Peacock Bass

[allcladrad]

I just finished a 2 rai pond and would like to stock it with Peacock Bass, I live in the south in Chumpon, does anyone know of a supplier, best if in the south, but will take nation wide if they ship.

[ozzydom]

I believe some of the fishing parks in Malaysia have them but dont know about T,land.

They are usually sold in S/E Asia as an aquarium fish so stocking a 2 rai pond might be expensive, if you can find enough stock.

[Somtham]

I believe some of the fishing parks in Malaysia have them but dont know about T,land.

They are usually sold in S/E Asia as an aquarium fish so stocking a 2 rai pond might be expensive, if you can find enough stock.

Do you know the Thai name for this bass? Is it "pla Boo"?

rgds

[macan]

I think 'pla boo' usually refers to Marble Goby which is very tasty but not much of a fighter for anglers.

Barramundi or 'Pla Kapong' look pretty similar to the peacock bass and are good sport and native to this region unlike the exotic bass. They grow a lot bigger too. Plenty of good local 'angling' species here without introducing new threats to biodiversity.

[allcladrad]

Macan,

Both barramundi and Peacock bass are raised in Thailand, the barramundi is a wait to ambush hunter while the Peacock is a go out and get them hunter. I currently have barramundi and tilapia, an African fish, plus a pacu, South American fish, all raised and sold by Thai government fisheries. All good eating fish, but I am interested in fishing and the Peacock Bass are an excellent top water lure striker and grow to around 3'. Peacock bass have a side benefit in that they control snakeheads, which while a local fish are difficult to manage as they eat almost everything.

Peacock Bass are already here, "Plenty of good local 'angling' species here without introducing new threats to biodiversity" in local lakes and ponds.

But, thanks for the concern.

Edited April 6, 2008 by allcladrad

[macan]

Allcladrad,

You're welcome. I did say 'new' threats, if Peacock Bass were so prevalent you wouldn't be on here looking for them, and just because you may find these fish doesnt mean you would be acting responsibly in stocking them. The Dept of Fisheries has been involved in selling and introducing exotics but I think that their focus is back on native species and preservation of biodiversity (although they still sell tilapia). Their intentions were good in that they were, ostensibly, trying to increase levels of good quality, cheap protein in poor peoples diets not catering to the recreational amusement of anglers.

[Somtham]

I think 'pla boo' usually refers to Marble Goby which is very tasty but not much of a fighter for anglers.

Barramundi or 'Pla Kapong' look pretty similar to the peacock bass and are good sport and native to this region unlike the exotic bass. They grow a lot bigger too. Plenty of good local 'angling' species here without introducing new threats to biodiversity.

Do you think it is possible to raise either the pla boo, pla kapong, or this peacock bass in 1 ngan sized freshwater ponds? Are fingerlings available somewhere? Do you know the Thai name for the peacock bass?

The pla Boo IS very tasty and the best part is that due to some superstition the Thai's normally will not eat it/steal it!

rgds

[ozzydom]

Somthan, 400 sq mtres is big enough to put a few fish in, quantity depends on whether or not you are going to feed them, probably 300 fish per pond.

I would look at putting in a few mixed sex Pla Nin as they are prolific breeders and their young will provide food for the Boo and Kapong which are pretty verocious feeders.

[macan]

I think the main issue in making it economically viable would be water quality; with these species you'd be feeding high protein feeds and would need water exchange or recirculation with good biofiltration since, unlike your catfish, they don't tolerate poor water quality.

Not sure about raising Pla Boo at high densities, i know that they rear them in cages in Ayuthaya and i believe in ponds in the far South, but I have never seen the setup. Barra are fine at high density. No experience of Peacock bass and as far as I am aware nobody raises them as food fish.. maybe they are too agressive to be held at suitable densities or are difficult to train to eat non live feed.

Pla hang nok yoong (peacock tail fish) is the Guppy.... maybe pla nok yoong is recognised.

[Somtham]

I think the main issue in making it economically viable would be water quality; with these species you'd be feeding high protein feeds and would need water exchange or recirculation with good biofiltration since, unlike your catfish, they don't tolerate poor water quality.

Not sure about raising Pla Boo at high densities, i know that they rear them in cages in Ayuthaya and i believe in ponds in the far South, but I have never seen the setup. Barra are fine at high density. No experience of Peacock bass and as far as I am aware nobody raises them as food fish.. maybe they are too agressive to be held at suitable densities or are difficult to train to eat non live feed.

Pla hang nok yoong (peacock tail fish) is the Guppy.... maybe pla nok yoong is recognised.

We're going to give up on the cat fish for now and are in the process of emptying the ponds without restocking cat fish. I am looking to stock the ponds with these other species for food, fishing, and no/low maintenance so low density and no pellets is the plan. Stocking with pla Nin for a food source as Ozzy mentioned is probably a good idea.

Allcladrad - sorry for the temporary hijack.

rgds

[allcladrad]

Here is a Thai website offering themselves as fishing guides, one of the fish they offer is a peacock bass.

http://www.fishquest.com/Quest.asp?Option=...l&Detail=79

Somtham,

I have a 1 rai pond that has had pacu and tilapia in it for the last three years, both of those fish do well in less than good water quality. I feed 25% protein food once a day, you could easily use 15%. The tilapia breed frequently the pacu not at all. The pacu is an extreme fighter and the tilapia is so so. The pacu is very good to eat the tilapia is not bad, but if you do not feed it, it will take on a very fishy taste. It eats algae and if left alone will keep your pond clean and be relatively cheap to raise, they will eat vegetables, so if you have access to the left over wet market scraps that will work. We paid a few baht a bag at first then found a give away place. The pacu eat anything they can get in their mouths, not usually other fish, but some times. They will eat every plant in the water, sooner or later, but they need to be fed pellets. I could not find a Thai name for peacock bass and I don't think I would stock it if I were you. In that size pond one would be about the limit, they eat anything they can get in their mouths. Probably shouldn't raise a predator and a prey your pond.

Thai fisheries offices are a wealth of information and help. An example, when I wanted to stock barramundi the official asked for a water sample to determine the amount of salt so that she could acclimate my fish before giving them to me. But, they buy most of their stock from local hatcheries so they are limited to what is available in their (your) area. Most of the breeders are in or near Bangkok so if you are looking for something different you might need to start there. But, even that is a problem as the big breeders only ship big lots.

One more thought, catfish are serious survivors; they can live in the muck on the bottom of your pond for months after you drain it.

[ozzydom]

Somthan, I think you are situated in the south of Issan from memory , Nam Sai Farm near Prachinburi stocks many species of fingerlings and fry.

We stocked our last two ponds with Chitralada variety of Tilapia and are very pleased with them to date.

After 3 years of getting breeders from THAI fisheries that were supposed to be monosex we had to give them away as they were putting us out of business.

We introduced some Barramundi into ponds 1 and 4 with Tilapia and they are going well,they are actually growing at about twice the rate of the Tilapia.

Nam Sai train their Barramundi fry to surface feed artificial food before they release them for sale.

[Somtham]

Dom - we live in Kamphaengphet, not Isaan so Nam Sai is probably a 6 hour drive. I have received a PM from them and will plan a trip there. I think we'll give the mono sex Tilapia and Barramundi a try in one of the ponds.

The pacu sounds like it is also worth a try but again, not sure where to obtain fry. Will stop by KPP DoF today and see what they have for sale these days. In the past they usually only have pla Nin and top Tim available.

rgds

[macan]

Somtham,

You're better to use mixed sex tilapia to maintain the feed supply for the Barra, they'll keep breeding and the Barra'll keep eating the young. I'd suggest you stock about 800-1000 mixed sex fry per rai, give them a couple of months head start (until they begin to breed) then stick in 50-80 seabass per rai.

Since you're going for low input approach and you have several ponds you might also consider playing around with polyculture models that take advantage of the whole water column. This'll give you a range of fish to catch and eat. A typical approach would be stocking 1-1.5 fish per square meter with 40% near surface feeders (Pla jeen or pla Gaho), 40% column feeders (pla yeesok) and 10% bottom feeders (pla nai or pla sawai) and 10% pla tapian/rad/nin or taptim who don't mind where they feed. You could stick in a few pla kin nga to eat the vegetation around the edges. Feed rice bran daily (2-3% body weight) and maybe set up a small compost bag in a corner to promote productivity in the water. If the grass carp eat all the vegies you can feed them chopped banana leaves or grass. You could add a few predators if you have mixed sex tilapia. Pla yeesok (rohu) and Pla rad (giant gourami) are good fighting fish, pla sawai (pangasius) are pretty strong too. This system could give you up to about half a kg of fish per square meter every 4 months or so.

[allcladrad]

Somtham,

If you haven't already, try sending an email to [email protected] and see if there is a place closer to you. Here they have few fish in the dry season so you might want to check before you go.

My pacu grow at the same rate as the tilapia, but as I said you need to feed them. If I could catch a barramundi I would be happy, they have been in the pond for a little over two years and I have caught two, the last over a year ago.

The barramundi I got were also pellet trained and it wasn't a month before they retrained themselves to eat tilapia fry. I never see them at the feedings, except to pick off a tilapia.

[fred2007]

I don't know a lot about breeding fish at all but since we have a lot of ponds in our land I would love to breed Barramundi, I just love that fighting fish ( at the moment we have catfish and so on) The question is, can you breed Barramandi in small ponds and can you actually sell them for good profits? Do Barramundi need running water? Or is it good enough to just airate the water? The average size of our ponds are about 800 square meters. Any body knows? Love to hear from all you experts

[MrWiggle]

As in above post...I would like to know if the barramundi and the Peacock Bass are ok together or not ??

[MrWiggle]

Anybody know any fish famrs in the PakChong or Saraburi/Nakhon Nayok areas that sell Barramundi ??

The farm mentioned above 'Nam Sai' does not stock them anymore.

[Taktan]

Macan,

Both barramundi and Peacock bass are raised in Thailand, the barramundi is a wait to ambush hunter while the Peacock is a go out and get them hunter. I currently have barramundi and tilapia, an African fish, plus a pacu, South American fish, all raised and sold by Thai government fisheries. All good eating fish, but I am interested in fishing and the Peacock Bass are an excellent top water lure striker and grow to around 3'. Peacock bass have a side benefit in that they control snakeheads, which while a local fish are difficult to manage as they eat almost everything.

Peacock Bass are already here, "Plenty of good local 'angling' species here without introducing new threats to biodiversity" in local lakes and ponds.

But, thanks for the concern.

Interesting, would you happen to know where I could get Pacu(jaramid) fingerlings in the Udon area(or elsewhere in thailand as they can be air freighted) ? The state fisheries are very unreliable with regards to the available species at any given time. they always offer the Tilapia and the Mekong cat but rarely more. Sounds like the Peacock bass would attract sports anglers.

[Taktan]

I don't know a lot about breeding fish at all but since we have a lot of ponds in our land I would love to breed Barramundi, I just love that fighting fish ( at the moment we have catfish and so on) The question is, can you breed Barramandi in small ponds and can you actually sell them for good profits? Do Barramundi need running water? Or is it good enough to just airate the water? The average size of our ponds are about 800 square meters. Any body knows? Love to hear from all you experts

I was considering stocking Barramundis in my pond as well, a bit concerned about their voracious appetite though. There is a lot on information on Barramundi farming on internet, but not so much on managing the species in pond and lakes. It is my understanding that this fish can easily suffer from "off taste" when not growing in clear and larger bodies of water(or cages immersed in such).