Growing (breeding?) fish in a giant jar/jug

[Enki]

I'm not sure if jar or jug is the right term. We have some giant jars, about 4.20m circumference at the widest spot and about 1.80m high. 

The local government is running a project, gifting fish away that is supposed to be grown for own consumption. The background is my wife's sister is handicapped, and gets a super small pension for that. So the local government decided to make agricultural projects like vegetable gardens (obviously not suited for a handicapped lady), mushroom hut and very small scale fish farming. First we assumed they wanted to build a concrete pond on the property, but then it turned out they want us to cut the jars at the widest point, reducing the hight to 150cm and gift us a few dozen fish. (Pretty pointless, as that are a few 100TBH and I simply could buy them on the market).

 

If I did not make a mistake that is close to 2qm water.

 

So the questions are: 

• What kind of fish and how many could one grow in such a thing? Catfish probably no problem. 
• Would we need aerification? 
• How often to change the water?
• Would such a jar stay cool enough? With air temperature close to 40C at the moment, I fear we have to dig them in.
• Does this even make sense at all? I mean if the local government thinks, lets do it, and they pay for it … why not. But it does not really look solid/convincing from my point of view.

 

For clarification: the jars look like on this photo:
https://www.shutterstock.com/de/image-photo/water-jar-garden-1011517411

[Polanskiman]

I don’t think it’s suitable no matter the size of that jar. When you breed fish you need to be able to see what is happening. With that small opening you will see nothing. It’s ok to use the jar and put some fish in there for yourself/decoration but as a business not sure it’s ideal.

[Enki]

That is why the jar gets horizontally cut at its widest point, where it has about 130cm diameter. It is not really breeding, growing small ones to eatable size is enough.

[Polanskiman]

Depending the fish you want to have conditions might be different. Difficult to advice. The major issue is the heat. No direct sunlight is preferable (at least not for long periods) if you wish to have living fish or you need a good depth or heavy planting. Filtration is most important. Many ways to achieve that. Chose the fish you want then check if the conditions you have are adequat.

Personally I would not even bother cuting the jar. Building a small cement pool or pond would be better if you are serious about it.


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[steven100]

Airating the water is always best option for fish I believe, they will be healthier and happier.

Pumps are cheap in Thailand. 290baht.

[canuckamuck]

I am having trouble picturing the proposed tank. How deep and how wide? What kind of fish?

Catfish can live almost anywhere, but if you want growth you need to give them reasonable conditions.

Aeration would be good, a freshwater exchange is better. Shade would be good.

 

[Enki]

150cm deep, 130cm diameter, circular. Probably 130cm deep buried, so about 20cm show up over the surface. All depends on your inout, as I have no clue. Point is, the head of village advised us to use the jars ... and I wonder if that is feasible.

[canuckamuck]

On 4/21/2019 at 2:14 PM, Enki said:

150cm deep, 130cm diameter, circular. Probably 130cm deep buried, so about 20cm show up over the surface. All depends on your inout, as I have no clue. Point is, the head of village advised us to use the jars ... and I wonder if that is feasible.

You can raise fish in those, the trick will be in getting the right amount of fish for the amount of dissolved oxygen. 

You will know when the fish are running out of DO by the way they behave; less aggression at feeding times, hanging out at the top.

Start with more than you think you can handle and then cull.

Crowding creates aggressive eating, which is good, but it also produces excessive waste which is bad. Filtering the water would help as well as having aeration and current.

[worgeordie]

If you can get some Snakeskin Gourami,they would be suitable ,as they

are air breathers,so would need no aeration ,they are a Thai food fish.

you would need to do partial water changes on a regular basis if you

want them to grow.

regards worgeordie

[CLW]

If you can get some Snakeskin Gourami,they would be suitable ,as they
are air breathers,so would need no aeration ,they are a Thai food fish.
you would need to do partial water changes on a regular basis if you
want them to grow.
regards worgeordie

And quite high sales price. Quite slow growth though.
Very delicious as fried in mango salad.

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[Enki]

Does anyone know the Thai name of "Snakeskin Gourami"?

 

So far the experiment looks good. From roughly 200 small fish we had 10 dead ... and they grow as you a look at them. I exchanged the water twice over about 10 days and now I build a small real pond (with plants as lotus and papyrus) and perhaps a pumping system from the big to the small.

We took some lotus from a place, but it did not even survive the 5 minutes travel by car. Incredible. The other lotus we bought and bought a jar with it ... 4 kinds of lotus, plus many small fish, many small plants on top and below the water and a jar for 450 TBH ... just to transplant half of the lotus into the "pond" ????

[Enki]

On 4/21/2019 at 2:01 PM, canuckamuck said:

I am having trouble picturing the proposed tank. How deep and how wide? What kind of fish?

Catfish can live almost anywhere, but if you want growth you need to give them reasonable conditions.

Aeration would be good, a freshwater exchange is better. Shade would be good.

 

We are working on lots of shadow, in the morning some plants in the east give shadow, after 11:00 (current season) it is in the shadow under the roof. Half of the non shadowed area in the morning should be under lotus leaves (I sent pictures in a week). During cold season, most should be under shadow all day.

[CLW]

Does anyone know the Thai name of "Snakeskin Gourami"?

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