How to Prepare Different Types of Catfish Pond for Stocking
Catfish needs clear clean water without contaminants to thrive. So therefore it’s important to prepare your fish pond before stocking the pond with fish.
Learn MoreEach pond needs to sustain life and should be conditions weeks before stocking. The type of pond such as the dugout pond or block pond dictates what steps you take.
How to prepare dugout ponds
The dugout pond is built when the soil is excavated either manual or by a mechanized excavator. The hole you digs length and width might vary but the depth shouldn’t me more than five feet.
Two types of dugout ponds we shall examine are those lined with compacted sand or a tarpaulin. The tarpaulin lined pond has some advantage over compressed walls when maintaining the pond.
READ ALSO: Reasons Why Deeper Ponds are Better that Shallow Ponds
The dug pond should have a high embankment while the inlet is located higher than the outlet. The high dike keeps the water in the pond which avoids wastage.
Treating the dugout pond
Natural dugout ponds are full of dangerous microbes that might impact negatively on your fish. Some farmers use chemicals to treat the water and kill the microbes.
We advice great caution when using any chemical even if the manufactures claim it’s organic. Chemical that kill microbes can kill catfish or cause diseases in them.
Others fertilize the ponds in a bid to create a more natural pond. Dugout ponds built with tarpaulin lining don’t need chemicals or soil fertilization.
The best type of tarpaulin lining to use should be chemical free and durable. It should be able to retain water without leakage or depreciation.
Block and concrete ponds preparation
The concrete and block ponds need preparation before catfish is introduced into the pond. Both pond types are built with sand, gravel and cement which are harmful to fish.
When you have finished building and installing the piping then you prepare the pond. The inner part of the pond should be screed and made smooth.
Then the pond is left to dry for one week before introducing water. The water is left in the pond for two days, changed and then refilled.
When the alkaline level is reduced and eliminated the pond is refilled with fresh water. The fish farmer can check the inlet and outlet to see if they work.
It takes slightly longer for concrete ponds to get cleared of alkaline than block ponds.
READ ALSO: Advantages of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems
Plastic tank preparation
Plastic tanks need little preparation before introducing your fish. The manufacturers have already taken precautions by using well formulated plastic.
The fish farmer after installing the pond with a concrete base and piping fills the pond with water. The plastic pond only needs to keep water for a few hours before you change it and add fresh water.
You need to test your pond to see if there is any leakage before adding fish. To know if the pond can sustain life place just a few catfish in the pond.
Keep them in the pond for 48 hours if they survive then your pond is ready. After all this preparation you can now clear any debris in the water and add your catfish.
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