Fish Farming - newbie wants advice

[JonBikeBoy]

Hi, brand new member to group and I want to start a fish farm. I'm in Chiang Mai and have a 20mt x 10mt x 4mt pond full of clear looking water which I'd like use for Tilapia. I don't know anything about the it but have locals who offered fish, food and service (delivery and pick-up/purchase). Any and all advice appreciated. Thanks!

[northsouthdevide]

My advice would be to just buy the baby fish yourself, put them in the water in a blue net for a few months, buy your own food, and find your own buyers. 

I think talapia take 2 years to get really big. 

Excuse my spelling... Talapia, they call pra nin around here.... 

Another 2 good sellers are pra selid and pra King, which are both smaller and look like perch. 

You can put all 3 in the same pond, but don't put predators like pra duk (catfish) 

If you buy and sell the way you described, via a third party, you'll be sharing your profits with them, and they'll be making money on the fish and the food. 

Edited June 10, 2020 by northsouthdevide

[kickstart]

Tilapia ,they are two types the Bla- Nin and the Red Tilapia ,Bla-Tup-Tim ,the Tup-Tim sells for more money at the markets,and a nicer eating fish .

Bla Selid are nice fish when dried they become  expensive 100 baht/kg plus ,in a pond they are bottom feeders ,and very prolific ,and soon breed .

You could rear Bla- Dok  Walking Catfish ,they is a quick turn around for them a few months they can be sold ,Two farms around here feed ground up chicken carcasses  to the cat fish ,chicken carcass coming from our local chicken factory,

TV's Redbullhorn used to rear them ,said he made some money on them ,but the price has dropped a lot recently ,now selling  ex farm  at 25-30 baht/kg, some say brake even point is 35 baht/kg. 

Bla Jala-met is a very nice fish ,take a couple of years to rear ,but command a good price when selling. 

[faraday]

Any updates on this, Jon?

[JonBikeBoy]

Faraday, I went to my village Fish Co-op and asked. They came over and suggested and then brought over 840 Tilapia (Pla Nin). They were average 80 grams each costing 3.2 bht ea. (2560 bht) with the 5000 bht refundable joining fee waved as I'm just a small outfit. They also sell the food, 514 bht/kg for small fish and then after 2 bags I went go the the 418 bht/20 kg for larger fish. I feed them 3x a day, 10 am, 1 pm and 4 pm starting with 800 gram/per time and now I'm up to 1.2 kg (3.6 kg per day). If they still look hungry just give them some more next time until there is left over after 5 min and just scale back. I weigh all my feedings.  5 weeks later they are 300 gram each on the average. Occasionally someone from the Co-op calls and says they stopped by and all looks good. Suppose to be ready to sell (700 gm- 1kg) in 3 or 4 months when they will come over and buy them (I think they have people come and pick-up their lots right at my house but time will tell). So far so good, very easy and good time as the fish come to the edge opened mouthed to eat. Been a fun project to do with my son. (pic is us feeding from our boat but find best to just throw food from ponds edge). I've decided to try Catfish next and had a smaller pond deepened last week so now looking into next step. 

[faraday]

Did you put a rubber liner, or use concrete?

 

We're in the early stages of making a pool to keep fish, but not to sell.

 

Keep us updated, please.

????

[IsaanAussie]

This is our main pond, dry as a bone. However, it is concrete walled and clay base. Built about 16 years ago for about 100K using local labour. The walls are about 250mm thick. All the concrete mixed on site in my "large" cement mixer. It is a U shape and about 600sq metre in area and a bit over 2.5 metres deep. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by IsaanAussie

[OneMoreFarang]

Good luck with that.

 

My gf convinced me to buy a pond and fish and fish food and and and a couple of years ago. In the hindsight she had too many fish in the pond, they didn't grow the way they should, the food cost was more than anticipated and the highlight was when finally she was about to sell the fish someone stole them...

 

It seems you did already lots of thing a lot better than my gf did. I write here to warn you that hopefully you will be able to sell your fish and make money with them. Good luck!

[owl sees all]

5 hours ago, JonBikeBoy said:

Faraday, I went to my village Fish Co-op and asked. They came over and suggested and then brought over 840 Tilapia (Pla Nin). They were average 80 grams each costing 3.2 bht ea. (2560 bht) with the 5000 bht refundable joining fee waved as I'm just a small outfit. They also sell the food, 514 bht/kg for small fish and then after 2 bags I went go the the 418 bht/20 kg for larger fish. I feed them 3x a day, 10 am, 1 pm and 4 pm starting with 800 gram/per time and now I'm up to 1.2 kg (3.6 kg per day). If they still look hungry just give them some more next time until there is left over after 5 min and just scale back. I weigh all my feedings.  5 weeks later they are 300 gram each on the average. Occasionally someone from the Co-op calls and says they stopped by and all looks good. Suppose to be ready to sell (700 gm- 1kg) in 3 or 4 months when they will come over and buy them (I think they have people come and pick-up their lots right at my house but time will tell). So far so good, very easy and good time as the fish come to the edge opened mouthed to eat. Been a fun project to do with my son. (pic is us feeding from our boat but find best to just throw food from ponds edge). I've decided to try Catfish next and had a smaller pond deepened last week so now looking into next step. 

There are a number of factors that determine if a 'fish farm' will be successful. Firstly - absolutely essential - is there enough quality water constantly?

 

Secondly; the fry. There is fry and there is good fry. A good strain* of pla nin will, after 6 months, be 100/150 gms bigger than the government supplied ones.

 

Thirdly; feed! After the initial cost of constructing the ponds, fish feed will be the major expenditure. There are a couple of ways off reducing the costs of feed. Nin can be trained to eat vegetable matter. Of course, this vegetable matter has to be either bought-in or produced by yourself. If you do it yourself you would need a shredder, and a supply of raw material. But it is worth it.

 

Don't think that people will not help themselves to your fish. Security is a must. To what degree; depends upon personal circumstances.

 

Another way of greatly reducing feed costs is to put feeding stations around the main pond, and feed with natural food.

 

* The finest fish available in Thailand. PM me for details.

Edited July 25, 2020 by owl sees all

[khwaibah]

Over 10,000 fish in this pond all from the Surin Inland Fisheries Research and Development Center.

That pond is 50m x 50m x 10m. This was taken around December. Never and issue on uninvited guest.

 

FL is the night watchman with his two trusty side kicks.

  

A load of fish.

 

[Grumpy one]

Instead of fish try rearing crocodiles

No problem with trespassers  

[owl sees all]

41 minutes ago, khwaibah said:

Over 10,000 fish in this pond all from the Surin Inland Fisheries Research and Development Center.

That pond is 50m x 50m x 10m. This was taken around December. Never and issue on uninvited guest.

 

FL is the night watchman with his two trusty side kicks.

  

A load of fish.

 

Unless Surin Inland Fisheries Research and Development Center, is something really special - which it could be, I don't know it - these government fish centers, IMO, just don't cut the mustard compared to the better private research institutions. I've bought fish from four different government fisheries in Isaan, and in the final analysis, none of them measured up.,

[khwaibah]

26 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Unless Surin Inland Fisheries Research and Development Center, is something really special - which it could be, I don't know it - these government fish centers, IMO, just don't cut the mustard compared to the better private research institutions. I've bought fish from four different government fisheries in Isaan, and in the final analysis, none of them measured up.,

 

Where you think all the private farms and research centers in get their stock. The Surin Fishery is massive. You have to be Thai to use it. It is located at GPS 14.8555833582, 103.475568643 That location is just past Global House on the 214. 

Surin Inland Fisheries Research and Development Center

Website

Directions

 

 

 

 

 

Save

 

5.01 Google review

Local government office in Chaniang

 

 

Address: Chaniang, Mueang Surin District, Surin 32000

 

 

Phone: 044 511 335

[khwaibah]

SURIN FISHERIES takes up about 40 rai and has over 30 breeding ponds.

 

 

Keeping an eye out..

 

[owl sees all]

9 hours ago, khwaibah said:

 

Where you think all the private farms and research centers in get their stock. The Surin Fishery is massive. You have to be Thai to use it. It is located at GPS 14.8555833582, 103.475568643 That location is just past Global House on the 214. 

Surin Inland Fisheries Research and Development Center

Website

Directions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Save

 

5.01 Google review

Local government office in Chaniang

 

 

Address: Chaniang, Mueang Surin District, Surin 32000

 

 

Phone: 044 511 335

Thanks for the info khwaibah. It sounds, and probably looks impressive. I'll check it out later.

 

BUT! The leading private research in Thailand - where I have bought fish from - probably beats this place hands down.

 

A couple of things could be considered:

 

1 resistance to disease and general hardiness

2 growth rates

3 price of fingerlings or fry.

 

The Surin Inland Fisheries Research and Development Center, may well have developed their own strains of talapia, but I doubt if the grow-out figures measure up.

 

The leading private fish seller, has developed its own strains, and do not use government fish.

 

Just seen your pics. Really lovely. Looks just like a few centres I've been to; government funded and run.

Edited July 26, 2020 by owl sees all

[JonBikeBoy]

On 7/25/2020 at 6:12 PM, faraday said:

Did you put a rubber liner, or use concrete?

 

We're in the early stages of making a pool to keep fish, but not to sell.

 

Keep us updated, please.

????

Neither, it was a rice field and we just dug a few ponds and a moat and used the dirt to bring the ground level above the water tablet as seen in pic above.

[JonBikeBoy]

On 7/25/2020 at 8:09 PM, owl sees all said:

There are a number of factors that determine if a 'fish farm' will be successful. Firstly - absolutely essential - is there enough quality water constantly?

 

Secondly; the fry. There is fry and there is good fry. A good strain* of pla nin will, after 6 months, be 100/150 gms bigger than the government supplied ones.

 

Thirdly; feed! After the initial cost of constructing the ponds, fish feed will be the major expenditure. There are a couple of ways off reducing the costs of feed. Nin can be trained to eat vegetable matter. Of course, this vegetable matter has to be either bought-in or produced by yourself. If you do it yourself you would need a shredder, and a supply of raw material. But it is worth it.

 

Don't think that people will not help themselves to your fish. Security is a must. To what degree; depends upon personal circumstances.

 

Another way of greatly reducing feed costs is to put feeding stations around the main pond, and feed with natural food.

 

* The finest fish available in Thailand. PM me for details.

What do you mean by "quality water constantly"? Our pond is full and stays that way with rain but we have a moat next to it connected to a valve and the moat is connected to the village klong the same way. 

[JonBikeBoy]

On 7/25/2020 at 8:01 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

Good luck with that.

 

My gf convinced me to buy a pond and fish and fish food and and and a couple of years ago. In the hindsight she hadk            c too many fish in the pond, they didn't grow the way they should, the food cost was more than anticipated and the highlight was when finally she was about to sell the fish someone stole them...

 

It seems you did already lots of thing a lot better than my gf did. I write here to warn you that hopefully                                   coyou will be able to sell your fish and make money with them. Good luck!

Thanks, luckily it's not a serious business for us, just something fun to do. So far so good, we stocked with the lowest recommended number of fish and the area is totally fenced in, has two dogs on it and my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law house is right next to the pond. Already going thru quite a lots of food, a 20 kg bag every 4 days and am interested in what the final figures are after selling up. 

[OneMoreFarang]

23 minutes ago, JonBikeBoy said:

Thanks, luckily it's not a serious business for us, just something fun to do. So far so good, we stocked with the lowest recommended number of fish and the area is totally fenced in, has two dogs on it and my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law house is right next to the pond. Already going thru quite a lots of food, a 20 kg bag every 4 days and am interested in what the final figures are after selling up. 

Thanks for your reply. I am sure you record the cost. Please publish at the end if you made any money...

[ozzydom]

As a rule of thumb,after attaining 100g the feeding rate should be 3-4 %

of body weight daily. 

With all conditions being favorable it will take 12 months to attain 1kg liveweight.

The current retail price of 50-60bt kg makes fish farming at this stage a labour of love ,not profit

[kickstart]

On 7/25/2020 at 8:09 PM, owl sees all said:

There are a number of factors that determine if a 'fish farm' will be successful. Firstly - absolutely essential - is there enough quality water constantly?

 

Secondly; the fry. There is fry and there is good fry. A good strain* of pla nin will, after 6 months, be 100/150 gms bigger than the government supplied ones.

 

Thirdly; feed! After the initial cost of constructing the ponds, fish feed will be the major expenditure. There are a couple of ways off reducing the costs of feed. Nin can be trained to eat vegetable matter. Of course, this vegetable matter has to be either bought-in or produced by yourself. If you do it yourself you would need a shredder, and a supply of raw material. But it is worth it.

 

Don't think that people will not help themselves to your fish. Security is a must. To what degree; depends upon personal circumstances.

 

Another way of greatly reducing feed costs is to put feeding stations around the main pond, and feed with natural food.

 

* The finest fish available in Thailand. PM me for details.

Bla Nin like to eat Morning Glory, Pak Boon in Thai,  you can plant some round the edges of you pond .

Back of our land is a small river ,that gets a lot or Pack Boon in, you can see the Bla Nin  eating the Pack Boon.  

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

Bla Nin like to eat Morning Glory, Pak Boon in Thai,  you can plant some round the edges of you pond .

Back of our land is a small river ,that gets a lot or Pack Boon in, you can see the Bla Nin  eating the Pack Boon.  

Yes!

 

Talapia are opportunist feeders. They will eat according to what is available. But if a fish farmer wants to grow nin big, there needs to be a feeding programme. Protein packs on the weight, but is expensive, and can be both time consuming and messy. Farmers resort to pellet, because of the simplicity.

[JonBikeBoy]

7 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Thanks for your reply. I am sure you record the cost. Please publish at the end if you made any money...

I'll post figures whatever they are.

Yesterday my labor costs for harvesting lamyai was more then what I got from selling them but that's ok as the pickers were my kids. 

[ozzydom]

On 7/25/2020 at 8:09 PM, owl sees all said:

There are a number of factors that determine if a 'fish farm' will be successful. Firstly - absolutely essential - is there enough quality water constantly?

 

Secondly; the fry. There is fry and there is good fry. A good strain* of pla nin will, after 6 months, be 100/150 gms bigger than the government supplied ones.

 

Thirdly; feed! After the initial cost of constructing the ponds, fish feed will be the major expenditure. There are a couple of ways off reducing the costs of feed. Nin can be trained to eat vegetable matter. Of course, this vegetable matter has to be either bought-in or produced by yourself. If you do it yourself you would need a shredder, and a supply of raw material. But it is worth it.

 

Don't think that people will not help themselves to your fish. Security is a must. To what degree; depends upon personal circumstances.

 

Another way of greatly reducing feed costs is to put feeding stations around the main pond, and feed with natural food.

 

* The finest fish available in Thailand. PM me for details.

Nam Sai Farm.

[JonBikeBoy]

16 hours ago, ozzydom said:

Nam Sai Farm.

Do these figures taken off the Nam Sai Farm website make sense?

Swim-up fry .008 -.009 g ea.

1” - .02g 

 

I calculated my 2.5" fish to weight 83 g each 

[OneMoreFarang]

10 minutes ago, JonBikeBoy said:

Do these figures taken off the Nam Sai Farm website make sense?

Swim-up fry .008 -.009 g ea.

1” - .02g 

 

I calculated my 2.5" fish to weight 83 g each 

Why don't you put a couple of them on a scale?

[JonBikeBoy]

On 7/29/2020 at 12:01 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

Why don't you put a couple of them on a scale?

I don’t live near Nam Sai farm.  Do their figures sound right to you?

[OneMoreFarang]

34 minutes ago, JonBikeBoy said:

I don’t live near Nam Sai farm.  Do their figures sound right to you?

Sorry, I was never involved in the day to day business and I doubt my gf remembers any details - if she ever knew them.