My Catfish Farm Operation

[AmaretFor5]

Thanks Ozzy, we've got a couple of large ponds with ability to interchange between them and will run planin in one and move them back and forth since they're green feeders. I haven't started educating myself on those but know local prices run around 70b/kg. Once we do I'll run over to Prachin to see Nam Sai.

What I'm trying to figure out on the pladuk is optimum stocking rates per sqm at a depth of 1.5-2 m. I've seen on this and other forums anywhere from 28-83 fish/sqm if you're looking to sell 4s and 5s (200-250 kg) which is market. Local fisheries guy says 38 is a good number (60k/rai). My mate has the higher number but yields are lower than I think they should be and figure he's not getting the number of fish he's paid for (he doesn't count) or he's losing lots along the way (overstocking, sickness, predators, walking away at night?).

After that I'll have to figure out how much the market will bear as we've got ability to come out with some large tonnage if the stocking rates are 38/sqm or higher.

[RedBullHorn]

RBH, Ozzydom, you guys are great with the farming info. Thanks.

RBH, I've got a couple of larger ponds down in Chainat where we'll run big oui (previous owner doing same thing together with planin).

Couple of questions if you don't mind, why fingerlings instead of fries for your 1 rai pond? You want someone else to take them thru that period? Lots of loss?

Big question, how many fish per square meter if your looking to raise 4-5s. A mate in Kalasin has 30,000 fish/1 ngan pond in 6 ponds. You're running 45,000/rai if I have your figures right. I looked at some US university websites and they're like at 3,000/acre. Another Chainat mate running 10,000/krachang in the Chaopraya. Big variations. It seems what I've read from Ozzydom is smaller numbers, lower feed costs makes him comfortable.

Finally, looks like you're sending 100,000 fish to the market every 3 months. My mate is doing about the same numbers with bunches of other locals around him on similar terms. Any ideas whether you can sell larger numbers, say near on 1 million fish? I mean, any idea what the market will bear?

Thanks.

Greetings....haven't have much time logging in since the 2 ponds was added to the batch, in total i'm doing 6 ponds in one go...160'000 fingerlings.

Why fingerlings instead of fry? I've years back tried only once using frys(pla cent) instead of fingerlings(pla niew), 100'000 frys in a 2 rai pond, result--- huge mortality rate and grow to target size in 6 months!!! cost me only 15 satang/fry back then but not worth the time and effort put in. Fingerlings been advance frys(whether 2",3",4" or 5 inches) are more resistant to mortality and being a commercial fish farmer, i'm denied the luxury of a pond hobbyist. Timing is important to me...raring to the right target marketable size, seasons' demand and supply, right seasons' farm gate prices...etc..etc...all play a role in this buisness.

How many fish in 1m square?...Let me paint you a picture...this has been experimented before...Once upon a time in Summer.......3 ponds, all same size (2 ngan), are stock with 2"-3" fingerlings, pond A 30'000 fingerlings, pond B 10'000 fingerlings and pond C 20'000 fingerlings. Water was change twice(70%) in all ponds during the 90 days period. Result--- pond A fishes too small, will need 1.5-2 more months to rare to target marketable sizes. Pond B fishes too big, Wholesalers either complain difficulty in marketting and negotiate lower price or get rejection! Pond C fishes reach targeted marketable sizes........Then pond A was experimented again but this time, water inlet and outlet was inpremented so water was flowing continueously in and out without fail day and night 24/7, result---fishes reach target marketable sizes in 2 months and 23 days. "Raring lives stocks is an art",so when inprovise...30'000 fishes in 1 ngan is possible too, it will take a longer period to rare to marketable sizes but will require the farmer's experience and intensive care. As for krachang/hapa, a 3m x 5m x 0.9m, stocking rate is recommanded at no more than 2'000 fingerlings per krachang/hapa per season.

Before i decide to do 160'000 catfish in 1 go, i ask my wholesales if they are able to cope with my queue or they prefer i rare them randomly ...they smile and said "No Pompam(problem)" ...so i went for it.

Market's consolidation are able to bear 1 mil fishes and more at any given time, but your wholesalers might not and if they are able to cope at 1 go, it may be on credit meaning you'll have to wait longer to receive payment.

Cheers,

RBH

[RedBullHorn]

As for krachang/hapa, a 3m x 5m x 0.9m, stocking rate is recommanded at no more than 2'000 fingerlings per krachang/hapa per season.

This was taken years ago...I was raring 2'000 Big Oui in each krachang/hapa surrounded by 10'000 pla Nin...I only feed the

Big Oui not the pla Nin.

And This!...haha...was taken almost 10 years ago.I found the whole album while clearing the old cabinet out for a new one.

This is the same site originally farming 3'000 layers hens with pla Nin in the 2 rai pond.

Cheers,

RBH

[PaddyThai]

Very impressive.

Hope you and your family are making a living from this nowadays.

[wichianburi1]

Good .......... but, putting capital outlay aside, are you making a profit and over what period of time do you think (will be needed) to recoup the capital outlay (2 figures - first including cost of land, second ignoring cost of land but all other costs).

Land...inheritance from wife parent ...Profit... I've been making them since 2007 when price was 33 Baht/kg...Old ponds...divided into 4 from previous 2 rai pond which i dug 9 years ago when i was doing 3000 eggs layers, and pla duk Big Oui then was 28 Baht/kg.(check my post,click my profile, under option) Experience in Tilapia and Big Oui rearing back then...There's not much other variable cost because i'm did EVERYTHING my self, in the day and night. Land plot located directly paraller with 2 running stream, inflow to the ponds and outflow back to stream endlessly. Mininmum Fuel usage, each pond(800m square) only cost me 5-6 liters (Kubota ET80)to pump water out and then pump back in(1.5m high) during emergency, other than that, the streams will do its works. Electricity bill about 230 Baht a month for powering lights and living shed usage at site from dusk till dawn.

Capital outlay... Land...depends on plot size, price negotiation, chanote or sorpokhoe title, value...near main road or etc..etc...many factors. But you make back money invested in land when/if you decided to sell off.(you knew)

Second, ignoring cost of land But others variable cost...let's take one of my new pond(1 is 2000m square and 1 is 1600m square) The 1 rai pond took 8 hrs to construct include a 5m x 5m x 1m pocket so i don't need to seine in the future and a drive-pass track, (pump out and fishes will be collected in corner pocket, lesser harvesting labour cost) Direct hiring by passing middleman so no commission, backhoe cost 1100 Baht/hr (Kamatsu P200 20 ton backhoe) = 8'800 Baht

45'000 3'-4' fingerling, 42'750...95 percent(2'250 free... 5%) @ 55 satang/fingerling = 23'500 Baht

Grade B pellet 'current price'...Size no.1... ( Per 10'000 fishes ) 15 x 440 Baht/sack x 4.5 = 29'700 Baht

Size no. 2... 75 x 415 Baht/sack x 4.5 = 140'000 Baht

remedies & meds = 200 Baht

( land with stream) fuel & eletricity for average 100 rearing days period = 600 Baht

( hot season 80-90 days, raining season 100 days, cold season <120 days )

So if you hire live in worker day and night (hillbillies would be more economic but i would hire aged Thai) = 8'000 Baht

2'000 Baht x 4 months ------------------------

total = 202'800

round off = 203'000 Baht

I pride myself as a well train and skilled in rearing fish which enable me to provide for my family a good living live style.

Different season different rearing tactic, so i shall quote the "average" FCR achieved.

405 sacks x 20kg / 1.27(FCR) = round off 6380kg x "current" wholesales price 42 Baht round off = 268'000 Baht

minus "cost" = 203'000 Baht

Let just say harvesting cost and celebration expenses = 5'000 Baht

-------------------- ( First cycle with excavation cost ) PROFIT = 68'000 Baht

And this Maizefarmer, is just the FIRST cycle. One calender year can do 3 cycles( 2nd & 3rd cycle minus the

excavation cost !!! for 1st year) starting early March with the first batch of fry born in near Summer.

Remedies and meds...

I can't reveal, it's trade secret to me, different season different set of remedies from pond prepartion to

1st month to grow out which enable me to achieve excellent animal health and desire maximum weight gain

in different season.

Your cat fish operation is indeed very interesting. The lion share of expenses goes to fish feed/commercial pellets. What is your opinion in making your own fish food. The equipment for sinking pellets is much cheaper to procure than for floating ones. Agreed, it contaminates the pond quicker. But what about if your were to use sinking pellets placed on a grid/sieve and slowly lower it into the water by means of rod and ropes for the cat fish to feed on. The fish would get used to this kind of new feeding approach quickly. By doing so, the contamination problem would be kept in check and the net profit should increase substantially. Appreciate your thoughts.

[RedBullHorn]

Your cat fish operation is indeed very interesting. The lion share of expenses goes to fish feed/commercial pellets. What is your opinion in making your own fish food. The equipment for sinking pellets is much cheaper to procure than for floating ones. Agreed, it contaminates the pond quicker. But what about if your were to use sinking pellets placed on a grid/sieve and slowly lower it into the water by means of rod and ropes for the cat fish to feed on. The fish would get used to this kind of new feeding approach quickly. By doing so, the contamination problem would be kept in check and the net profit should increase substantially. Appreciate your thoughts.

Sorry for the late reply.....In my opinion, it's not convenience rather than not practical. This catfishes are just too voracious and to maintain equal chances on the feed, floating pellets are better choice. I'm just lucky that i've running streams parallel to my ponds so water inlets and outlets are a breeze. There many ways to increase profit margin and feed preparation labour is certainly not my way ....I'm comfortable with floating pellets that ensure observation feeding to satiation.

[aitch52]

RBH, Ozzydom and all, thanks for all the information. My wife has just started raising catfish in a 3x4 metre cement pond, we are on a small scale but have room for several more 3 x 4 metre ponds in a corner of her land which wouldn't be feasible to farm. She only started last week with initially 1000 to age the pond, she then went and got 1000 more a couple of days later. They seem to be doing well at the moment, only been up and running a week, she does a partial water change with well water every few days. I am thinking it may pay to have a pump running in there too.

Her idea is to sell them from a small stall on the roadside, she does the same with melons etc. We found 3 floating tits up this morning, the first mortalities. I have kept fish all my life as a hobby so I do have some idea of how to maintain a small tank, just researching some meds at the moment. To my way of thinking the pond is well overstocked but all the Thai experts say no, catfish like to be crowded out, time will tell I guess. Good luck to all with your ventures.

Aitch

[RedBullHorn]

RBH, Ozzydom and all, thanks for all the information. My wife has just started raising catfish in a 3x4 metre cement pond, we are on a small scale but have room for several more 3 x 4 metre ponds in a corner of her land which wouldn't be feasible to farm. She only started last week with initially 1000 to age the pond, she then went and got 1000 more a couple of days later. They seem to be doing well at the moment, only been up and running a week, she does a partial water change with well water every few days. I am thinking it may pay to have a pump running in there too.

Her idea is to sell them from a small stall on the roadside, she does the same with melons etc. We found 3 floating tits up this morning, the first mortalities. I have kept fish all my life as a hobby so I do have some idea of how to maintain a small tank, just researching some meds at the moment. To my way of thinking the pond is well overstocked but all the Thai experts say no, catfish like to be crowded out, time will tell I guess. Good luck to all with your ventures.

Aitch

It's not crowded if you ask me as i've mentioned a 3x5x0.9 m hapa could hold no more than 2000 fishes till targeted marketable size in a earthen pond in 90 days(actual height of hapa is 1.2m but you would leave a <30cm enclosure height to prevent escape because catfish can leap and jump like salmon). For concrete pond, it takes about 4.5 months.(if you feed to satiation)

Yes catfishes like to move in a group during fingerlings stages and because of their timid nature, it'll be good if you could put in a couple of bricks or high concrete slabs and a big old roof tile on top of the bricks so they could hide under it, never mind if the old roof tile have hail stone holes...they would swim in and out of it.

There's many reasons that fish die....and one of them is fungus contaminated feed, just remove those dead ones or else it would be carnivore by the rest and causes higher mortality. I don't know if your wife knows this...every time when you change water(70% change or empty the whole tank), it would help a lot if you could throw in a hand full of salt...to neutralize some harmful ammonia caused bacteria, nitrite and to balance the water body to the fishes. Lastly...mix some vitamin C and AntiBac to the feed once every 5-7 days (don't buy mix vitamins, only vitamin C)....home stall makes the ultimate profit and you're not in a rush to sell them lots off right?

Cheers

RBH

[aitch52]

Thanks for the reply RBH

yes I am learning about these catties, they love to be in crowd right enough and we have been using salt from day 1. Thanks for the roof tile tip, we hadn't thought of that although there ar hidey holes within the pond. Yes we do remove the dead fish as soon as we spot them, our supplier gave us some meds to mix with 4kg of food and we have had no dead fish for the past week. Also thanks for the Vitamin C tip will sort that out soon. As to marketing the fish, we aren't in a rush to sell them all at once, our plan is to have 4 ponds in rotation initially, as for profits, all we are looking to achieve is break even, to 5-6K profit per month inclusive of re-stocking. We are having fun doing it and that is the main thing. The second pond was built last week.

Thanks again

Aitch

A slight amendment to your wifes foreign husband philosophy

What's yours is mine, and what's mine's me own!

[RedBullHorn]

Thanks for the reply RBH

yes I am learning about these catties, they love to be in crowd right enough and we have been using salt from day 1. Thanks for the roof tile tip, we hadn't thought of that although there ar hidey holes within the pond. Yes we do remove the dead fish as soon as we spot them, our supplier gave us some meds to mix with 4kg of food and we have had no dead fish for the past week. Also thanks for the Vitamin C tip will sort that out soon. As to marketing the fish, we aren't in a rush to sell them all at once, our plan is to have 4 ponds in rotation initially, as for profits, all we are looking to achieve is break even, to 5-6K profit per month inclusive of re-stocking. We are having fun doing it and that is the main thing. The second pond was built last week.

Thanks again

Aitch

A slight amendment to your wifes foreign husband philosophy

What's yours is mine, and what's mine's me own!

Ha!....That's how she'll say it in her improved English ...I think most Thai wifes with foreign hubby create this sort of policy in their woman's charter, what my wife didn't realise is the majority part of my forture are out of her sight

Break even?...Oh come on dude...have more faith in yourself...you're loving every moment of it...this business will work out just great!

People who ask me profit about this business, my honest answer is always this - "Worst case scenario, the lowest profit margin is an average of 1 Baht per fish if you don't pull back during feeding..." - be it earthen or concrete pond

Have fun ^^'

RBH

[aitch52]

Thanks again for the input RBH

yeah had a bit of a glass half full moment with the break even philosophy arf arf. While we were at the fish suppliers last week she also mentioned she wants to diversify a little with frogs as they are very popular in our area too, Phetchabun. Just read a bit of Fruitys thread and it seems to be a steady earner. So the plans are on the drawing board for another 4 ponds. 2 for plahduk and 2 for the frogs.

I am away during the week at the moment earning a crust so my input is minimal, just supply the investment doh! Yes your assessment of our dear wives appetite for the kapowtang is correct, as voracious as a shoal of Piranha haha. We have another building project on the go at the moment, putting a roof over the patio, about 8 x 6 metres, more space for ponds mebbe. I digress, we will carry on building up our business bit by bit.

As I mentioned earlier the second pond is done so we will stock that next week and start preparing for #3. I discussed filtration for the catfish, cries of horror from the lady who supplies us, "mai chai plah chawp nam suckapok". What I am thinking though is not filter the water per se, just have a biological filter with bacteria on plastic media, which takes about 6 weeks to mature, to keep the nitrites and nitrates in check, circuation to aerate the water and prevent it from becoming stagnant. Whaddya think? It would reduce the time and volume between water changes also.

Full Nets and Profits to you Mate

Aitch

[RedBullHorn]

Wishing everybody a very happy new year!

Recent activities....Harvest!

Honda GX200 and 5'' X 18 feet long tail pipe in action !...

I think this vid will give lots of people an idea and solve water transport to paddies problem...

As usual...

And "The Usual"......

[Maizefarmer]

RedBullHorn

Any idea what flow rate are you getting from those Honda pumps per minute, per hour ..... or however measured??

[RedBullHorn]

Tim,

The shop owner told me it could chunk out up to 100'000 liter per hour. I filled up an empty pond of 800m sq X 1.3m deep in roughly

4 and a half hours at mid-speed with 2 engines, not at max speed that i felt would stress the machines.

I did the simple maths...about 115'000 liter per hour per engine.

Please correct me if I'm wrong and post opinion on enhance performance output

as I'm not mechanical and technical savvy.

[sokmeister]

I love this thread! Thank you for sharing! Your chicken factory is very unique and pretty cool! Are there any fish in the water underneath?

[RedBullHorn]

Ha!...it's a layers farm...LOL...i like how you call it a factory ....

Yes...there were Tilapia and catfish big oui in the pond back then.

[RedBullHorn]

...and hope my PM is useful to you, let me know if you need to dicuss more.

[aitch52]

Happy New Year (belated) RBH and all, just a quick update, Pla Duk have been in the pond for 2 months now, they were 6-8 gram when we bought them, now 80-100, I guess we lost about 200 in the first month, no losses for the last 4 weeks touch wood. Just moved up a size in food pellets and stocked the new concrete pond which we aged for five weeks to allow some of the nasty alkalis to leech out.

I don't know if anyone has experience of Plah Russ- schia (Russian Catfish?), we were offered them yesterday at 3.5 Baht each, they looked to weigh about 100-120 grams, and the lady said they are very fast growing. Tempted as I was to give it a go, we decided to stick with Plah Duk this time.

Wish you all luck with your ventures

Aitch

[RedBullHorn]

Pla duk Lard Sia....Clarias gariepinus.

".....the cross breeding of catfish using female C. macrocephalus and male C. gariepinus. was attempted and achieved by a team of fishery biologists from Pathumthani Fisheries station in 1986. The hybrids showed intermediate morphological and physical characteristics, including faster growth and higher resistance to environmental conditions and diseases than C. macrocephalus, and better flesh quality compared to C. gariepinus. The hybrids called "Pla Duk Big-Oui" were increasingly important due to demand in the markets. In the culture ponds, the hybrid catfish can grow up to marketable size within 3 months so that the farmers can produce at least 3 crops annually." (web abstract)

Here the link: http://www.siamaquaria.com/that%27s_some_of_our_work/7CATFISHES.htm

My experience:

Pla duk Lard Sia (C.gariepinus sp.) are extremely carnivorous, they "cannibalise" each other. Attempts to rear them twice previously and yield unsatisfying results,

10'000 was reduce to about 7'000 during harvest and very difficult to harvest by seining net in earthen pond as they are very evasive....

Presume to have IQ of a PHD ...My 5 workers were wore out after combing the pond 6 times and manage to harvest only 300kg plus and this people are expert seining net harvester.

Yes! They grow very fast !!! 3"-4" inches fingerling of 10'000 stock will need only 60 days to reach marketable size and you must try to get rid of them as most

wholesalers wouldn't buy them after that due to their big size, There'r still a handful of wholesalers will buy big to jumbo size of a kg and the market in Chiang Rai region are narrow,

Market identified up north country are Myanma borders, Chiang Mai down to Phisunulok.

Rear to 45 days, you need to call the wholesalers to come in to harvest the bigger fishes, the smaller size fish will escape through the seining net, after that remaining fishes will take 2 days to settle down(47th days) continue to fatten them till the 60th day, fast them for 1 day, then harvest and get rid.

4 harvest in a year achievable,

Warning!!! : Do it wrong on first attempt might bankrupt you!...

(I made profit on both attemps...i'm just not happy with the cannibalism facts, that's why i stopped)

Here's the vid on my 5'' inches Pla duk Lard Sia fingerlings, Presently i'm having them as pet and i rear them in my..... !!!

... of all the places! ... yeah i know...

Observing and feeding them as i take a dump is a weird entertainment .....

.

[aitch52]

Hah RBH

You are a card mate, I had a feeling that the Pla Lard Sia, (sounded like Russia to me) would have a downside and loved the remarks about their IQ. Thanks very much for the reply, most enlightening, I don't think I could handle the cannibalism either so will keep the idea on the back burner for the time being.

Like the nursery in the dunny, given me a few ideas for ours as I get bored also when downloading.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge mate

Ciao

Aitch

[aitch52]

Just a quick update on what is happening in our tiny operation.

As I am away working during the week I don't get to supervise what is happening. Anyway the first batch have been on the go for 4 months now and probably only 2 thirds of their target weight.

We did a 100% water change at the weekend, mottled grey in colour with white stomachs and look very healthy, which the Boss was happy about. Sizes of the fish vary considerably though, probably 120 to 220 grams. I have discussed the feeding regime with my wife, I think it should be 3-4 times per day but as the lady at the hatchery said twice a day that is what she is doing. After the first two minute or so voracious feeding, much like pirhana, I keep throwing smaller amounts in, broadcasting over the entire surface of the pond probably for 4-5 minutes while the fish are actively feeding.

I think as the fish are now bigger then the growth will be more rapid and they will eat ever greater amounts of feed, The first batch should be ready for Songkran, which will be 150 days .

A couple of questions, as we have missed the 90 day target by a big margin it seems to me the fish haven't been getting enough food for optimum growth. although the second batch seem to be growing quicker. They also seem to feed much quicker than the first batch.

How many grams per thousand fish do you reckon for a normal feed and do you think twice a day is enough, I firmly believe that if you give a large amount in one feed then a good deal of the feed will be converted into sh*t rather than body weight.

Hope your operation is continuing to flourish. I intend to enlarge our operation over the next few months.

Another thing I have noticed is that they seem to love a feed at about 8pm by torchlight, I believe they are nocturnal creatures anyway.

Cheers

Aitch

[RedBullHorn]

As mention before, concrete tank are different from raising in earthern pond. It will no doubt takes a longer time to raise them in concrete tank, more so in the cold season. I feed twice a day from the day they are release into the ponds up to 28 days or the end of #1 size pellets, then once a day(evening) till 60th day. The reason been that outbreak of disease usually occurs during the 2nd month of rearing like swollen of liver and gall which turn the whole fish "yellow", the Thai vet call it "Lok Dee San", this is result from one contributing factor: Over- Feeding or Force-Feeding. By feeding once a day will also "lenghten" them so they don't look big head, short and fat but smaller head and longer body which the wholesalers love~ (benefit to have more weigh on the body than on the head)

On the 61 days onward till harvest is the period i fatten them, back to twice a day feeding- late morning and evening. By evening i mean at dusk when the sky's turning dark... . At 1 Baht/ kilowatt, my whole farm is fitted with 30 energy saving twister bulbs (Philip's 23 watt) light on from dusk till dawn.

Clarias are predator of the night by nature and they are most active at night, feed them at night like i do if your pond have light.

Never mind if you can't see well, the moment they stop splashing around you'll sense that they'r full.

And as always, i'll multi-task--- One turn feeding and one turn drinking (beer Chang)

The key point here is feed till satiation...don't over feed! They are varocious but they'll stop when full then they will just burps (2 bubbles everytime they swim up and down, mass action)

90 days are for earthen pond, normal season.>4.5 months for earthen pond in cold season.

Concrete pond will takes 4.5 to 5 months, longer for cold season.

The standarn now is 95 sacks for 10'000 regardless of season for earthen pond using 2'-3' inches fingerlings.

15 size #1 and 80 size #2 pellets.

I have expanded ...now i'm doing 8 ponds + 1 water storage pond and internal waterway to feed water to all ponds.

I'm not raising any fish as i'm facing drought now but i took the chance to excavate the whole plot of 11 rai, luckily i still have 80 pigs to rely on for income

...so for the time being, i'll just do the rain dance on my free time.

All the best aitch52

Cheers

RBH

[aitch52]

Thanks RBH some really helpful info in your post, take your points about overfeeding, disease and lengthening the fish. Yes I also like to feed them at night, also usually with a Chang at hand too. I have also observed the 2 burps and also at night they seem to be rising to take insects on the surface, I shall definitely install some lighting above the pond to attract more, we did have light but the supply failed, gotta get my butt in gear and sort that out.

Seems like you have been busy excavating in the dry season, hopefully the rains willl be here soon and you can get back in business with the fish. Hope the snorkers (pigs) are doing well too.

All the best RBH mille gracie for your help

Aitch

PS How are the fish doing in the dunny?

[RedBullHorn]

Transfered to my concrete tank...now they weight btw 50-80 gm.

[aitch52]

They're coming along, my wife is adamant she wants to give Plah Lard Sia a try, I told her about the cannibalism of these fish but she reckons that would add flavour. One more question, the vitamin C and anti-bacteria additive, how do you ask for that in Thai? We have been adding a multi vit every so often.

Cheers RBH

[RedBullHorn]

Here's the pictures of some remedies i use , hopefully moderators will allow it, rest assure that i'm not selling them, just showing what they look like in Thai on the labels.

[aitch52]

Cheers RBH

saved to disk before they disappear, much appreciated, owe you a Chang or 7

Aitch

[mellow1]

Just a quick update on what is happening in our tiny operation.

As I am away working during the week I don't get to supervise what is happening. Anyway the first batch have been on the go for 4 months now and probably only 2 thirds of their target weight.

We did a 100% water change at the weekend, mottled grey in colour with white stomachs and look very healthy, which the Boss was happy about. Sizes of the fish vary considerably though, probably 120 to 220 grams. I have discussed the feeding regime with my wife, I think it should be 3-4 times per day but as the lady at the hatchery said twice a day that is what she is doing. After the first two minute or so voracious feeding, much like pirhana, I keep throwing smaller amounts in, broadcasting over the entire surface of the pond probably for 4-5 minutes while the fish are actively feeding.

I think as the fish are now bigger then the growth will be more rapid and they will eat ever greater amounts of feed, The first batch should be ready for Songkran, which will be 150 days .

A couple of questions, as we have missed the 90 day target by a big margin it seems to me the fish haven't been getting enough food for optimum growth. although the second batch seem to be growing quicker. They also seem to feed much quicker than the first batch.

How many grams per thousand fish do you reckon for a normal feed and do you think twice a day is enough, I firmly believe that if you give a large amount in one feed then a good deal of the feed will be converted into sh*t rather than body weight.

Hope your operation is continuing to flourish. I intend to enlarge our operation over the next few months.

Another thing I have noticed is that they seem to love a feed at about 8pm by torchlight, I believe they are nocturnal creatures anyway.

Cheers

Aitch

Wonder what your Nitrite reading is, with one water change per week, and only a handfull of salt in a 3x5 tank holding 2000 fish. I would think it would be off the chart.

[RedBullHorn]

Two handfull maybe?

Aitch, as your fishes grow bigger, you should consider shorten the period you do your water change,

say maybe 5 days instead of a week...

[RedBullHorn]

And try not to scrub away the Schmutzdecke that build up in your tank (the green stuff) when you do water change,

It does a lot of wonders in your tank.