Farming Giant Freshwater Shrimp

[ozzydom]

Before I get into the bones of my experiences with Giant koong I will emphasise that I try to research the subject as much as possible prior to jumping in.

To this end, I tormented piss out of the Inland Fisheries folk,Googled heaps and spent a couple of days at a large prawn farm at Kalasin.

The prawn farm was a reminder of how to do things well and economically with minimal cost and outlay.

The farm I visited had 20 odd ponds of 1/2 -1 rai ,and at 50cm, fairly shallow.

The ponds are located on a sloping hillside(probably 20 to 1 slope),no pumping is employed as the water is supplied from a Government canal that runs along the highes;t ridge in the area,and getting water takes no more effort than opening a sluice gate, payment is per hour of use not quantity.

To harvest prawns you simply open a pipe on the low side of the pond,the prawns are retained in a net fitted to the outlet .

This farm got their prawn spawn in 1000,000 larvae batches which were put into a 1 rai pond and then distributed to the smaller grow on ponds as required.

When they were harvesting they merely advised their Bangkok agent who would bring any food etc in a refrigerated truck and take back the harvested prawns.easy peasy..

Giant koong can grow to pretty big brutes, I was lucky enough to partake in a couple of feeds of 1/'2 pound prawns 0(4 fish = 1 k g )from a pond maintained for family and special order.

Now ,my venture was to ascertain whether I could grow them successfully and was our pond setup and water quality suitable.

I did everything arse about face ,as the fishes livability was the concern and if we got a feed out of them,so much the better

March 2012 I introduced 10,000 larvae into a 1 rai pond ranging from 50-- 90 cm deep which was already inhabited by more than 2000 Pla Nin of 3 months of age,of course prawn larvae are Tilapias natural food but this was a cheap set and forget exercise(cost= a princely 1500 baht).so what the heck.

Fisheries had told me not to expect to see the prawns for months, and they were right, 6 months actually, and one early morning in September She who thinks she is boss" pulls me out of bed to lookky looky,well there there were nice size prawns right around the pond ,many as thick as a mans thumb (the males).

The reason they were up around the pond edges was either oxygen depletion or an ammonia bloom,anyway they went about their business about 30 minutes after I fired up the aerator pump.

I was told to expect 50% mortality as normal but we had 60% which considering they had the Pla Nin munching on them was way above our expectations.

As is our normal practice, when about 1/2 a pond is harvested for sale we pump about 1/2 the ponds capacity out to make for easier netting,this was when Thai wives show us why we keep them,wifey caught over 2000 in 4 mornings by hand,slithering around in oozy mud and 50cm of water,(I had to stay clean to make the coffee .

Another 2000 were harvested at final pump out and about 1500 hundred females and small males transferred to a pond with 2000 Pla NIn of only a months growth., however owing to a health problem with that shipment of fry, I had to treat the pond with Kondy,s Crystals and I might have killed the prawns in doing so,but time will tell.

Anyway I will carry on the experiment ,I have on order 20,000 larvae for delivery next month which will do two ponds.

Wifey tells me she sold 100kg at 250baht per,so considering my total outlay was 1500 baht it was ok.

[RedBullHorn]

฿250/kg (100kg), i think you could up the bet 10 times for the next "set & forget".

฿15'000 in exchange for ฿250'000 this September... fat bonus !

[ozzydom]

฿250/kg (100kg), i think you could up the bet 10 times for the next "set & forget".

฿15'000 in exchange for ฿250'000 this September... fat bonus !

Hi RBH, sounds good but the 100 kg flooded our local market so a different marketing strategy is called for.

Fish are our bread and butter so to dedicate ponds to prawn and lose that carring capacity calls for rethink.

As prawns are usually harvested in one go (freshies dont trap like the white prawns),I am contemplating growing them on to larger size (and higher price) where it would be worthwhile hand catching and market to the top end on order (motels restaurants etc),initial responses are encouraging.

With more air pump capacity I could raise the carrying capacity of the ponds (with its extra risks)so that we can cater for our local fish sales.

I dont mind having surplus fish as we just grow them on,but not being able to satisfy our customers gives me a pain.

[David48]

ozzydom ... great that you have posted a 'meaty thread' ...

Feeding regime for the prawns?

Or did they feed 'naturally' from what filtered down from the Tilapia?

And feeding the Tilapia is your standard algae method that you have mentioned before?

So many questions to inquire about ...

[David48]

OH ... and is this what we are talking about?

[Khutan]

Very interesting and thank you for sharing your experience

[xen]

Hi Ozzydom , Just out of curiosity have you tried Marron or would it be just too difficult to do in Thailand ? I don't know much about them except somebody told me they can walk across land to find new waterways and you find an empty pond in the morning. They are a big industry in Western Australia and they do taste good....... especially if cooked on the barbie .

[ozzydom]

ozzydom ... great that you have posted a 'meaty thread' ...

Feeding regime for the prawns?

Or did they feed 'naturally' from what filtered down from the Tilapia?

And feeding the Tilapia is your standard algae method that you have mentioned before?

So many questions to inquire about ...

If feeding naturally is eating <deleted> ,then yes.

Pla Nin only get supplementary pellets,2.5kg per 1000 once a day

[ozzydom]

Hi Ozzydom , Just out of curiosity have you tried Marron or would it be just too difficult to do in Thailand ? I don't know much about them except somebody told me they can walk across land to find new waterways and you find an empty pond in the morning. They are a big industry in Western Australia and they do taste good....... especially if cooked on the barbie .

Hi xen, I believe you can buy "blue claws" in the Bangkok markets ,there have been threads on them over the years,

I see no reason why they could not be grown here,personally I am not a fan of introducing species,but your right,they are good tucker.

[jayci]

Very nice information. Good to know that Giant koong and pha nin can co-exist.

I am wanting to setup and fish/prawn farm just undecided as to whether to go as fish intensive/few prawns or go prawn intensive/few fish.

And at $250/kg very attractive price.

[jema]

Very helpful, as Giant Koong growing is one of the things I want to start in the near future.

Did you buy the Larvaes in the Prawn Farm at Kalasin?

[Jotham79]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this but here goes. I've go a bunch of prawn in one of my ponds and want to clean the pond out. The wife doesn't want to as the prawns are all loaded with eggs. As I understand it they won't produce any larva in a pond on their own. Is this correct?

Thanks,

[ozzydom]

Very helpful, as Giant Koong growing is one of the things I want to start in the near future.

Did you buy the Larvaes in the Prawn Farm at Kalasin?

Dept of Inland Fisheries at Udon Thani

[ozzydom]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this but here goes. I've go a bunch of prawn in one of my ponds and want to clean the pond out. The wife doesn't want to as the prawns are all loaded with eggs. As I understand it they won't produce any larva in a pond on their own. Is this correct?

Thanks,

You are correct,but I bet wifey wont admit she is wrong

[sjefrie]

Farming freshwater prawns
A manual for the culture of the giant river prawn

http://library.enaca.org/Shrimp/Publications/FAO_Macrobrachium_manual_2003.pdf

[klubex99]

Hi Ozzydom

You say that your average weight was 25g per head at 6 months.

If these can grow up to 250g a head, did you learn how long this would take?

Also would you say these are 100% organic?

[laochef]

Here in Laos, a farmer a bit north of Vientiane grows Yabbies. Medium size: 16/kg 400 THB; Larger: 6 - 8/kg 800 THB.

[slapout]

Here in Laos, a farmer a bit north of Vientiane grows Yabbies. Medium size: 16/kg 400 THB; Larger: 6 - 8/kg 800 THB.

Friends in south La. US told me in Febuary that they were getting 2 dollar a pound, We used to have a big annual crawfish boil for the village/town 1970's. Cooked up about 5000 pounds and bought them for about 15 to 20 cents a pound. The beer and potato was the expensive part of the feed. When crawfish finished, shrimp season opened, then crabbing, oyster, flondering, and finally duck season in the fall. We just did not know what we had at the time, in quanity nor quality.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Great post Ozzy, but we really do need a photo of the wife 'slithering around in oozy mud'.

[ttwitt]

Farming freshwater prawns

A manual for the culture of the giant river prawn

http://library.enaca.org/Shrimp/Publications/FAO_Macrobrachium_manual_2003.pdf

quick glance confirms what i vaguely recall: you gotta have some salty water in there somewhere to do breeding.

[MrOdyssey]

Hello Ozzydom,

Well done. I stumbled on this a little bit late. I'm planning on stocking my aquaponic plant growing troughs (raft aquaponics, deep water channel) with these prawns at a rate of 10/m2. There will be aeration and the water will be recirculating. Only 36m2 to start with so that's only 360 prawns. Do you know where you can buy juveniles?

If you want your prawns to grow fast and and have a superior color, do some research about Thai fairy shrimp. Actually, wait until I finish an article I'm writing for my website (blog) which will contain sort of a definitive guide. I'll post a link here when I've uploaded it (in a few days).

Laochef, could you provide more information about the farm doing yabbies north of Vientiane. I'm in Vientiane at this moment. Yabbies, if I remember correctly, like to tunnel and eat each other. I'd like to do red claw, but I can't find them.

Ozzydom, you've probably mentioned it in another thread, but I'm curious what you sell your tilapia for. In Laos on the Bolaven Plateau where my farm is they are retailing for 30,000 kip (more than 100 baht). Also, I'm going to have to "thin" my tilapia population. Is there any market that you know of for, say, 200 to 300g fish?

[ozzydom]

Hello Ozzydom,

Well done. I stumbled on this a little bit late. I'm planning on stocking my aquaponic plant growing troughs (raft aquaponics, deep water channel) with these prawns at a rate of 10/m2. There will be aeration and the water will be recirculating. Only 36m2 to start with so that's only 360 prawns. Do you know where you can buy juveniles?

If you want your prawns to grow fast and and have a superior color, do some research about Thai fairy shrimp. Actually, wait until I finish an article I'm writing for my website (blog) which will contain sort of a definitive guide. I'll post a link here when I've uploaded it (in a few days).

Laochef, could you provide more information about the farm doing yabbies north of Vientiane. I'm in Vientiane at this moment. Yabbies, if I remember correctly, like to tunnel and eat each other. I'd like to do red claw, but I can't find them.

Ozzydom, you've probably mentioned it in another thread, but I'm curious what you sell your tilapia for. In Laos on the Bolaven Plateau where my farm is they are retailing for 30,000 kip (more than 100 baht). Also, I'm going to have to "thin" my tilapia population. Is there any market that you know of for, say, 200 to 300g fish?

Top price in the markets is 90 baht kg,these fish are mainly supplied to vendors by CP from the Mekong cage growers.

As all our sales are farm door we have been at 80 baht kg for a couple of years.

I dont know of a market for 200-300 g fish at this time,as most ponds are still dry.