Domestic Fish Pond

[Gerontion]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

[ozzydom]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

[samuibeachcomber]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

very interesting reply ozzydom,what if you wanted to breed to sell at the market,would you need a bigger pond.my wife keeps talking about moving back home and doing just this.

[Gerontion]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

Thanks for the quick reply - very useful. It's given me something to investigate further.

[ozzydom]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

very interesting reply ozzydom,what if you wanted to breed to sell at the market,would you need a bigger pond.my wife keeps talking about moving back home and doing just this.

Not sure whether you mean to breeding small fish to sell as fry or fingerlings or to grow on to eating size to sell at market.

The former is not really practical as harvesting enough fry of uniform size from natural breeding is the problem.

If the latter , you are better advised to purchase all male fry from somewhere like Nam Sai Farms at Prachinburi to grow on for market, as breeding does not interfere with their growth cycle ,marketable fish are quicker and cheaper to attain in feeding costs.

I find 1 rai ponds to be easier to manage, and for some reason ,oblong ,rather than square dimensions seem to perform best . Personally I get better performance from 20m x 80 m ponds than 40m x 40m.

Not being to greedy by overstocking initially is the secret, One thousand fry per rai using green water and a little supplementary feeding should give about 400g fish in 6 months ,rising to near 1 kg at 12 months. If liveability is good , up to 70k per rai per annum gross is achievable .

[samuibeachcomber]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

very interesting reply ozzydom,what if you wanted to breed to sell at the market,would you need a bigger pond.my wife keeps talking about moving back home and doing just this.

Not sure whether you mean to breeding small fish to sell as fry or fingerlings or to grow on to eating size to sell at market.

The former is not really practical as harvesting enough fry of uniform size from natural breeding is the problem.

If the latter , you are better advised to purchase all male fry from somewhere like Nam Sai Farms at Prachinburi to grow on for market, as breeding does not interfere with their growth cycle ,marketable fish are quicker and cheaper to attain in feeding costs.

I find 1 rai ponds to be easier to manage, and for some reason ,oblong ,rather than square dimensions seem to perform best . Personally I get better performance from 20m x 80 m ponds than 40m x 40m.

Not being to greedy by overstocking initially is the secret, One thousand fry per rai using green water and a little supplementary feeding should give about 400g fish in 6 months ,rising to near 1 kg at 12 months. If liveability is good , up to 70k per rai per annum gross is achievable .

thanks for the info,would it be best to apply top up water by drilling a well,or would the land need to be near a river location,as you can see i've no idea,but i like the idea of breeding fish to on sell at the market.

[ozzydom]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

very interesting reply ozzydom,what if you wanted to breed to sell at the market,would you need a bigger pond.my wife keeps talking about moving back home and doing just this.

Not sure whether you mean to breeding small fish to sell as fry or fingerlings or to grow on to eating size to sell at market.

The former is not really practical as harvesting enough fry of uniform size from natural breeding is the problem.

If the latter , you are better advised to purchase all male fry from somewhere like Nam Sai Farms at Prachinburi to grow on for market, as breeding does not interfere with their growth cycle ,marketable fish are quicker and cheaper to attain in feeding costs.

I find 1 rai ponds to be easier to manage, and for some reason ,oblong ,rather than square dimensions seem to perform best . Personally I get better performance from 20m x 80 m ponds than 40m x 40m.

Not being to greedy by overstocking initially is the secret, One thousand fry per rai using green water and a little supplementary feeding should give about 400g fish in 6 months ,rising to near 1 kg at 12 months. If liveability is good , up to 70k per rai per annum gross is achievable .

thanks for the info,would it be best to apply top up water by drilling a well,or would the land need to be near a river location,as you can see i've no idea,but i like the idea of breeding fish to on sell at the market.

Proximity to a river or large dam is preferable as lots of bore water in Thailand is to saline for the purpose of fish rearing, checking the quality of the water from other bores in the immediate area will give you an indication , even checking with you local bore driller or well builder will be adviseable .

Its a bit of a lottery , our own bore is pretty saline with a huge fluctuation in water table over a season and yet a chap less than a kilometre has a bore giving virtually spring water.

[Gerontion]

Ozzy - thanks for your reply. Can I impose again and ask some more dumb questions? I'm not going to have access to sufficient water to top up the pond during the dry season to any appreciable effect. Does this make having a fish pond a non-starter? If I dig deeper to account for wet-/dry-season fluctuations in water level, will I encounter problems with having sludge in the bottom? Can anything be done about this?

[buffaloe]

can i start out with a larger fish if starting a new pond.if i do is the cost quite a bit more expensive.if i have a pond about 5 rai will i need to aerators for the pond one on each side of the pond.i would like some bream type and some of the large cats to go in and i have heard about the barr. something.i would like to sell fish and also have some for my personnel use.

[ozzydom]

Ozzy - thanks for your reply. Can I impose again and ask some more dumb questions? I'm not going to have access to sufficient water to top up the pond during the dry season to any appreciable effect. Does this make having a fish pond a non-starter? If I dig deeper to account for wet-/dry-season fluctuations in water level, will I encounter problems with having sludge in the bottom? Can anything be done about this?

Many rice farmers around here do just as you say, as soon as they have enough water in their pond after the rainy season starts we supply fry or fingerlings to them .

If you dont overstock ,growth rate is pretty fast so you get eaters within 4 months.

most farmers just dump a load of cow manure in the pond to start algae and micro-organism growth and leave the Pla Nin to their own resources,(maybe tossing in a bucket of ram (lum )occasionally).

You then harvest the fish as soon as water level gets to low to sustain them,let the pond dry down, toss a bag of lime around to neutralise the ammonia and any baddies that may be in the sludge, and repeat the cycle when the wet returns.

[ozzydom]

can i start out with a larger fish if starting a new pond.if i do is the cost quite a bit more expensive.if i have a pond about 5 rai will i need to aerators for the pond one on each side of the pond.i would like some bream type and some of the large cats to go in and i have heard about the barr. something.i would like to sell fish and also have some for my personnel use.

Large surface areas like 5 rai rarely have oxygen depletion problems as long as you keep your stocking levels to a safe number. A 5 rai pond usually gets better wind action which builds up oxy levels.

Harvesting large ponds is a problem, if you only wish to catch small quantities at any given time ,a handful of pellets and a cast net will do the trick, but for large quantities you need either a seine net ( expensive) or pump the pond down and hand harvest.

Larger fish such as fingerlings are more expensive as they have usually been grown on with expensive foods up to 40% protein for a month or two.

Pla Nin for example are about 35 satang each as fry ,but as 3" fingerlings will run to 2 baht 50 satang each. Personally I am to lazy to count so we usually sell monoculture fingerlings at 80 baht per kg.

Testosterone treatment to turn Pla Nin into males is about 95% effective so 5% will nearly always breed which provides a source of food for any carniverous species you may introduce.

We have a "pet" Giant Striped Catfish from Nam Oon which a friend gave me 5 years ago as a little 200 gram baby ,we keep moving him from pond to pond as we pump out for final harvest, he was last moved in November as a 13kg handful, come rice harvest he is invited to a BBQ as the main course.

[carlosacao]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

Very useful info, I wonder, since you mentioned an ideal depth of 1.2 -1.5 met deep as ideal, is there any disadvantage to a deeper fish pond, like lets say, 2 or 3 meters deep?

[ozzydom]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

Very useful info, I wonder, since you mentioned an ideal depth of 1.2 -1.5 met deep as ideal, is there any disadvantage to a deeper fish pond, like lets say, 2 or 3 meters deep?

That depth is stated because that is the maximum depth that light reaches in a green water (or even a muddy pond), without light the micro-organisms that break down the ammonia and gunk cannot survive so the bottom at say 3 met. ends up a vile smelling ammonia rich sludge where nothing lives.

The rising gas from this ammonia is toxic to most of the pond inhabitants.

To be of any use you would need to install air bubblers right to the bottom of the deep section as the oxygen in the aeration helps dispense the ammonia.

Pla Nin in particular live most of their time in the top 1 metre of water , even when nesting (breeding ) you will notice that the deepest nests are only down to 1.2 metres .

Pla Nin are omniverous and are screen feeders ,meaning they move through the water gulping in water ,screening out the micro-organisms and plankton and expelling the water.

[Thailaw]

I have a relatively small ornamental fish pond with Koi, 5m x 3m x 1.3 m deep. The fish store where I bought my fish told me to add salt (about 5 kg.) to the pond without regard to the existing salinity of the water (the water comes from a well). Does that seem right? How can I check the salinity of the water to be sure that more salt is required. I don't want to little or too much. Thanks.

[samuibeachcomber]

thanks ozzydom for the mine of information given.

[carlosacao]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

Very useful info, I wonder, since you mentioned an ideal depth of 1.2 -1.5 met deep as ideal, is there any disadvantage to a deeper fish pond, like lets say, 2 or 3 meters deep?

That depth is stated because that is the maximum depth that light reaches in a green water (or even a muddy pond), without light the micro-organisms that break down the ammonia and gunk cannot survive so the bottom at say 3 met. ends up a vile smelling ammonia rich sludge where nothing lives.

The rising gas from this ammonia is toxic to most of the pond inhabitants.

To be of any use you would need to install air bubblers right to the bottom of the deep section as the oxygen in the aeration helps dispense the ammonia.

Pla Nin in particular live most of their time in the top 1 metre of water , even when nesting (breeding ) you will notice that the deepest nests are only down to 1.2 metres .

Pla Nin are omniverous and are screen feeders ,meaning they move through the water gulping in water ,screening out the micro-organisms and plankton and expelling the water.

Thank you for the very detailed info, you really know your stuff.

[bonzor]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

Very useful info, I wonder, since you mentioned an ideal depth of 1.2 -1.5 met deep as ideal, is there any disadvantage to a deeper fish pond, like lets say, 2 or 3 meters deep?

That depth is stated because that is the maximum depth that light reaches in a green water (or even a muddy pond), without light the micro-organisms that break down the ammonia and gunk cannot survive so the bottom at say 3 met. ends up a vile smelling ammonia rich sludge where nothing lives.

The rising gas from this ammonia is toxic to most of the pond inhabitants.

To be of any use you would need to install air bubblers right to the bottom of the deep section as the oxygen in the aeration helps dispense the ammonia.

Pla Nin in particular live most of their time in the top 1 metre of water , even when nesting (breeding ) you will notice that the deepest nests are only down to 1.2 metres .

Pla Nin are omniverous and are screen feeders ,meaning they move through the water gulping in water ,screening out the micro-organisms and plankton and expelling the water.

You must be talking about commercial fisheries with masses of food going in. Otherwise every lake or body of water over three metres would be poisoning the whole area. There would be no bottom feeding fish and any swimmer would be at risk. That does not happen. If the pond is balanced and stocked correctly then variations in depth even to three metres plus would not be a problem. I made my pond deeper rather than shallow because as an angler I wanted to fight fish in two planes not one and wanted to make sure the plants I put in do not cover the entire area but leave the deeper holes free. In my view that will look more natural. If your intention is high stocking ratios and rapid growth and cheaper construction costs then a shallow pond is better but you are way too alarmist. You make three metres sound like the onset of armageddon My neighbours pond is six metres deep and sweet smelling and full of fish, and has been for the last few years. Its deep for water storage.

Edited March 1, 2009 by bonzor

[Smithson]

Hi Dom, good to see you posting.

I have a (stupid) question regarding the well water quality. We have a pond on our place that has been filled and topped up with well water. The fish are growing well and there hasn't been too many deaths. I'm guessing this means the well water is fine and doesn't need to be tested?

[ozzydom]

Hi Dom, good to see you posting.

I have a (stupid) question regarding the well water quality. We have a pond on our place that has been filled and topped up with well water. The fish are growing well and there hasn't been too many deaths. I'm guessing this means the well water is fine and doesn't need to be tested?

Yes mate , it sounds like it ok, it takes a pretty high salt concentration to effect many freshwater fish, salt is often even added at times to help control virus in fish stocks.

[ozzydom]

I'm thinking of putting in a fish pond on our land but unfortunately I know sod all about fish. Ideally, it'd provide 400-500(ish) fish a year to eat (not for commercial production). What sort of size pond am I looking at for that? And any recommendations for fish to raise? Thanks.

800 sq met (1/2 rai ) x1.2 -1.5 met deep would be ideal.

Initial stocking could be 500 mixed sex Tilapia (Pla Nin ) followed at 3 months by a few Snakehead catfish or Striped Giant Catfish and even a few Barramundi.

The Tilapia will breed and provide natural food for the Catties and Barra,

If you employ the green water method ,very little artificial food will be necessary as the Pla Nin are provided for by the Phyto-Plankton and and micro-organisms in the phosphate enriched water and their offspring provide food for the other varieties.

If top up water source is available, this method will supply fish for several years before you need to pump down and start afresh.

Very useful info, I wonder, since you mentioned an ideal depth of 1.2 -1.5 met deep as ideal, is there any disadvantage to a deeper fish pond, like lets say, 2 or 3 meters deep?

That depth is stated because that is the maximum depth that light reaches in a green water (or even a muddy pond), without light the micro-organisms that break down the ammonia and gunk cannot survive so the bottom at say 3 met. ends up a vile smelling ammonia rich sludge where nothing lives.

The rising gas from this ammonia is toxic to most of the pond inhabitants.

To be of any use you would need to install air bubblers right to the bottom of the deep section as the oxygen in the aeration helps dispense the ammonia.

Pla Nin in particular live most of their time in the top 1 metre of water , even when nesting (breeding ) you will notice that the deepest nests are only down to 1.2 metres .

Pla Nin are omniverous and are screen feeders ,meaning they move through the water gulping in water ,screening out the micro-organisms and plankton and expelling the water.

You must be talking about commercial fisheries with masses of food going in. Otherwise every lake or body of water over three metres would be poisoning the whole area. There would be no bottom feeding fish and any swimmer would be at risk. That does not happen. If the pond is balanced and stocked correctly then variations in depth even to three metres plus would not be a problem. I made my pond deeper rather than shallow because as an angler I wanted to fight fish in two planes not one and wanted to make sure the plants I put in do not cover the entire area but leave the deeper holes free. In my view that will look more natural. If your intention is high stocking ratios and rapid growth and cheaper construction costs then a shallow pond is better but you are way too alarmist. You make three metres sound like the onset of armageddon My neighbours pond is six metres deep and sweet smelling and full of fish, and has been for the last few years. Its deep for water storage.

If you had bothered to fully read the OP you would realise that we are talking of growing fish to market, and yes I am a commercial fish farmer , and no, the whole principal of green water creating the environment for natural food for Pla Nin is to save on propriety pellet , only supplementary feeding is required .

If deep ponds are clear enough to allow passage of light then the micro-organisms will be present to convert waste products ,but again we are talking of green water where light has minimal penetration .

But of course you know that already, you just could not resist trying to blind us with your knowledge. There is a thread re line fishing ,this one happens to be about growing fish with view market.

[mgreek]

This thread is making me thinking very serius to try a fish pont...

Thank you all for your knowledge.

I would like to ask a stupid question:

How you prevent other people to take some of your fish, during nightime?

If your fish pont isn't right next to your house...

[slapout]

greek; You have been here too long as you are expecting the inevitable, thieves.Past posts on this subject have several ideas, barbed wire in water to prevent seining, bamboo poles stuck in pond, guard dogs, etc. My father in law stayed at the pond at night when fish got close to eating size, when he died the thieves came in within a week of the funeral and stole the fish. Even took the plastic barrels (25 gallon) to carry off their booty. Since the thieves seem to prefer the dark to go about their business, pits , trip wires, bear traps, etc have come to my mind but have not gone that far yet. I think the on site idea is about the only way, as the thieves seem to want to remain unknown and I have not heard of armed robbery on the farms yet.

[Gerontion]

I had a look in the Tilapia Manual produced by Nam Sai Farms, which says:

"There is one exception to this rule and that concerns rain-fed ponds where a large volume of water is required to prevent the pond quickly drying out in the dry season. In this case it may be necessary to increase water depth during the rainy season to 3 meters or more. High fertilization will be necessary at this time, but during the dry season nutrients will tend to get concentrated, due the evaporating water, and so little fertilization will be necessary."

Does anyone have experience of digging deeper ponds like this and then letting evaporation lower the level in the dry season? Are there are problems with doing this? If I dug a deeper pond, would I need to do anything else - eg aerating the bottom - or can I just let the water level rise and fall on its own? Thanks.

[Foreverford]

This thread is making me thinking very serius to try a fish pont...

Thank you all for your knowledge.

I would like to ask a stupid question:

How you prevent other people to take some of your fish, during nightime?

If your fish pont isn't right next to your house...

Believe what slapout says as it is a unfortunate reality to being here. It has nothing to do with being a falong. Smaller sized ponds can deter some with the installation of four posts in the corners. Make sure that they will be below water level so not to be seen. Firmly attach the barbed wire so that it forms a box inside the pond (Ideally about a meter or so from the bank depending on the size of pond). Then put in two diagonal strands to form an "X" in the center. No more throw nets or seining. A net is a valuable thing and much too much work and time to try to remove the firmly attached wire at night. theives are lazy most of the time.

so how do you get the fish if you don't want to harvest them all in one day? Set up a pole on a base to extend out into an area that is open and then you can drop down a collapsible sided net on a frame to the bottom of the pond. Do this for a few days before you want to start a partial harvest and feed the fish over the top of the submerged net. when ready to harvest do the same and when they are feeding pullup on an attached rope and the net will come up with some dinner inside. choke Dee

[ozzydom]

I had a look in the Tilapia Manual produced by Nam Sai Farms, which says:

"There is one exception to this rule and that concerns rain-fed ponds where a large volume of water is required to prevent the pond quickly drying out in the dry season. In this case it may be necessary to increase water depth during the rainy season to 3 meters or more. High fertilization will be necessary at this time, but during the dry season nutrients will tend to get concentrated, due the evaporating water, and so little fertilization will be necessary."

Does anyone have experience of digging deeper ponds like this and then letting evaporation lower the level in the dry season? Are there are problems with doing this? If I dug a deeper pond, would I need to do anything else - eg aerating the bottom - or can I just let the water level rise and fall on its own? Thanks.

If you do not have replenishment water available, ponds to 4 metres are one way to extend its useage.

The lower level is initially useless as light will not penetrate to that depth in " green water" so phytoplankton and micro-organisms will not inhabit that depth for your Pla Nin to feed on .

The amount of phosphate (P) you use to green your water is based on the capacity of your pond initially so as the water evaporates and the level decreases this becomes concentrated hence less phosphate is needed to maintain the condition.

but of course as the water level drops ,light can penetrate deeper and the levels previously to dark can then support the micro-organisms on which your fish feed.

As your levels drop to say the lower 1-1 1/2 metres the light and oxygen will help dissapate the built up ammonia enabling your fish to inhabit the lower level of the pond .

Evaporation can be drastic (up to 25 mm per day)so in the dry season levels change quickly unless there is some soakage available.

As explained in previous posts, deep ponds are extremely difficult to harvest which is one of the reasons they are not used often in commercial fish farming.

[Gerontion]

^ Thanks again for your help. You're a star!

[tftest]

wow, thanks for all the information

do you think it would be possible to establish a permanent pond according to the same self-sufficiency/self-feeding principles?

Edited April 30, 2009 by tftest

[Macx]

Thanks for the info! Great thread.

I have a 20mx40m pond, about 1/3 of this pond is 3m deep, the rest is about 2m. There are a couple of Pla Chon in there already. They must have gotten in during the rainy season when the reservoir (4 meters away) flooded into the pond.

Thanks for the info, OZ, I'll seed the pond as you recommend with the Pla Nin and Barra. I like the taste of Pla Tubtim. Can I raise them instead of the Pla Nin, or can both be raised together?

Can the catfish live on the 3m bottom of this pond, or will it get too toxic for them? Do I need catfish?

I'd love to drop one Amazon Peacock Bass into the pond too. What other precautions should I take so that the APB doesn't get into the local reservoir and, maybe, even into the Mekong?

The locals say I should install a pump to top up water from the reservoir as well as pumping out the sludge from the deeper end of the pond so that the fish (meat) would "taste" better. Is this a good idea?

The pond is just to provide a couple of fish for the BBQ now and then

Thanks for the help.

[ozzydom]

Thanks for the info! Great thread.

I have a 20mx40m pond, about 1/3 of this pond is 3m deep, the rest is about 2m. There are a couple of Pla Chon in there already. They must have gotten in during the rainy season when the reservoir (4 meters away) flooded into the pond.

Thanks for the info, OZ, I'll seed the pond as you recommend with the Pla Nin and Barra. I like the taste of Pla Tubtim. Can I raise them instead of the Pla Nin, or can both be raised together?

Can the catfish live on the 3m bottom of this pond, or will it get too toxic for them? Do I need catfish?

I'd love to drop one Amazon Peacock Bass into the pond too. What other precautions should I take so that the APB doesn't get into the local reservoir and, maybe, even into the Mekong?

The locals say I should install a pump to top up water from the reservoir as well as pumping out the sludge from the deeper end of the pond so that the fish (meat) would "taste" better. Is this a good idea?

The pond is just to provide a couple of fish for the BBQ now and then

Thanks for the help.

You will always have Pla Chon getting into your pond as long as there is a population nearby, all they need is a decent downpour and they travel overland looking for pastures anew. They cover large distances in a short time as long as the area is wet ,they just slither along their merry way,you will even see them travelling over wet tarmac.

Tabtim can be raised with Pla Nin ,they will even inter breed .

Tabtim are not as hardy as Pla Nin and so can have a higher mortality rate ,which is one of the reasons they are more expensive to buy.

Depending on water level fluctuations, seeing the reservoir is so close maybe you could get permission to install a supply pipe direct to your pond to save pumping costs, a non -return valve will ensure your pond water does not enter the reservoir.

If the reservoir is only 4 metres away ,I take it that only a bund wall separates them so it would be a simple task.

I would not worry about the sediment build up, unless it gets to be a metre deep, then you can either pump out and let it dry thoroughly or excavate with a macro, the resulting "sludge " is great growing medium as it is full of nitrates.

Most ponds should have a decent size overflow pipe about a foot below the lowest level of your ponds bund wall exiting onto adjacent paddy land , A simple fence of driven bamboo stakes and the blue woven cloth will stop fish entry and exit, they dont take long to erect so you can erect for the wet season and pull it down when the threat of flooding is gone. Last year when our klong broke its banks the local villagers all turned up and erected about 300 metres of fence in 4 hours to save our fish, which was outstanding ,seeing as how it was 2am in the morning.

Sorry I cant be more specific but not knowing the actual layout of your pond etc I can only generalise.

[Macx]

Thanks for the help, OZ. Much appreciated.

The layout is pretty much as you've guessed. It would be easy to install a pipe with a one-way valve. I'll go with that.

I've heard people talk about fish jumping onto the banks and go on "walkabouts," but I didn't quite believe them... till now that you mentioned it.

Now I know why in a heavy rain, all the villagers went into a "fishing frenzy" and ran off with baskets and no fishing poles or nets