Klong Water For Aquaculture

[jaideeguy]

Having a 2 rai lake/pond dug and want to do a small scale fish farm [talipia] and plan to fill it with klong water that I can tap into. Altho we are close to the source [15k], it runs thru many rice farms and knowing a little about the rice cycle and the chems they use, I wonder if the fish will be affected. I have seen klong fish die off a couple of times, but mostly they survive.

My wife tells me that to get the cleanest [least toxic] water, the best time to fill would be during the first flooding of the rice fields because they don't start using the chems until the rice gets established.

Any other comments? or experiences??

[ozzydom]

I would advise that you wait until near the end of the wet season or at least until after your supply Klong has had a couple of good floods.

I dont know whether you are aware of the disease problem ,particularly in Pla Nin at present, some farmers have suffered up to 80% losses.

The authorities are still unsure of the origin of the disease ,but it started while the weather was so dry earlier this year and is present in most of the ponds and klongs.

We have added the 100kg of salt per rai as advised and it slowed the mortality a bit, but we have only just received the first decent rains of the season in the last week so I blocked off my pond overflows and have let them fill to near overflowing.

The addition of that much rainwater seems to have slowed the mortality even further.

[farmerjo]

Excuse my lack of knowledge,i have dams with fish for recreational fishing.

Whats a klong? sounds dutch

[cmfarmer]

Excuse my lack of knowledge,i have dams with fish for recreational fishing.

Whats a klong? sounds dutch

Klong is a Thai word for river.

[Pond Life]

I think in this case Klong is refering to a small irrigation canal/ditch.

Often theyre built of concrete but sometimes not.

If your klong is concreted I think its unlikely that chemicals would leach into it.

My pond fills from klong water, in an area where they grow a lot of soybean & garlic.

The klong is above the pond, not concreted & the water seeps thru 2-3 meters of soil embankment into the pond.

I've never noticed a problem with fish deaths, the pond is only lightly stocked.

[jaideeguy]

The 'plan' is to raise red talipia [tab tim] in nets, suspended above the bottom and pond/lake will be 2 rai, so hopefully chems and polutants will be diluted by the volume of water. Generally speaking, are tab tim an easier fish to grow?? I know that catfish are quite hardy, but I prefer tabtim for my personal use and market price seems quite high now.

[ozzydom]

I think in this case Klong is refering to a small irrigation canal/ditch.

Often theyre built of concrete but sometimes not.

If your klong is concreted I think its unlikely that chemicals would leach into it.

My pond fills from klong water, in an area where they grow a lot of soybean & garlic.

The klong is above the pond, not concreted & the water seeps thru 2-3 meters of soil embankment into the pond.

I've never noticed a problem with fish deaths, the pond is only lightly stocked.

Not quite PL , a Klong as I referred is a small river ,Depending on where you hail from it would be comparable to a creek or a rivulet or even a tributary or feeder for a larger river.

[ozzydom]

The 'plan' is to raise red talipia [tab tim] in nets, suspended above the bottom and pond/lake will be 2 rai, so hopefully chems and polutants will be diluted by the volume of water. Generally speaking, are tab tim an easier fish to grow?? I know that catfish are quite hardy, but I prefer tabtim for my personal use and market price seems quite high now.

Tab-tim or any Tilapia raised in nets is expensive as they get almost all their food supply from what you provide them , being enclosed they cannot forage for natural food.

Tab-tim are usually raised to a bigger size compared to Nile Tilapia so there again your feeding costs increase.

Because of their increased cost of production and therefore higher market price your market if you wish to sell them is limited . Look in your local market and see how many (or few) Tab-tim are offered by the market sellers.

If you wish to sell to locals (villagers) you will be sadly disappointed ,as they just will not pay the price required to turn a profit. We have in the past ,surveyed our clients re these fish and in almost all cases found that if they have tried Tab-tim they do not like the taste.

Chemicals and pollutants ? will not be diluted ,in fact due to evaporation and replenishment of your water they will in fact be more concentrated.

About the only way to combat this is either through regular water exchange (pump out 30-50%) and replenish. or instal aerators which will trap some of the chemicals in the air bubbles and release them to atmosphere.

At the moment Nile Tilapia of about 800 gram + are bringing 60 baht a kilo while Reds are up to 90 baht , this price difference does not signify anything other than the higher cost of production for Reds.

Suspended or floating nets or hapa,s are expensive to set up and maintain, for growing on you will need larger mesh nets . The fine mesh ones you see about the place are only for fry up to fingerling and even then have to be changed and cleaned every 7-10 days as algae ,poop etc block them up and stop water circulation.

Net raising fish in ponds is fraught with dangers and problems,that is why most net growers are based in flowing rivers, if there is a water quality problem, nets in a still pond are a bit like sleeping in your toilet .

I am not trying to put you off your plans because for most problems there is an answer, but I would advise you to study every move before you make it and visit other fish farms to pick up some ideas. Its a lot cheaper to learn by somebody elses mistakes.

[farmerjo]

Thanks for the info