according to weather, water temperature, growth, feeding and other conditions.

7. Daily management: Under intensive artificial farming, if prevention and control measures are proper, snakeheads rarely or never develop disease. Therefore, during the snakehead farming process, you should frequently check water quality and fish condition, remove leftover bait, prevent escape, and promptly deal with any abnormal situations.

8. Timely harvesting: The snakehead is a ferocious carnivorous fish, and when bait is insufficient it will cannibalize its own kind, so about once every month you should catch the large ones and leave the small ones. If the size difference is large and the number is great, they can be separated into other ponds or cages with fish of the same size.