How to farm loach? Keep in mind six key points including the breeding season
In recent years, due to the heavy use of pesticides and increased fishing intensity, the natural resources of loach have declined, so artificial farming of loach has become increasingly favored by farmers. Because the water areas for loach farming are generally shallow and mostly still water, the water quality tends to deteriorate easily. Therefore, in disease prevention and control, attention should be paid to scientific and reasonable feeding and fertilization, and the stocking density should be appropriate, with new water added frequently to keep the water fresh. Doing a good job in disease prevention for loach farming mainly involves the following six points:
1. Fry and fingerling quality
Choose loach fry and fingerlings that are robust, active, smooth-skinned, and free of disease and injury. Loach is a fish that spawns multiple times. Under natural conditions, breeding begins in early April, with the peak spawning period from May to June, and spawning can continue until September. The water temperature for breeding is 18-30 °C, and the optimum water temperature is 22-28 °C.
2. Fry and fingerling disinfection
Before stocking fry and fingerlings, it is best to soak them in 2%-3% salt water for 5-10 minutes to kill pathogens on their body surface.
3. Stocking density
During loach farming, if the stocking density is low, it wastes water resources, while if the stocking density is too high, loach is prone to disease. Generally, summer fry with a body length of 3-4 cm can be stocked at 100-150 per sq m, and fingerlings with a body length of more than 5 cm can be stocked at 50-80 per sq m. Under good conditions, the stocking amount can be appropriately increased; otherwise, it should be appropriately reduced.
4. Feed management
Loach is an omnivorous freshwater economic fish, especially fond of tubifex, water fleas and other plankton, but animal feed generally should not be fed alone, otherwise loach is likely to overeat, fail to digest food, have abnormal intestinal respiration, and die from "bloating." Feed that is rotten, smelly or spoiled must never be fed, otherwise loach is prone to diseases such as enteritis.
5. Water quality management ⟦13 During farming, doing a good job in water quality cultivation is an effective measure to reduce farming costs. At the same time, it meets the physiological and ecological requirements of loach, can make up for the shortcomings of incomplete nutrition and uneven feeding of artificial feed, and can also reduce the occurrence of diseases and increase yield. After loach is stocked, apply topdressing in a timely manner according to water quality conditions to maintain a certain fertility of the water, so that the water body is always in a living and refreshing state.
During the rearing period, doing a good job of water quality cultivation is an effective measure to reduce breeding costs. It also meets the physiological and ecological requirements of loach, can make up for the shortcomings of incomplete nutrition and uneven feeding of artificial feed, and can also reduce the occurrence of diseases and increase yield. After the loach are stocked, apply supplementary fertilizer at the appropriate time according to water quality conditions to maintain a certain level of fertility in the water, keeping the water body in a lively and fresh state at all times.
6. Rearing environment
The rearing environment for loach should be chosen in a place sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, close to a water source. Loach does not have high requirements for water quality, but water areas polluted by pesticides or with excessively high concentrations of chemical drugs cannot be used as farming water. Before stocking fry and fingerlings, the pond should be thoroughly disinfected and cleaned up, and some aquatic plants should be planted in the pond to provide loach with a comfortable, shaded and quiet living environment. At the same time, the roots of aquatic plants also provide a place for the reproduction of some benthic organisms and provide natural bait for loach.
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