Key Technical Points and Management Methods for Icefish Aquaculture
Icefish are semi-transparent fish of the family Salangidae, generally found in East Asia. Icefish are very small and have almost no scales. Icefish usually live in East Asia, and they have very high protein and amino acid content, with benefits such as tonifying the kidneys and boosting yang, and nourishing the spleen and moistening the lungs. There is extensive large-scale farming area in southern China. So how should icefish be farmed? Below, the editor brings you the aquaculture techniques for icefish. Let's take a look!
1. Pond Requirements
The first step in farming icefish is to build a pond suitable for icefish growth; you can choose an old pond that has been used for farming before. Ensure the pond water is clean, sheltered from the wind, with sufficient light and good drainage and irrigation capacity. Control the pond area and number according to the farming quantity; the pond water depth must not be less than 2 m. There should be some aquatic plants around it. Note that icefish are very fragile. Therefore, we cannot polyculture them with carnivorous and omnivorous fish, to avoid these fish attacking and eating the icefish.
2. Seedling Cultivation
First, prepare a seedling cultivation pond, turn over the mud at the bottom of the cultivation pond, then carry out a comprehensive and thorough disinfection before adding an appropriate amount of clean water. Because icefish seedlings have relatively high growth requirements, ordinary pond water cannot be used for cultivation, so fertilized water must be used for cultivation. The young fish feed on rotifers and various nauplii, and begin feeding about 9 days after hatching; after they start feeding, bait must be put in promptly, because if it exceeds three days without timely feeding, it will lead to death. Therefore, before the young fish start feeding, sufficient fertilizer must be applied to ensure there is enough bait after the young fish start feeding. During the cultivation period, fertilizer should be applied frequently, and the amount of fertilizer should be controlled according to water color and water volume, ensuring the pond water transparency is above 35 cm.
3. Adult Fish Farming
Adult fish have strong growth capacity and their growth rate will also speed up noticeably, so fertilizer should be applied frequently to cultivate plankton. Well-rotted farmyard fermented manure can be used as fertilizer, with the application amount well controlled and appropriately adjusted according to water quality and farming quantity. Then, during the farming process, prevent gasping for air at the surface, because icefish growth has very high dissolved oxygen requirements. If icefish gasping at the surface is not handled in time, it may lead to mass death. When the gasping phenomenon is severe, reduce the amount of fertilizer to avoid excessive plankton, change the water regularly, and increase oxygen in time.
4. Feeding Management
The feeding habits of icefish change at a certain stage, gradually shifting from vegetarian feed such as cladocerans to carnivorous feed. Therefore, we must regularly observe the growth of the icefish. When we find that most icefish have a body length close to about 0.8-1 cm and a small amount of fish and shrimp in their stomach and intestines, it indicates that the icefish are already in the period of dietary conversion. At this time, we should add an appropriate amount of small fish and shrimp smaller than the icefish to the feed to promote the growth of the icefish. Pay attention to the quantity of fish and shrimp to prevent overcrowding. In May-June, introduce an appropriate amount of pregnant freshwater shrimp; the hatched young shrimp will just be available for the icefish in time.
The above is a brief introduction to icefish aquaculture techniques. Icefish farming is very simple, but everyone needs to do a good job in daily management. Among these, temperature is relatively important; avoid high temperatures. During high temperatures, the pond water should be deepened to about 2.5 m, and shading and cooling work should be carried out when necessary, and hatching management should also be done well to ensure yield. That's all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you all for reading and supporting.