The 'Other' Catfish Thread

[David48]

Apart from Tilapia, Big Head Carp, the common White Shrimp/Prawn, the larger BlueClaw Shrimp/Prawn, the Farm also grows and harvests commercially Catfish.

It's not a huge pond, maybe 15m X 40m but it does supply some cashflow on a different cycle then the Tilapia and the Prawns, the 2 main income sources at the Farm.

Of course, not to rival the King of the Catfish, Khun RedBullHorn ... I mentioned it to him earlier this year and he generously consented to publication ...

It will be based on images and YouTubes with a bit of explanation from me.

Images such as the above.

The pond, late in the afternoon, maybe 2/3rds drained. The hired Farm Hand, his (working) partner. Plus a cameo for the Thai Family, complete with the Twins off for a relative visit on the right of image.

Plus, this will be my 15,000^th Post

... no where better then the Farming Forum to do that with material I like to share with Farming Folk I like to share with.

[pigeonjake]

15,000 posts david,

were did you find the time to ather them beautiful boys of yours,,

well done mate,

and may i add some very good threads and posts

[David48]

15,000 posts david,

were did you find the time to ather them beautiful boys of yours,,

well done mate,

and may i add some very good threads and posts

Thanks pj ... appreciated. And you are spot on. There was very little new media captured this time.

Probably one of the reasons that I do this is to demonstrate how the Thai's Farm when they have total control over inputs, farming methods etc.

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[David48]

So, taken at about the same time as the image in the OP was taken, the YouTube below shows the scale of the pond.

The pond being drained, the steepness of the banks of the pond and just a nice Sunset through the Banana leaves.

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[David48]

Work on the Farm usually starts with the Sun ... the Catfish Harvest was no different.

Snapped on the way to the Pond

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[David48]

A panorama of the morning scene before the Crew arrives for the Harvest looking towards the morning's sleepy sun ... or maybe that should have been the sleepy photographer!

So, from that image above, describing from left to right.

Far left of frame is the mechanical water pump, powered by a car engine strapped to a water screw.

Blue hose is a 2 inch pipe used later for cleaning the gear, the emptying pond.

There the dog is the egress point for the catch as it's transferred to a holding net in an adjacent pond.

There is thick plastic on that pond bank to make it easier to haul the nets up and to stop the net fowling in the mud.

Plus a large piece of hard plastic once the catch hits the top of the bank, where the dog is.

That holding pond you can see right of frame.

Those banana trees are the ones you see in the opening YouTube.

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[cdmtdm]

i have been made aware of a new strain of Catfish being bred here for commercial sales , in particular for the export market ( fingerlings) ..apparently a cross between two strains ..african /thai ..i will ask my Thai friend who is the breeder, if he would like to post on here with more information ..i believe that the upside is many ..again dont quote me ..but i believe they breed all year round , lower FCR , and faster growth with more flesh .....we have just swapped our AP system over to Pla Duk after the last Tilapia harvest .. so far so good..

cheers

[nitecm]

Have started to sell the cat fish at 50 to 60 baht per kg

Only reared 5000 and used 45 sack of feed for three months

The weight is about 4 to5 per kg

Just sold around 300 kg

Currently use the mixer of ground corn, rice, rice bran and the rice husk to feed them

Because after dehusk the rice, there broken rice, the husk and the bran are mixed together and is too tedious to separate them

The catfish consummed them as usual.

So still do not know how much to loss because the scale is small so the cost of feed and fingerling is high

The fatality is almost zero.

[cdmtdm]

thanks nitecm ... i am a little confused over your post ....are you making your own feed and the weight of each bag is 4 to 5 kg ? what sort of fcr do you get with that mix of feed ? and what is your profit margin when selling the fish at 50 to 60 baht per kg ? cheers

[nitecm]

cdmtdm

I used 45x30kg comercial feed for three months for 5000 fishes . Each pack cost 600+ Now I use corn ,broken rice,rice husk and rice bran to feed them and the fish like it

I do not know the FCR because I sell the fish slowly to the villages and most of them still inside the pond .

It look like going to make a lost .

May be I can try once without commercial feed to check the profitability

[cdmtdm]

thanks for the reply ..if my maths is correct you used 45 bags x 30 kg = 1350kg @approx 600 baht each = 27,000 baht ...

5000 fish @ 1 kg =5000 kg @ 50baht/kilo = 250,000 baht ...deduct 27,000 baht in feed = 223,000 baht profit ...

now i dont know what size your fish are now at average weight, but those numbers stack up very nicely if they are 1kg ..the only variable is how many fish of the 5000 u still have alive and then of course average weight ..... can you let me know those numbers ? avg weight and estimate of how many left living?

cheers

[nitecm]

thanks for the reply ..if my maths is correct you used 45 bags x 30 kg = 1350kg @approx 600 baht each = 27,000 baht ...

5000 fish @ 1 kg =5000 kg @ 50baht/kilo = 250,000 baht ...deduct 27,000 baht in feed = 223,000 baht profit ...

now i dont know what size your fish are now at average weight, but those numbers stack up very nicely if they are 1kg ..the only variable is how many fish of the 5000 u still have alive and then of course average weight ..... can you let me know those numbers ? avg weight and estimate of how many left living?

cheers

About 5 fish per1kg currently but most of the fish still swim inside the pond.But most Thai still prefer to eat pla nin I will switch to pla nin

[cdmtdm]

ok it would be a mistake to switch to pla nin.... imo....do the math , i just moved away from pla nin ...keep feeding the ones u have until at least 1/2 kilo , now they are too small

[Jotham79]

thanks for the reply ..if my maths is correct you used 45 bags x 30 kg = 1350kg @approx 600 baht each = 27,000 baht ...

5000 fish @ 1 kg =5000 kg @ 50baht/kilo = 250,000 baht ...deduct 27,000 baht in feed = 223,000 baht profit ...

now i dont know what size your fish are now at average weight, but those numbers stack up very nicely if they are 1kg ..the only variable is how many fish of the 5000 u still have alive and then of course average weight ..... can you let me know those numbers ? avg weight and estimate of how many left living?

cheers

He is selling fish that are between 200 and 250 grams and he sold 300 kg so he sold between 1200 and 1500 fish leaving around 3500. BTW, a 1kg pla duk would be difficult to sell in volume.

A question for the OP; How did you get 30 kg bags of comercial fish feed? Everything around here comes in 20 kg bags Also you could feed cracked corn , but you should soak it for a few days or boil it.

[nitecm]

20kg because I confuse with the commercial feed of the chicken.

Grind the corn and the rice husk with the broken rice and rice bran together

The villages don't bother the size of the fish

thanks for the reply ..if my maths is correct you used 45 bags x 30 kg = 1350kg @approx 600 baht each = 27,000 baht ...

5000 fish @ 1 kg =5000 kg @ 50baht/kilo = 250,000 baht ...deduct 27,000 baht in feed = 223,000 baht profit ...

now i dont know what size your fish are now at average weight, but those numbers stack up very nicely if they are 1kg ..the only variable is how many fish of the 5000 u still have alive and then of course average weight ..... can you let me know those numbers ? avg weight and estimate of how many left living?

cheers

He is selling fish that are between 200 and 250 grams and he sold 300 kg so he sold between 1200 and 1500 fish leaving around 3500. BTW, a 1kg pla duk would be difficult to sell in volume.

A question for the OP; How did you get 30 kg bags of comercial fish feed? Everything around here comes in 20 kg bags Also you could feed cracked corn , but you should soak it for a few days or boil it.

[cdmtdm]

your feed cost 600thb plus seems very high ....i know the quality varies but we pay much less than that ....

[loong]

your feed cost 600thb plus seems very high ....i know the quality varies but we pay much less than that ....

Definitely too high if 20Kg sacks. We only keep a few catfish and 30 Baht per kilo is the price when buying in 1 kilo bags. 20Kg sacks are around 460 Baht

[RedBullHorn]

nitecm family live in the mountain area of CM, we've met as he had visited me for inquiry in raring Big Oui catfish (hybrid). The price he got is the price I got for a grade A feed in term RRP (Recommended Retail Price)... My "Premium grade" feed (not grade A ) is slightly lower because I am a "6 wheeler truck" bulk buyer at "factory price". In CM and CR (northern most) the transportation cost is higher hence the expensive feed price. His market (niche) is mostly cater to his wife own community, so sizes doesn't matter.

[David48]

< snip >

Hi there Big Fella ... was wondering when you would drop by.

Always welcome ...

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[RedBullHorn]

I have been watching this thread since the beginning ... Too tipsy some times and too high on most times, got drunk for the past 3 days ... Can't seem to type any word correctly... so just kept quite and just read...

Will be sober for the next 1 hour only... so better type the words down now. I hitting the bottle again later...

Edited November 8, 2014 by RedBullHorn

[weedywhaoo]

gratulations to 15000 posts David.

Me and wifey are now doing plausible on a larger scale. We are struggling to keep feed costs down. We buy in bulk from CP and 20 kg is about 460-490 depending on protein.

We also grind chicken waste and price is 5-11 baht per kilo depending on what part of the chicken. We mix this with 10% rice bran. Still would like to find other feed sources to keep costs down.

I have tried to look for soyabean waste and peanut waste but no luck.

Anyone with a decent idea to keep feed costs down is welcome to share.

Hope to make my first harvest this month. Just waiting and hope price will go up a bit this month. Last month price was was 37 baht for big ones plaa boo. 40 baht plaa yang and 38 baht plaa kem smaller ones.

[weedywhaoo]

Plausible should be fishfarm. Sorry. God dam spelling program.

[RedBullHorn]

The FCR range of CP feed is 1.51:1 - 1.538 :1... (tested with 1 pond... with insurance for failure)

For hybrid species Big Oui

If size pla bo (as in jumbo size 2,3) is 37, it is a loss;

Pla yang (as in roasted) is 40, it is a loss;

The rest .........

For Pla duk Latsia

Pla bo is in the range of 35-38

Pla yang is also within the above mention price range...

One needs to understand the supply and demand and also the previous year/s market history. While everybody is stuck in the queue waiting their turn to sell their ponds and ponds of fishes, I'm in the clear rearing my fingerlings for next year harvest on the March period... (hybrid - Big Oui)

I sold my last batch of 135'000 in August for the 48/kg... and then I have no fishes for raining season, I stop raring ! (because I know this is the time the bubble will burst with people jumping into the wagons and the outpour of river fishes flooding the markets)

Everybody jump in when the supply is short and farmgate price is exceptionally good... the bubble will burst and everybody will get caught eventually.

Good luck and happy farming~

[weedywhaoo]

Good answer rbh. When you get paid 48 baht per kilo is that net or do the buyer deduct like 6% like betagro does?

[RedBullHorn]

NETT ! Because I got my own network... and my network of wholesalers drink ฿500 of liquor per harvesting day.

Edited November 11, 2014 by RedBullHorn

[weedywhaoo]

Well gratulations to you rbh. Down here in Saraburi area prices are lower for some reason. I keep contact with 4 different buyers plus the big fish market in chasoengsao. Still prices are not close to 48 baht here. Hopefully it will reach that in January when the next batch is to be harvested.

[RedBullHorn]

The prices for this period (for hybrid Big Oui) is range between ฿40- ฿45 in Chiang Rai, we up north are paid the highest due to high transportation cost of commercial feed.

Nobody else will get ฿48 in other province...period~

Market will bounce back around new year - January period.

Edited November 11, 2014 by RedBullHorn

[weedywhaoo]

I just have to do the best with the prices here.

[RedBullHorn]

The prices are fixed, there's nothing you can do... Finding alternative feed protein is not going to help with FCR, just a waste of money... If you got it wrong, you have got it wrong. It will take a long time to find out how to get things right...

Edited November 11, 2014 by RedBullHorn

[weedywhaoo]

Well I did not expect to make millions the first years. By learning day by day and having a mentor teaching me, I hope that there will be enough profit to live a modest life here. Future will tell.