Catfish & Prawns Coexist?

[Vatman]

Earlier this year I had a pond dug. My idea was to ensure enough water to irrigate during the dry. Dec- April. It measures 40 metres square & is 4-5 metres deep when full. Then my wife was given 6000 prawns so in they went. Next she bought 4500 catfish & was given 2000 tilapia & in they went. The irrigation idea was then abandoned & it became a fish pond. I was feeding them 20kg of fish pellets every week but then I installed lights above so they eat the insects & fish pellets I`ve cut down to 20kg a month. I also feed them about 10kg of bread monthly given by a local woman who works in a bakery. As you can see I know nothing about fish farming. My question is-have these prawns been eaten by the other fish? The water is muddy but the pond is still almost full but I haven`t seen any prawns. I`d like to eat the prawns but I`ve grown fond of the catfish, feeding them every day, so I`ll keep them as pets.

[phaethon]

I suppose it will depend on the relative size of the two, but yes catfish will eat prowns:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GtBEPZWVS-I

(Those are cooked prawns being fed to the catfish, but they'll eat pretty much anything they can fit in their mouth.)

Of course it depends what kind of catfish you're talking about:

Edited December 20, 2008 by phaethon

[slapout]

Catfish are natures garbage disposal, they will feed on just about anything that does not eat them first, including small snakes. don't plan on a shrimp boil from your pond, Ask the wife if any good neighbors have some small alligators to throw into the equation. Okay I wont float any more ideas.

[sbk]

My husband has a catfish he keeps in the small pond in front of our house and that thing eats everything, including raw chicken. Kinda creepy as it will take it right out of your hand.

So, yeah, I think you don't have any prawns left. But some very well fed catfish

[Gary A]

Anything small enough to eat and slow enough to catch will be eaten. Catfish are not fussy eaters. If you want to have pla nin in the same pond, you have to make sure the pla nin have a good head start and are big enough that the catfish avoid them.

[teacup]

I used to fish in my pond with baby shrimps.....fish loves shrimps

I would think catfish is just another fish too, therefore yeah....most likely, they would eat shrimps or even better your prawns too.

So the answer here is.....YES (most problably)

[Maizefarmer]

In commercial operations they are often kept together - but only when both are juveniles: otherwise, as others have said - the catfish will dine on them with glee!

[Vatman]

Thank you all for taking the time & trouble to answer my question. I conclude I have no prawns.

[Crushdepth]

Might be worth a bit of random exploration with a net. If your prawns were the giant freshwater prawn they are a very tough animal, and are sometimes they grown together with fish.

[ray23]

I dug two ponds one for the fish and one for the Prawns a lucky accident. Where did you locate your Prawns?

I live in Udon and I can get cat fish locally.

Our pounds are smaller then yours 18 ft x 12 ft and 10 ft deep.

For me a hobby for the wife a business.

[andycrosby]

feed my cat fish chicken poo , they eat prawns and anything else they can find

[WatersEdge]

We don't have enough information to respond smartly,

so I'll throw a few setang worth at the risk of being ill informed.

My first prediction from the information available is

The Catfish are starved,

of course the prawns are gone if they were bite size to the catfish.

4,500 Catfish in a 40x40 meter pond

could use a lot more than 20 kg feed per week.

That's only 4.4 grams per fish.

Not a bad rate per day if the fish are small,

but if catfish are hungry they will eat.

Now that they are reduced to 20 kg per month, 10 kg bread, and bugs drawn to a light, they must be voracious.

We don't know the size of any of these as they went in,

and we don't know if the Catfish are

Clarias (Pla Duk) or

Pangasius (Pla Sawai)

Clarias are much more aggressive than Pangasius