Nigeria has a population of 191 million and is the most populous country in Africa. About half of the animal protein consumed by Nigerian residents is aquatic products. The demand for catfish in Nigeria is increasing at an annual rate of 10%, and all catfish cultured in Nigeria will eventually be digested by the local market. Nigeria has abundant annual rainfall and developed surface water systems, and most areas have the ability to carry out aquaculture. Basic conditions, catfish farming in Nigeria has now become a very effective and profitable project.
However, catfish farming in Nigeria also has some limitations, such as few fish hatcheries, expensive fish food pellets, lack of necessary equipment support, lack of fish medicine supply and so on. This article provides some guidelines on how to start a catfish farming business in Nigeria.
What preparations are required for catfish farming in Nigeria
High-quality feed
Catfish are very adaptable to the environment and the catfish feeding must be fed 100% nutrition. As scientific research shows, catfish do not grow significantly better when the protein-containing is not suitable for catfish needed. As different catfish in different periods need different nutrition because fingerling and juvenile catfish grow much faster than larger fish.
Choosing the right fish pellet equipment can make your aquaculture more effective. The feed pellet processed by Lima floating fish feed pellet machine has the advantages of high hardness, smooth surface, complete internal cooking, and good palatability. Choosing a high-quality fish pellet machine can be of great help to your catfish farming business in Nigeria.
Construction of the breeding pond
Breeding ponds are very important to our farming. The quality of breeding ponds will not only affect the convenience of our daily management, but also affect our economic benefits. We should choose an address where the water source is clean and pollution-free, and it is convenient to change the water, which is convenient for our daily management. At the same time, it is required to be far away from the city and no noise. It should be noted that although it is far from the city, the traffic should be very convenient so that we can transport catfish and feed and so on.
We can build breeding ponds on the ground according to our own conditions, or we can dig up and down the ground to build breeding ponds. The digging type breeding pond is convenient for the stability of the water temperature and the heat preservation in winter, which is very beneficial for the growth and development of catfish, but it should be noted that the digging type breeding pond requires water changing equipment to ensure good water quality.
The breeding pond should be equipped with upper and lower drainage. The upper drainage is located about 25-30 cm away from the upper edge of the culture pond wall, which is used to prevent the water in the breeding pond from flooding the roof during the summer rainstorm, and the fish in the breeding pond escape from the breeding pond with the water flow. The drain is used for daily water changes and fishing.
It is best to use bricks for the breeding pond. The walls and bottom of the breeding pond should be smoothed with cement and sand to prevent the breeding pond from leaking. The water depth in the breeding pond is about 90 cm, and tiles, cement blocks, etc. are artificially placed at the bottom of the breeding pond as a habitat for catfish.
After the breeding pond is built, it will be disinfected. There are two methods of disinfection. One is the dry pond method. After the water in the breeding pond is drained, it is exposed to the sun for 2-3 days, and then evenly distributed in the breeding pond. Sprinkle with quicklime. Inject new water into the breeding pond on the first day, leave it for about 4-5 days and then change the new water, and put the fry in the breeding pond in about 2-3 days. The second is the water-carrying method, where the quicklime slurry is evenly sprinkled into the pool while it is still hot, and the water quality is fertilized after the toxicity of the quicklime disappears.
Stocking fry
We can purchase fry from regular farms. When choosing fry, we should choose fry that have no trauma on the body surface, are healthy and lively, and eat well. It should be noted that when purchasing, we should choose fry of uniform size, which is convenient for our daily management in the future, and also avoids the mutual killing of catfish.
After the fry is purchased, we must first disinfect the fry to prevent the fry from contracting diseases and causing our economic losses. You can plan your own placement density according to the size of your own breeding pond, about 50-100 fish fry of about 3-5 cm per cubic meter of water.
Feeding of bait
For catfish farming, we can feed the floating fish feed pellet, which can be matched with living organisms such as insects to ensure the nutritional balance of catfish. When feeding, we must set a fixed time, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It should be noted that when feeding, it must be quantitative. After each feeding, it is best for catfish to eat within 3-4 hours. At the same time, pay attention to the weather and the growth of catfish, and you can increase or decrease the feeding amount according to these conditions.
The benefits of feeding catfish feed pellets in Nigeria
Catfish feed pellets are a kind of fish feed that is made by the fish feed extruder for catfish in a pelleted form. It contains major components like water, protein, lipid, carbohydrate, minerals, and vitamins. For different kinds of fish, there are different formulations depending on fish kinds, growth cycle, and development stage.
Energy and essential nutrients are needed for fish for their maintenance, movement, normal metabolic functions, and growth. Fish requires feeds varying in fish quantity and quality according to their size, growth period, and digestive anatomy. As fish is a kind of poikilotherm, the feed requirements change with their body temperature and environmental variations.
The catfish feed pellets are in the scientific formula for the good of catfish weight gain and growth. As research shows, if catfish receive too much energy compared with protein, they will stop eating before they consume enough protein for maximum growth. It will lead to high body fat, low dress-out yield, and poor shelf life for catfish if they eat too much energy from dietary fat or carbohydrate. However, catfish feed pellets made from the optimum ratio of energy, protein, minerals, and other nutrition, are suitable for all kinds of catfish and can meet the nutrition requirements for growth.
Tips about catfish farming in Nigeria
- Catfish farming requires clean water sources. Try to build ponds in places with sufficient living water sources. The water retention of the ponds should be better and not permeable. The pond should be planted with a moderate amount of water plants that will not spread, so as to provide a habitat.
- Drain the water in the pond two weeks before stocking, then clean the whole pond with quicklime solution, and then wash the pond after soaking for a week. Fill the pond with clean water and soak it until 2 days before stocking. Before stocking, the fry should be immersed in light salt water or other disinfectant solution for 20 minutes to sterilize.
- Generally, 20,000 fish fry are placed in one mu of pond. The specifications of the fry should be uniform, not too large or too small, so as to avoid uneven growth. Generally, it is better to put it at noon when the temperature is suitable so that it is easy to adapt to the environment.
- The feed can be fed after a few hours of feeding. You can make some grain into powder, mix it with water and knead it into a ball and feed it, so as to avoid loosening too fast. You can also feed some shell meat and snail lion meat, but it needs to be cut into pieces. Crushed feeding.
- You can fertilize in the water and cultivate natural bait for the fish to eat. Usually, you should pay attention to changing the water in time, and the water source should be kept flowing. It is necessary to prevent the fish from escaping when it is raining, and pay attention to oxygenation when the weather is hot, so that there is sufficient oxygen in the water.
Lima machinery has been in the fish feed pellet industry for nearly ten years, focusing on the production of fish food extruded pellet machines. In addition, our factory has dozens of different fish feed pellet production line solutions for customers to choose from. After continuous communication with customers, our feed pellet machine has received praise from customers, especially those in Africa and South Asia. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us, our professional technicians are more than happy to help you.
