THE MANAGEMENT OF FISH SEED:

A good farmer requires a quality and first grade fish seeds (fingerlings and juveniles) to start with. Seeds that grows exponentially to the same rate at which it is being fed, it has a high food conversion ratio and are able to fit in all kinds of situation. The essence of fish farming is profit maximization, and the first point to note is 'dealing with a quality seed stocks'. Once the foundation is bad, any money spent on feed, fuel and labour is a waste. The point truth to these is 'avoid substandard fish seeds'

HOW DO YOU DO THESE?

¤ Avoid buying fish seeds from farmers that also stocked fish for grow out. The gist behind this is that, those farmers picks out the best group of seeds (the shooters) to stocked their ponds. They do this repeatedly until it remains the runt which they eventually sold out to amateur farmers. No matter how you feed these fish, they will never grow well.

¤ Never buy fish over the phone, you must be at the farm to ensure your fish are complete and are not fish of other farms you didn't request for. Catfish are highly cannibalistic, always ensure you get a uniform set of fish, never allow farmers to put shooters among your fish and if they do, put them in a separate container 'DO NOT MIX THEM'.

¤ Avoid transporting fish seeds in the sun, transport fish at cool hours of the day. Remember to temper your fish at the farm before stocking to your own farm.

¤ Regular grading of the fish is paramount, this is the most crucial aspect. Fish feed hierarchically, and this usually occurs to fish stocks that are not graded. This must be ensured for uniform growth and well-being.

¤ Water management is paramount, poor management is tantamount to failure of the venture. Routine changing of water and daily aeration is encouraged. The water physical, chemical and biological parameters must be ascertained. These includes the pH, turbidity, transparency and total dissolved solids, all these must be ensured before the seeds are stocked.

¤ Feeding is the major thing and utmost attention must be given to it, avoid inferior feeds. Go for quality and not expired floating feeds. Feed fish to satiation and avoid broadcasting feeds on the surface of the water. To ensure suitable water and feed management, and also to monitor the wellbeing of the seed stocks, employ point feeding.

¤ Avoid requesting for feed over the phone, be there to ensure the millers use the correct and exact ingredients you requested for. Local feed is good but make sure the quality ingredients are used at a standard calculated amount. Do not stored excess local feeds, their expiry time is usually one to two weeks depending on their moisture content. Keep your feeds away from rodents, they are pathogens and feed wasters.

¤ Wash your fish tanks regularly, green tank is good but bad when it is too green. Place your tank in a shaded region to avoid algal bloom. Cover your tanks and ponds with net to prevent dragonflies and fish eating birds from having access to the fish seeds. Cleared the surrounding weeds to clear off predators like rodents, snakes, frogs and toads.

¤ Wash your utensils regularly i.e. Scoop nets, basins, brooms, e.t.c to avoid the growth of microbial organisms.

¤ Keep in handy 'Salts, Oxytetracycline and Multivitamins' they are good for fish medication.

¤ Keep daily records of your farm activities.