Fish Farming Business 101 (Part2)
3. Choose the Species of Catfish
Choose the species of catfish but after you must have made the necessary research which includes knowing what kind of catfish the markets around your farm needs.
There are different species of catfish used for aquarium business. See and get more ideas about all the freshwater and saltwater catfish for starting an aquarium business.
Learn MoreSome of the freshwater catfish species that are best used for aquarium include bristlenosepleco, bumblebee catfish, otocinclus catfish, upside down catfish, glass catfish, Asian stone catfish, pictus catfish, corydora catfish, striped Raphael catfish and clown pleco among others.
Master the care, characteristic features and best surviving environment for each species of the catfish in order to know how best to handle them to make a better outcome.
The species of the catfish you choose will determine the kind of facility you will provide for the fishes. It will also depend on the size of the pond, how you will operate the farm as well as the target market.
4. Start with A Smaller Scale Catfish Farm First
Consider how you will like to run the business, but in most cases starting on a smaller scale is better as it will help you to easily manage the business well and wouldn’t lose much when the business is at risk.
You can then make an expansion later when you must have learned the tricks in doing the business, see the wrong steps you have made and taken the necessary corrections.
Note that starting up a large aquarium farm requires a huge amount of capital to begin the investment. In this case, you need to get land that will not be less than 100 acres because the large the scale of business the larger the capital.
But in a wise way, you can start little and aim high with a small fish pond or inland tank. When you have your principle objective and aim high, starting small will lead to a huge income that will now help you create a large commercial catfish farm.
A wrong way to start is when you start high just because you feel that you have more than enough capital but with no vision. The business will definitely not grow. It is advisable to have a vision, start small but aim high so as to make a huge profit and grow the business.
5. Get the Facilities
Find a suitable land that will accommodate your farming business, you can buy if you have enough money or you can rent for a start and buy one later when you start making enough profit.
But it is very important to know if there is any catfish farmer in that area so that you won’t be competing with anyone especially those who have made a name in such business.
The very first facility that comes to your mind when you are set to start up an aquarium business is a land – where your pond will be situated.
Building a fish pond is not what you can do yourself, even if you can, you still need others to assist you, but it is very important that you employ the services of skilled laborers who will build it according to your design while you supervise their work. A pond can be made of concrete, tarpaulin, or polyvinyl chloride depending on your choice.
You may choose to use inland tanks or channels for raising your juvenile catfish. Catfishes raised in such places are said to be safe for the environment since their waste and disease are not spread to the wild.
Consider the depth and size of the pond as well to avoid overcrowding the fishes or fishes escaping due to the shallowness of the pond and build it in partitions with a flattop.
The source of water supply is very essential because water is the major thing after you have your land and the pond constructed. Your catfishes need a constant supply of fresh water from sources such as well or borehole.
Also include all the line items essential for catfish production such as fuel, electricity, feed, fingerlings, workforce, supplies, equipment, and repairs.
READ ALSO: Fish Farming Business 101 (Part 2)
Other little but important things are plastic containers for collecting fishes from the pond from time to time and one square meter of the fishnet as the case may be.
6. Get Good Breed of Healthy Juvenile
Always go for fish that are standard juvenile, don’t go for fingerling fish. Fingerling catfish are the group of catfish between the ages of 0 to 4 weeks while the juvenile is the group within the age range of 4 to 8 weeks.
Stock the pond with healthy and quality juvenile depending on the species you are going for, and try to find out the diseases that are associated with such fishes and how to control and prevent it.
Start with a juvenile which has every tendency to mature to table fish within 2 months provided that they are been supplied with a good quality of water. It is most important to consider their feeding source and management.
Once you start up with good and healthy species of juvenile catfish, supply them with neat healthy water and adequate ifeed, the outcome will be higher than what you expected
WATCH OUT FOR PART 3
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