Fish For New Pond.what Type?

[khunandy]

G'day,

I havent posted for a while but have had my nose to the grindstone in Perth and offshore China. In the meantime we have have the earth works on our land done and now the pond has water (seems to be minimal seepage) so thats a good start.

The wife and I will now be based in Issan for the next few months supervising the house building etc.

Todays question is: What are recomendations for fish stock for the pond. The wife is very keen on buying a quantity of fingerlings started and my web searching today has led me to be leaning towards Nile Telapia (spelling?).

Can anyone give me a bit of advice, and if they need feeding etc until the pond developes its own ecosystem?

The pond holds approx 1500 cubic metres and has been fed only by rainwater but a bore is going to be installed next dry season.

Any hints, tips would be appreciated.

Bye the way...it is sooooo good to be back!!! We have the best of both worlds splitting our time between Thailand and Perth but bloody hel_l my senses come alive when I come here.

Cheers to all

Khun Andy

[RamdomChances]

Black Nile Telapia-Pla nin, Red Nile Telapia- Pla tap tin

Pla Tap Tin need running water to do well, so I've been told. Pla Nin do well in ponds, you can buy different species some growing quite big others only about 6 inches, so check what you buy. I only found this out while tryiong to work out why mine were'nt growing and someone told me that, that particular species does'nt get any bigger!!

Are you looking to do this comercialy or to just supply yourself with fish ?

If it's commercial you will obviously stock at a higher rate and have to give more feed. Pla Nin and Pla dook (cat fish) go well together. The Pla Nin are veggies and the catfish eat anything. Cow manure is often used for "greening up " the water. If your looking just to stock for yourself I'd recon on about 500-1000 fish.

Last year I did 1000 of each Pla Nin and Pla Dook in a pond about half that size feeding only about a kilo of food a day (20 Bhat). We ate loads, sold some in the shop and gave loads away to family and neibours, I probably broke even. I have overflow problems on the pond so we are'nt going to do that many until I've sorted it. This year the pond is still teaming with fish from the babies of the last lot. I'm thinking of introducing about 10-20 Pla Chon in there to keep the numbers down (Pla Chon is a carnivore). I'm not feeding them this year but I should still easily keep us in fish

Toping you from a bore can be expencive, even if you have no seepage and loose just 1cm a day in evaporation that would work out on a 1 Rai pond to 16 cube a day just to keep the level. I have a bore as well, last year during dry season I would have to open the fill for the bore for about 6 hour a day just to keep a level. Apparently pond sort of self seal over time so don't be supprised that in the first year or so you loose quite a bit from seepage.

[khunandy]

Black Nile Telapia-Pla nin, Red Nile Telapia- Pla tap tin

Pla Tap Tin need running water to do well, so I've been told. Pla Nin do well in ponds, you can buy different species some growing quite big others only about 6 inches, so check what you buy. I only found this out while tryiong to work out why mine were'nt growing and someone told me that, that particular species does'nt get any bigger!!

Thanks for that random chances.I think I will go for the Pla nin.

Khun Andy

[TBWG]

G'day,

Todays question is: What are recomendations for fish stock for the pond. The wife is very keen on buying a quantity of fingerlings started and my web searching today has led me to be leaning towards Nile Telapia (spelling?).

Hi Khun Andy

From my own experience Pla nin is the way to go fairly trouble free. However pond is another matter!

Mine fluctuates between 3 meters+ and half meter in depth depending on the season and shows only minor signs of sealing itself after 4 years. When water is low water temperature is higher and fish need shade of some discription as they are unable to go deeper to find cool water.

Under no circumstances be tempted to put those large lilies in the pond, in no time they will completely take over and are b****y difficult to get rid of!! Think they are called pandocks or something similar anyway you see them growing everywhere.

I have a borehole which I intended to use to top up pond when necessary but the water that comes out of it is very rich in magnesium and turns purple with a scum on top. Bearing in mind my pond is in the garden and supposed to be a feature it has not been very sucessful, yes it looks nice in wet season but is an eyesore rest of year., so much so that unless I can find some way of retaining the water I may fill it in.

Hope I have not put you off, but best to be prepared for downside as well...good luck

TBWG

[phibunmike]

I have a mixture if Pla Nin and - can't remember. (Is Tilapia called Pla Nin, or is that the other one ???)

Make sure you have no catfish in that pond, as they seem to eat the fingerlings. I have catfish in a separate pond, where some of the larger other fish are also transferred.

Those lilies are not a problem for me - I like them but the fish have eaten them all !!

[RamdomChances]

^ Pla Nin is a species of tilapia. I've always done Pla Nin and catfish (pal dook) and the catfish don't eat the pla nin. I've lost count of the ammount of thai people that tell me they do....but in my experiance they dont, are you going on experince or what someones told you ?. Now mixing pla chon (snake head fish) in is a different story

[khunandy]

Hi all,

The minister for War and Finance came home with a two bags of juviniles today, 700 Pla Nin and 300 Pla Tap Tin (?) so we will see how they go. Apparently 700 baht for both.

Just one more thing, I was reading an interview with a Thai Restauranteur (ex American) and he grows American Crawfish on a property in Kanchanaburi.

Has anyone any experience in hearing about or farming any type of Cray (Craw) fish. I am not aware of any Thai native Crawfish or yabbies as we call them in Australia but they would be great in a farm pond in Thailand. There must be some law about bringing other species into Thailand but who knows.

I might try and track the guy down when I am in Bangkok next, far easier than prawns I imagine if kept to a small/hobby situation.

Any info??

Khun Andy

[Crushdepth]

I have heard of Australian redclaw (a tropical yabby) being grown experimentally in Thailand. It is definitely available in Jatujak, along with a few other species (there's a small red Japanese one as well). Maybe a friendly vendor will tell you who can supply them.

I think you might be better off giving the giant freshwater prawn a go. They are native, tough as buggery and grow a hel_l of a lot bigger than yabbies! Taste better too - bbq with spicy sauce...

Another advantage of growing the giant freshwater prawn is that there is a comprehensive manual available for free download. Unlike yabbies they are well-known product in the marketplace here, not difficult to sell.

[Pond Life]

Im unable to download the huge comprehensive manual for Giant fresh water prawns at the moment, will have to wait until Im on a better conection.

Can anyone tell me if the juveniles are available anywhere in the north, preferably Chiang Mai or Mae Hongson.

I've been trying to track them down for ages but just get blank stares when I ask about them.

Also does anyone know off the top of their heads about water temp requirements for GFWP.

Thanks