Advice Needed About Tilapia Farm

[humyai]

My step mum has a lot of land in Roi Et province and she said me and my girlfriend can use some for whatever we want to do, so i've been thinking about starting fish Farming and decided to start with just one rai for a practice run and to learn as much as possible.

Also im going to start with Tilapia, and use greenwater method.

From searching the forums and other member posts here's what i know so far.

First check that the soil can hold water.

Then find a suitable water source.

When constructing the pond it should be 1.2-1.5 m in the center to 50cm to the edges with a 5 to 1 ratio to prevent erosion.

Rectangle ponds seem to perform better than square ponds.

Use 12kg of triple super phosphate 0-40-0 and 6kg of nitrogen 16-20-0 to create greenwater and leave for ten to 15 days to settle.

Add 5kg of 0-45-0 phosphate per month.

1000-1500 tilapia per rai.

But i still have a few questions.

Is it a necessity that it has to be situated near a water source i.e river or canal?

How do i test that soil can hold water?

Does the pond need an inlet and outlet?

Does the pond need aeration?

I noticed that some CF farmers put lights above their ponds for the CF to eat would this work with tilapia?

Could i construct another pond parallel with a pipe connecting the two, when harvest time comes open the pipe to allow the water to flow to the other pond with a net attached to catch the fish, or would it more more cost effective just to pump the pond to harvest it?

I appreciate any advice from all members.

cheers.

[humyai]

ok so ive answered most of the questions by reading alot more back threads, ive decided aeration is best but im not sure what is the best type for 1 rai pond.

would appreciate it if anyone could point me in the right direction, bear in mind the pond would be a fair distance from the house so no electric,

cheers

[ozzydom]

ok so ive answered most of the questions by reading alot more back threads, ive decided aeration is best but im not sure what is the best type for 1 rai pond.

would appreciate it if anyone could point me in the right direction, bear in mind the pond would be a fair distance from the house so no electric,

cheers

humyai, if the pond(s) is going to be to far from your house to run an electric line ,forget the idea , the poachers will clean you out quicker than a rat up a drain pipe.

to test water holding qualities the best way is to dig a test pit about 1.5 metres deep fill it with water and check the results.

Yes, to farm Tilapia commercially you really need a water source, it does not take long for soakage and evaporation to get rid of your water, you also need to be able to do water changes (or partial) and top up on a regular basis.

Aerators can be run by a petrol engine ,but the period aeration is needed is between midnight and dawn which is the period when oxygen levels are lowest and nitrate is highest.

It would be no fun stumbling to the pond at midnight to run the pump for 2 hours and again at 5am.

In short I think there are to many factors against you to fish farm that particular site.

dom

[humyai]

Hi ozzy

Thanks for your reply, been a while since i last checked this.

Ive now managed to find some land running parallel to a klong which already holds a small pond for fish, also has electric too.

To start with im going to use the existing pond just drain it and start again with just tilapia, no aeration with 100 fish.

The ponds going to be 1/10th of a rai to see how i go which should be 4 metres by 4 metres is that right?

Also how much supplementary feeding do you feed per rai? so i can scale it down to one tenth.

[ozzydom]

Hi ozzy

Thanks for your reply, been a while since i last checked this.

Ive now managed to find some land running parallel to a klong which already holds a small pond for fish, also has electric too.

To start with im going to use the existing pond just drain it and start again with just tilapia, no aeration with 100 fish.

The ponds going to be 1/10th of a rai to see how i go which should be 4 metres by 4 metres is that right?

Also how much supplementary feeding do you feed per rai? so i can scale it down to one tenth.

With 100 fish,while they are fry ,feed them on frog food,4 times a day a desert spoon should do.

By observing them you will get to recognise when they have had enough each feed .

At fry stage you can go to the smallest size pellett (use catfish feed at about 35-40% protein) again feed till satiated.

Tilapia grow quickly till about 300 gram then they taper off,we feed high protein catfish pellets till that time then revert to supplementary feeding with lower protein herbacious fish pellets.

If you want them to grow quickly ,keep them on catfish pellets 30% protein or better.

We dont ,as we allow longer growing period which suits our market and keeps our FCR down hence more profit.

By feeding high protein food you can grow Tilapia to 500-600gram in about 4 months but your costs get pretty high which means your profit margin suffers.

With our particular market ,sales are slow between Songkarn and rice harvest apart from a spurt at planting times so we can usually sell all stock by Songkarn then we only have feeding and maintenance for 6 months.

This year we look to do about 6 tonne from end of October to April.

with our new system in place (replacement stock been in for 3 weeks) our fish should reach 800-900 gram by end of october next which should lift our output by another 2 tonne.

From size 300gram to market size we feed 5 kg per 2000 fish twice a day.

[humyai]

Hi ozzy

Thanks for your reply, been a while since i last checked this.

Ive now managed to find some land running parallel to a klong which already holds a small pond for fish, also has electric too.

To start with im going to use the existing pond just drain it and start again with just tilapia, no aeration with 100 fish.

The ponds going to be 1/10th of a rai to see how i go which should be 4 metres by 4 metres is that right?

Also how much supplementary feeding do you feed per rai? so i can scale it down to one tenth.

With 100 fish,while they are fry ,feed them on frog food,4 times a day a desert spoon should do.

By observing them you will get to recognise when they have had enough each feed .

At fry stage you can go to the smallest size pellett (use catfish feed at about 35-40% protein) again feed till satiated.

Tilapia grow quickly till about 300 gram then they taper off,we feed high protein catfish pellets till that time then revert to supplementary feeding with lower protein herbacious fish pellets.

If you want them to grow quickly ,keep them on catfish pellets 30% protein or better.

We dont ,as we allow longer growing period which suits our market and keeps our FCR down hence more profit.

By feeding high protein food you can grow Tilapia to 500-600gram in about 4 months but your costs get pretty high which means your profit margin suffers.

With our particular market ,sales are slow between Songkarn and rice harvest apart from a spurt at planting times so we can usually sell all stock by Songkarn then we only have feeding and maintenance for 6 months.

This year we look to do about 6 tonne from end of October to April.

with our new system in place (replacement stock been in for 3 weeks) our fish should reach 800-900 gram by end of october next which should lift our output by another 2 tonne.

From size 300gram to market size we feed 5 kg per 2000 fish twice a day.

much thanks again for such an informative reply.

so just to confirm while they are fry stage feed them on frog food OR high protein catfish pellet or did you mean when they are fry then feed them frog food until they reach fingerling size and then feed pellet?

The market here seems to prefer fish around the 1 kilo mark since that's all that's available at the local market, so I think a longer growing period with lower protein pellet would suit me more to maximise profit.

A few more questions for you if you don't mind, when i drain the current pond should i use a herbicide and pesticide?

also I'm a bit worried about pests, eggs and other nasties coming from the klong when i do a water exchange, would a fine mesh net attached to the pump be enough to eliminate this problem?

cheers

[David48]

Just a suggestion but read my post # 17 over at

The links at the bottom might help you ... you have sooooooooooooo much to learn grasshopper ... I hope you have deep pockets and an alternative source of income!

[ozzydom]

Hi ozzy

Thanks for your reply, been a while since i last checked this.

Ive now managed to find some land running parallel to a klong which already holds a small pond for fish, also has electric too.

To start with im going to use the existing pond just drain it and start again with just tilapia, no aeration with 100 fish.

The ponds going to be 1/10th of a rai to see how i go which should be 4 metres by 4 metres is that right?

Also how much supplementary feeding do you feed per rai? so i can scale it down to one tenth.

With 100 fish,while they are fry ,feed them on frog food,4 times a day a desert spoon should do.

By observing them you will get to recognise when they have had enough each feed .

At fry stage you can go to the smallest size pellett (use catfish feed at about 35-40% protein) again feed till satiated.

Tilapia grow quickly till about 300 gram then they taper off,we feed high protein catfish pellets till that time then revert to supplementary feeding with lower protein herbacious fish pellets.

If you want them to grow quickly ,keep them on catfish pellets 30% protein or better.

We dont ,as we allow longer growing period which suits our market and keeps our FCR down hence more profit.

By feeding high protein food you can grow Tilapia to 500-600gram in about 4 months but your costs get pretty high which means your profit margin suffers.

With our particular market ,sales are slow between Songkarn and rice harvest apart from a spurt at planting times so we can usually sell all stock by Songkarn then we only have feeding and maintenance for 6 months.

This year we look to do about 6 tonne from end of October to April.

with our new system in place (replacement stock been in for 3 weeks) our fish should reach 800-900 gram by end of october next which should lift our output by another 2 tonne.

From size 300gram to market size we feed 5 kg per 2000 fish twice a day.

much thanks again for such an informative reply.

so just to confirm while they are fry stage feed them on frog food OR high protein catfish pellet or did you mean when they are fry then feed them frog food until they reach fingerling size and then feed pellet?

The market here seems to prefer fish around the 1 kilo mark since that's all that's available at the local market, so I think a longer growing period with lower protein pellet would suit me more to maximise profit.

A few more questions for you if you don't mind, when i drain the current pond should i use a herbicide and pesticide?

also I'm a bit worried about pests, eggs and other nasties coming from the klong when i do a water exchange, would a fine mesh net attached to the pump be enough to eliminate this problem?

cheers

Hi L, sorry for the tardy reply ,have been on R&R in Cambo.

Feed the fry on frog food until fingerling size or thereabouts then change to high protein smallest pellet size catfish feed.

The fish you see at the markets are usually from CP farms on the Mekong ,that is all they supply , but you will find that Thais prefer Pla Nin at 400-500 gram if they can get them.

You will only need to poison if there are indications of small fish in the puddles after you pump the pond. at this time of year its better to dig a sump hole to get as much water out as possible , toss about 5 bags of Poon Kao (lime )around and let dry for a few weeks before refilling.

Buy a suitably sized perforated rubbish basket to slip over the pickup and cover the whole thing with that fine blue mesh ,(most small shops that sell nets etc sell pull string bags made from that material which are ideal.

cheers

dom

[RDahlin]

i am about 100 km north of korat, between Sida and Chayaphoum ,   can someone give me a location where i can buy fingerling talapia.   

[CLW]

i am about 100 km north of korat, between Sida and Chayaphoum ,   can someone give me a location where i can buy fingerling talapia.   

You could contact your provincial branch of Department of Fisheries. They probably sell by themselves or can point you to a commercial farm.
If you raise the fish for meat consider buying hormone treated sexed fish.
Otherwise you end up with small fingerlings.

[JungleBiker]

A lot of the tilapia fry sold all over Thailand originate from Nam Sai Farms: https://web.facebook.com/namsaifarms/?_rdc=1&_rdr website http://www.tilapiathai.com 

Been going more than 25 years. 

Owned/run by a British aquaculture specialist.  

[Singhajon]

10th of a Rai is 160sqm = 12.65m x 12.65m

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