Catfish Success

  What is nitrate? Nitrate is produced by the beneficial bacteria in the pond and filters as they break down the fish's toxic waste products (ammonia and nitrite). Nitrate is not toxic to pond fish, but excessively high levels can affect their reproduction. Why test for nitrate? Nitrate is a plant nutrient. The more nitrate is present the greater the potential for plant growth. If insufficient plants are present then algae will begin to dominate in the pond. Ponds with high levels of nitrate frequently have problems with algae and blanket weed. What is the correct nitrate level in my pond? The level of nitrate in your pond depends on the nitrate level of the tap water (or spring water etc) feeding into the pond, the number of fish and the amount of food fed. High nitrate levels will lead to algal growth. A nitrate level of zero is ideal and implies a balance between waste produced by the fish and nutrients taken up by the plant life. Remember this plant life does include algae! Wha...

What is nitrite? Nitrite is produced by the beneficial bacteria in the pond and filters as they break down the harmful waste ammonia excreted by the fish. Although not as toxic as ammonia, nitrite is still very damaging to the health of the fish. Nitrite itself is broken down into nitrate which is virtually harmless to pond fish. Why test for nitrite? Any nitrite present in the pond will be very damaging to the health of the fish. Toxic nitrite can build up in ponds where there are not sufficient beneficial filter bacteria to deal with the total waste from all the fish in the pond. This situation can arise in new ponds, when new fish are added, when the filter bacteria have been disrupted (e.g. during cleaning), or during accidental misdosing of pond medications. What is the correct nitrite level in my pond? There is no occasion where any nitrite is tolerable in a fish pond. A level of zero mg/L (PPM) must be maintained at all times. What do I do if the Nitrite level is wrong? If a lev...

  What is pH? pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the water in your pond. The pH scale runs from 1 to 14. Very acid water is pH 1, and very alkaline water is pH 14. Neutral water that is neither acid nor alkaline is pH 7. Why test for pH? Pond fish prefer the pH of the water to be between 7 and 8. Fluctuations outside these values can cause stress to the fish. If the water becomes too acid or alkaline, the fish soon die. It is important to regularly test the pH, as new ponds can occasionally rise in pH, and older ponds tend to acidify over time. Also, check the pH in the morning and evening as daily fluctuations are common, especially in heavily planted or algae-infested ponds. What is the correct level in my pond? There is no definitive correct pH for pond fish, although the ideal values lie between 7 and 8. In a healthy pond, the water pH will be the same as that of the tap water (or spring water etc) that fills the pond. It is important to ensure the pH is a consta...

  USING THE NEW MOST ADVANCED METHOD OF FISH FARMING IN THE WORLD.   - Super intensive fish culture using water recirculating aquaculture system.                    (introduction and principles)         Increasing urbanization has crowded most of us into CONCRETE JUNGLES called cities, leading to increasingly scarce and expensive spare land.          The garden of an average town house is rarely large enough for more than cultivation of some vegetables and perhaps the keeping of a few chickens. It is not a place for digging pond dykes and drainage ditches.         With an annual frozen fish import bill of over N27 billion (second only to rice importation- N73 billion approximately) and a dismal protein deficient teeming population, majority of whom cannot afford a regular diet of LIVE&FRESH CATFISH at ...

    PROSPERITY IN CATFISH FARMING. THIS MAN PHOTO ABOVE DID SOME FISH FARMING IN HIS TIME (about 180,000 years ago). He is the ancestors of modern man (i.e Homo sapiens) from whom evolutionist (scientists who study animal ancestry) believe we all took our roots from.             Put it’s a BIG SURPRISE that many Nigerians are still using his PRIMITIVE METHODS to breed and grow their fish.           Let’s take a look at the highlight of his methodology: 1.         He catches his fingerlings from the wild river irrespective of their age or state of health instead of HATCHING and NURSING them on his own. 2.         His fishes are fed with so-called scraps (left-over human food) from the table instead of COMPOUNDING FISH PELLETS (as you know this is wrong, because we humans are OMNIVOROUS FEEDERS while CATFISHES are CAR...