Fish Farming Business is a profitable venture so
whether you’re planning to start a small scale fish farming or a gigantic commercial fish farming please follow these 9 steps to get started;
1.Source for a good location for your farm
2.Get a good source of water
3.Choose the appropriate fish pond
4.Search for the right species of fish you need
5.Get healthy fingerling or juveniles
6.Learn and understand fish feeds & feeding
7.Start Marketing your fish before they grow-up
8.Be business minded
9.Get good and practical fish farming training
Let’s get into details;
For you to start,you need to get a good location for your fish farming business and first decide whether you’re starting your fish business on a small scale or you’re going big.
If you’re starting a small scale fish farm, you may decide to start at your backyard with tank but if you’re going big, you may need to buy or rent one or few fish ponds (earthen or concrete ponds) outside your home.
Make a good source of water for your fish available.
But how important is water to a fish? Just as oxygen is important to you to survive so also wayer is to fish.Take a fish out of water and it becomes helpless and dying.
Put it in a bad water and you`re affecting its growth and productivity (though “bad” water varies, depending on the kind of fish we are talking about. Some fish live in rough water while others cannot).What am saying here is, you’ll need good source of water for your fish. Also note that what we humans consider a “Good Water” is not what fishes consider good water.
For instance, we can drink government treated water but such water could be corrosive and poisonous to the fish because of the chemicals used to treat the water for human consumption.
The question you need to answer alone is,How much will the water be?. I know a man few years ago who had his fish farm at the back of his house.
He uses the well of his house to satisfy these few
fishes.
But How can a man with huge earthen fish pond do this?
The size of your intending fish farm determines the quantity of water needed. If you’re starting a small scale fish business, you may be comfortable with a nearby well.
If you’re starting fish farming in as a big business venture, then, you’ll need a strong well or bore hole and water storage tank.
Choose The Right Fish Pond or Plastic Tank for Housing Your Fish.
Just like you, your fish needs a comfortable place to live. The more natural and comfortable the fish pond is, the better for them.
There are two popular fish housing system… backyard plastic tank or pond.
Plastic tank or Tarpoline Pond-This may be good for you if you’re just starting fish farming (especially on a small scale).
This small scale medium will help you to be familiar and understand with the nature of the fishery business, before you’ll extend your market reach.
Fish ponds has different sizes.
Fish ponds varies in sizes and cost, depending on your environment and need.
Pay visits fish farms around you. Visit fish feeds seller. Visit some experienced bricklayers. Ask questions. Ask questions.
The reason for doing that is because, these people will give you the best and needed advice that can be useful to you in that environment, since they are in your vicinity.
After providing oxygen and house for our dear fish, what next?
Think and decide the right Species of fish to farm.
As briefly stated before, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of species in the fish family.
So as a potential fish farmer,you have to decide which species to choose as you’re starting your own fish farming business.
There are so many funny fishes like; Hypsurus caryi, Heterostichus rostratus, Hermosilla azurea, Halichoeres semicinctus, Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, Ginglymostoma cirratum, Galeocerdo cuvier, Embiotoca jacksoni, Echeneis naucrates, Ctenopoma acutirostre, Chromis viridis etc.
The best preferred is Catfish (or Tilapia, in a rare occasion) and getting Clarias gariepinus, Heterobranchus bidorsalis, Clarias X Heterobranchus hybrid (Heteroclarias) and Clarias nigro-digitatus or Heterobranchus could be alright
Get Healthy Juveniles
Juveniles are the little fishes you’ll need to grow to table-size.
Ordinarily we have what we call Fry, which is the development stage of fish immediately after the larvae stage, at an age of less than a week.
We also have Fingerlings which is the development stage of fish following the fry stage and continuing into the first three to four months of life.
There is what is called Yearling which is the development stage of fish following the fingerling stage and lasting until approximately one year of age.
The development stage of a fish after fingerling is what we refer to as juvenile.
The best practice if you’re just starting a fish farm is to start with Juveniles as this will save you from the headaches of much mortality you may experience from fingerlings.
Some farmers specializes in hatching fingerlings and selling juveniles.
Patronize a reputable fish hatchery so as to avoid stunted growth and unhealthy juvenile. You know what it means to adopt a sickly child, don’t you? Don’t buy unhealthy juveniles.
Rather than engage in hatchery,buy the needed fingerlings or juveniles now, while you may venture into fish hatchery later.
Choose The Right Fish Feeds.
Plants are able to utilize sunlight and simple nutrients to produce new organic material through photosynthesis.
When feeding fishes, quality and quantity has to be taken care of.
Feed them well and with quality fish feed.
There are three means of food for your fish.
1.Natural fish feed. This is found naturally in the pond. This include; detritus, bacteria, plankton, worms, insects, snails, aquatic plants and fish (yes, fish eat fish if they`re hungry).
2.Supplementary fish feed-This usually include cheap materials locally available such as terrestrial plants, kitchen wastes or agricultural by-products. Supplementary feed may be good, but they are not for serious fish farmer (except if he includes the other types of feeds). Most people who are into fish farming uses supplementary feeds. some to their profit, others to their loss.
3.Complete feed-This is a carefully made fish feed. They`re usually of good ingredient and nutrients, made by the experts who understand the perfect formula for the fish at a different stage.
How much does it cost to feed your fishes?
It depends on the types and kinds of feed.Visit other farms,ask questions and you’ll learn from pecurrently farmers in your environment who know the current price of feed in your city and area.
Start Marketing Your Fishes Before They Are Grown Up.So many people who are starting fish farming business in Nigeria are making the mistake of thinking that the market is readily there.It’s not true.You have to start marketing your fish, even before they are grown up.
Too many potential fish farmers think “It’s just about feeding the fish and selling them”.
That notion is not correct.
Fish farming is a business and if you want to succeed in this venture, you must approach it as a serious