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7 Causes of Catfish Fry Mortality
Inadequate Preparation of the Pond
Fish farmers’ inability to prepare their nursery posts before hatching has been one of the major causes of fry mortality in most farms.
Learn MoreIt’s often noticed that farmers, particularly newcomers, are eager to stock up quickly, sometimes overlooking crucial preparation processes. This eagerness might stem from their excitement about anticipated profits or simply from a lack of knowledge in the initial stages.
Before introducing each batch of fries into a new pond, you should clean the pond horoughly. This precaution is necessary in case there are algae, ammonia, or decayed feces from prior harvests.
The standard protocol involves diligently preparing the pond by washing and neutralizing any substances that could potentially harm your catfish fries, even before the hatching process commences.
When using newly purchased tarpaulin ponds or newly built concrete ponds, they may contain chemicals from their production, posing potential risks and acting as death traps for your fish.
What do you do at this stage? Thoroughly wash these ponds with either salt or dried leaves and allow them to dry completely before making use of them.
Feeding on the First Day
Newly hatched catfish fry with a transparent or whitish sack under their belly. If you have observed this without understanding why it is there, tell us how you felt in the comment box below.
These sacks serve as a source of food for the fry in their early days. Their body absorbs the nutrients contained in the sack to support their initial growth and development. Therefore, feeding them while these sacks are still visible can lead to overfeeding, which could be a major cause of catfish fry mortality.
To prevent overfeeding at this initial stage, it is recommended to allow the fries to absorb the nutrients from the sack for at least the first 24 hours before offering any additional food.
READ ALSO 10 SMART WAYS TO REDUCE PRODUCTION COSTS IN CATFISH FARMING
We’ve previously discussed the implications of overfeeding in our article on the causes of catfish mortality, so be sure to see that for further information.
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Uncovered Ponds
The reason for having your ponds 80% covered and netted is to maintain a dark atmosphere in the pond and to prevent flies, lizards, birds, etc. from feasting on them.
You may ask why the dark environment? If newly hatched fish are exposed to direct sunlight that early, it could cause blindness to many of them. Now you understand.
Overstocking
We cannot stop talking about the danger of overstocking on this website. Since the catfish fries are tiny, does overstocking the pond mean anything? The answer to that question is Yes.
There are different sizes of ponds and wisdom demands that you know the capacity of your pond before you stock.
Our guide on stocking density of catfish in concrete ponds and plastic tanks will show you the mathematics of stocking. To prevent catfish mortality, especially at the fry stage, you must first understand how to do proper stocking.
Remember that few weeks after you have stocked, they will start growing and the space will choke them leading to most of them dying.
READ ALSO Important Roles of Temperature and Oxygen in Catfish Farming
Starvation
By the time the fries absorb the sack we talked earlier, you need to start feeding them at least three (3) times daily. The essence is for them to have enough nutrients to start growing.
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You should not overfeed do not mean that they should starve. Starvation increases the rate of mortality. So, if you still wonder why your catfish fries are dying after meeting other conditions, then is time to revisit how you feed them.
Pond Size
Nursery ponds are usually 3 feet in depth which is best for fries. The general idea is not to let the water in the pond exceed above 3 feet. At the fry stage, the fish finds it difficult to swim around any depth that is more than 3 feet.
Inbreeding
Inbreeding as we had explained in the previous posts is the mating of relatives or the mating of fish that are closely related.
Hatching male and female fish that are of the same parents is inbreeding. Research has shown that inbreeding affects the immune system functions of the fish, decreases fish growth, reduces fertility, and finally results in mortality. It also increases the right of deformity in the fish.
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