CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to raise loaches and what preparations should be made before stocking them

How to raise loach and what preparations should be made before stocking

1. Preparation before stocking.

(1) Requirements for pond construction: The area of ​​a loach pond needs to be 5 to 10 mu, the depth of the pond needs to be 1.5 to 1.8 meters, the pH value of the mud at the bottom of the pond should be neutral, the pond wall should be compacted to prevent water leakage, the pond water intake and drainage should be convenient, the area around the farm should be quiet, the water quality should be good and free of pollution, each mu of pond should be equipped with an aerator, and rat-proof nets should be set up around the pond.

(2) Clean the pond: Before releasing loach seedlings in early spring, clean the pond with quicklime 20 days in advance, and then use oxygen-enhancing particles and compound salt to improve the water quality. After cleaning the pond and refilling the water, plant some water spinach, lotus root, wild rice stem, water hyacinth, and water peanuts in the pond, which will help improve the water quality and help the loach avoid the sun.

(3) Improve water quality: Sprinkle some amino acid fertilizer in the pond 10 days before stocking. This will help the aquatic plants and animals that loaches like to eat to reproduce faster.

2. Release loach fry.

(1) Select loach seedlings: The seedlings should be fast-moving, healthy, disease-free, and 3-4 cm long. When transporting the seedlings, be careful not to damage them. After transporting them to the pond, sprinkle the fish with salt water before stocking them.

(2) Stocking density: The best time to stock seedlings in Zhengta Sen is mid-May. 10,000 loach seedlings can be stocked per mu.

3. Breeding management.

(1) Feeding: After releasing the loach fry, place 6 buckets for loach feed beside the pond. Each bucket should contain 10 catties of extruded feed for loach. Feed continuously for 3 days until the feed in the bucket is used up. Then fill it with 10 catties of feed and continue feeding. The diameter of the feed should be 0.3 mm at the beginning. After 10 days of feeding, use feed with a diameter of 0.5 mm. After another 10 days, feed 0.8 mm until one month has passed. After one month, use a special feeding machine to feed. The feeding time should be between 7 and 8 in the morning. Two feeding machines should be set up for each mu of pond.

(2) Water quality management: After stocking loach fry, the water should be changed frequently. Each time the water is changed, part of the pond water should be drained out before adding new water. Quicklime should be used to adjust the water quality every week. The best color for the pond water is yellow-green.

(3) Disease prevention: Yeast, EM bacteria and other biological agents should be sprayed into the pond at regular intervals. This can not only regulate the water quality but also improve the immunity of loaches, thus reducing the chance of loaches getting sick.

(4) Fishing: It takes about 3 to 5 months from stocking loaches to fishing. As long as loaches grow to 10 cm in length, they can be caught and put on the market.

4. Issues that need attention during breeding.

(1) When purchasing loach fry, you must strictly control the quality to avoid unexpected situations after stocking. The loach fry that is transported must be disinfected before stocking.

(2) When breeding loaches, the stocking density should not be increased in order to increase production, as this can easily lead to loach diseases.

(3) Regular fertilization in the pond can produce a variety of natural baits, which can reduce the cost of buying feed.

(4) The price of loaches varies in each period, so it is important to choose the right time to put them on the market.

Loach farming technology, how to raise loaches, loach farming profit prospects

1. Selection and construction of loach breeding sites

1. Correct location of the farm

If you want to raise loaches well, it is very important to choose a suitable location.

First of all, you need to choose a place with sufficient water and good water quality. Because loach is also a kind of fish, and fish cannot live without water, so there must be a clean and unpolluted water source to breed loach.

Secondly, you need to choose a place with convenient transportation. During the breeding process, feed and loaches need to be transported, so you have to choose a place with convenient transportation.

It is not enough to just choose a good site. When building a farm, you must consider everything carefully. Now, let’s take a look at the layout of the farm.

2 Overall layout of the farm

Loach farms must be based on ponds. The area of ​​the pond can be large or small, but it is best if it is long from east to west and short from north to south. Such ponds receive sunlight for a long time, which is conducive to the growth of loaches.

There are water inlet channels and drainage channels on both sides of the pond respectively. The ponds are arranged in sequence along the channels on both sides, forming a parallel structure. The purpose of parallel connection is to manage them separately. If the water quality of one pond is not good, it will not affect other ponds.

Walking paths are left in the middle of each pond and between the ponds and channels to serve as passages for daily management.

In the construction of the loach farm, a place for a drying pool must be reserved. In the management of loaches, the stability of water temperature is very important, so it is best to use water with the same temperature as the pond water, which is why a drying pool is needed. So far, the main part of the farm has been completed, but we still need a separate management area.

The management area is usually set up on one side of the pond, where the staff's office, feed workshop and feed warehouse are all located. In addition to conventional facilities, a temporary holding pond is also required in the management area. Like many fish, loaches need to be temporarily held for 1D3 days before being sold to remove the muddy smell of the fish meat and empty the feces in their intestines. This can not only increase the edible value of loaches, but also maintain good water quality during transportation and improve the survival rate.

After the farm is built, necessary protective measures are also indispensable. The perimeter of the farm should be tightly enclosed with fences. The purpose of using fences is to prevent animals such as cats and dogs from entering the farm and causing pollution and harm to the farm.

So far, you have a clear understanding of the layout of the entire farm. Next, let’s talk specifically about the construction requirements of the breeding pond.

We just said that the length and width of the pond can be designed according to different ground conditions, but the length should be longer than 100 meters and the width should not exceed 80 meters, because too large an area will be difficult to manage.

There are strict requirements on the depth of loach breeding ponds, and the most suitable depth of the pond is 1 to 1.2 meters.

One of the characteristics of loach is its ability to escape. Due to its small size, it can get out of any small gap. If there is a hole in the pond, the loach can even escape completely within a day. Therefore, when building a pond for loach, you need to pay special attention to this point.

The first is to deal with the bottom of the pond. After the excavator digs out the pond, the bottom of the pond must be tamped firmly.

The second is to deal with the edge of the pond. Dig a trench nearly 1 meter deep along the edge of the pond, and then spread thick plastic sheeting from the bottom of the trench to the ground. The joints of the plastic sheeting must also be tightly connected. After spreading the plastic sheeting along the edge of the pond, compact the plastic sheeting with the excavated soil, so that the plastic sheeting and the pond are connected as one. The upper end of the plastic sheeting is fixed with wooden stakes every 1 meter or so to ensure that the plastic sheeting is not blown away by strong winds.

The third is to deal with the inlet and outlet of the pond. Because the current PVC pipe cost is relatively cheap, the farm can consider using PVC pipes as the water inlet pipes of the pond. One end of it comes from the water lifting equipment beside the reservoir, and the other end directly passes to the side of the pond.

The outlet of the Tuandou pond needs to be carefully designed. We hope that the water pumped out is the bottom water of the pond. The bottom water of the pond is contaminated by loach feces and remaining feed, so the water quality is poor. When changing the water, we need to drain out this layer of water with relatively poor quality.

Let’s take a look at an ingenious water outlet design: this water outlet consists of two inner and outer sleeves. The outer large sleeve, which is the white tube, can extend out of the water; the lower end, which is located at the bottom of the pond, has a circle of gaps to drain the bottom water. This circle of gaps is very small, so loaches cannot escape.

Inside the white casing is a slightly thin plastic tube. When draining water, pull it out and the water will flow out from the gap. When not draining water, put it down to block the drainage gap and act as a switch.

These two sleeves are not enough. In order to deal with the naughty loaches, a layer of screen must be added. This square fine screen is inserted deeply into the pond. It is not easy for loaches to pass through these blockade lines.

2. Artificial breeding of loach

1 Time and method of artificial breeding of loach

In spring, when the water temperature reaches 18℃~20℃, mature loaches begin to reproduce naturally. In the north, spawning usually begins in mid-April, with the peak spawning period from mid-to-late May to late June, and the spawning period can last until August.

Artificial breeding of loach adopts the method of creating a natural environment and allowing it to fertilize naturally. There are three aspects that need to be paid attention to in artificial breeding: first, choosing good loach, second, building a suitable breeding pond, and third, scientific management during hatching.

2. Choose healthy broodstock

The brood loaches used for breeding can be caught from ditches and ponds, or purchased at the market. The brood loaches must be healthy, disease-free, and over 10 cm long. The larger female loaches carry more eggs, and the male loaches have more semen. The fry produced are of good quality and grow fast. Female loaches in estrus have big and round bellies. Their entire abdomen is swollen and white, shiny, and feels soft when pressed lightly. Their genitals are prominent.

3 Preparation of breeding pond

The breeding pond can be built according to local conditions. Generally, it is selected in a place with convenient water inlet and outlet and close to the breeding farm. A temporary pond can be built with bricks and then covered with clean plastic cloth. A rectangular stainless steel iron box can also be used as a breeding pond. The area depends on the number of hatchings. The depth of the pond is about 1 meter to 1.5 meters, not too deep.

The breeding pool should be cleaned before use, and the pool walls and bottom should be scrubbed clean with clean water.

New water should be injected into the breeding pond three days before use, and the water depth should not exceed 50 cm. In order to improve the survival rate of hatching, the broodstock can be put in after the new water has been aired for three days. The water temperature needs to be measured before the fish are released. The appropriate water temperature is 18 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius.

After the water temperature stabilizes, collect naturally grown aquatic plants by the pond, rinse them with clean water, carefully check the aquatic plants, remove the small insects attached to them, etc., and then put the aquatic plants into the breeding pond, thus creating a good environment for the natural mating of loaches.

Two male loaches and one female loach are usually placed in a breeding pond. Loaches usually lay eggs in the evening or early morning, so breeders must observe diligently, and wait until the female loach lays eggs. The fertilized eggs adhere to the water plants. Because the fertilized eggs have poor adhesion, they are easy to fall off the water plants and be swallowed by loaches. Therefore, after the fertilized eggs are formed, the parent loach must be removed from the breeding pond.

4 Hatching and rearing of loach fry

When the water temperature is between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius, the loach fry will hatch in 3 days. The newly hatched loach fry is about 5 mm long, gradually changes from yellow to black, and starts to actively eat after 3 days. From the 3rd to the 8th day, you can feed them with boiled egg yolks every 3 to 5 hours. The feeding amount should not be too large, and it should be eaten within 1 hour.

The breeding period for loach fry is from April to May. At this time, the river or lake water gradually turns green, and zooplankton reproduces in large numbers, providing natural bait for the growth of loach fry.

Loaches like animal bait, so starting from the fifth day, you should feed them nutritious baits such as vortex water. vortex water refers to the water bodies in lakes and ponds in nature that are rich in paramecium. Because when paramecium reproduces in large numbers, it floats and reverberates in groups in the water layer in the form of grayish white clouds, so it is called "vortex water". After fishing out the fish and insects, filter them with a 200-mesh screen. After filtering, these tiny plankton are the favorite feed of loach fry.

About 10 days after hatching, loaches gradually grow up and can eat larger fish and insects, so the bait fed is gradually increased from 200-mesh sieve backwater to 100-mesh sieve and 80-mesh sieve fish and insects. As the loach fry's food intake increases, the number of feedings is adjusted at any time. By the 30th day, it is adjusted to feeding twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Loach grows very fast. 30 days after hatching, it can grow to about 3 cm. If it is farmed on a large scale, it can be fed with crushed and soaked compound feed.

Since loach fry are cultured in still water, the water must be changed frequently during the breeding period, twice a day. Use water that has been dried in the sun, and the temperature difference with the water in the breeding pond should not exceed 1-2℃.

3. Breeding of adult loaches

From the time the loach fry hatches, it takes about 60 days for the loach to grow to 5 to 8 cm, at which time the loach fry can be placed in a large pond for breeding. Before the loach fry is placed in the pond, the pond needs to be carefully treated.

1. Pond Exposure and Disinfection

Pond Exposure

For ponds that have been used for many years, exposure to sunlight is very important. Generally, it should be exposed to the sun 30 days before the loach fry are put into the pond. The bottom of the pond should be dried into a turtle's back shape. This is very beneficial for eliminating microorganisms in the pond.

Digging out the bottom mud

Because there is a lot of feces and leftover feed accumulated at the bottom of the pond, the sludge at the bottom of the pond is a habitat for pathogenic microorganisms. Loaches have the habit of burrowing in the mud and like to move at the bottom of the pond. Therefore, for loach breeding ponds, the sludge at the bottom must be removed before the loach seedlings are put into the pond.

Generally, the bottom 40 centimeters of silt are scooped up with a shovel, gathered together, and then pushed away with a cart for disposal away from the pond.

Quicklime disinfection

In production, quicklime is used for disinfection about a week in advance. Quicklime can kill a variety of pathogens and harmful organisms. After being dissolved in water, quicklime becomes a strong alkaline solution, which can kill fish, insects, leeches, mud moss, water net algae and some weak aquatic plants remaining in the pond, as well as parasites, pathogens, etc., so the sterilization effect is particularly good.

The amount of quicklime used is 1,000 kilograms per mu, which is directly sprinkled on the bottom of the soup. After sprinkling, new water is added. After a week, the loach fry can be put into the pond.

2 Loach fry into the pond

A pond can only hold loaches of the same size. For loaches of 5 to 6 cm, 100-150 can be stocked per square meter. For loaches of 7 to 8 cm, 50-80 can be stocked per square meter. If the pond conditions are good, the stocking amount can be appropriately increased, otherwise it should be appropriately reduced. During the loach stocking period, if the density is too small, it will cause a waste of water resources. If the density is too large, the dissolved oxygen content will decrease, which is not conducive to the growth of loaches. Next, let's take a look at what aspects of daily management of loaches need to be paid attention to.

3 Daily management of adult loaches

Feed preparation and feeding

It is best to use compound feed for artificial breeding of loach, firstly because compound feed is nutritionally comprehensive, and secondly because compound feed is easy to use and causes little pollution to the water quality.

The compound feed for loach is divided into three specifications, one specification for loach fry of 5 to 8 cm, one specification for medium loach of 8 to 12 cm, and one specification for adult loach of 12 to 20 cm.

The three specifications of feed are not only different in particle size, but also in protein content. The protein content requirement for loach fry is higher, while the protein content requirement for adult loach is lower.

Now let's look at the formulas of these three feeds separately:

Feed No. 1: 42% wheat bran, 20% soybean meal, 10% cottonseed meal, 15% fish meal, 10% blood meal, and 3% yeast powder.

Feed No. 2: 48% wheat bran, 20% soybean meal, 10% cottonseed meal, 12% fish meal, 7% blood meal, and 3% yeast powder.

Feed No. 3: 50% wheat bran, 20% soybean meal, 10% cottonseed meal, 10% fish meal, 7% blood meal, and 3% yeast powder.

When using compound feed for feeding, it is necessary to sprinkle it along the edge of the pond. It is required to be sprinkled very evenly to avoid excessive concentration in one place, which will cause food snatching.

Feed is given twice a day, and the amount of feed is determined by the loach being able to finish it within 1 hour. So, if the feed is scattered in the pond, how can we determine whether it has been eaten? We can use a simple observation platform to determine it.

The observation platform is a lever structure, with one end fixed to the shore and the other end being a round or square screen. One hour after feeding, the breeder has to lift up the screen to see if the feed has been eaten.

This observation platform also serves to check the growth of loaches. Through it, one can easily see how big the loaches are, what their growth status is, and so on.

Water temperature management in loach farming

The most suitable temperature for loach growth is 22 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius. When the water temperature exceeds 30 degrees Celsius, loach will eat less, or even stop eating and burrow into the soil. Therefore, breeders should measure the water temperature frequently, especially in summer, and measure the water temperature once every day at around 2 pm. If the water temperature is too high, add new water in time.

Water Quality Management in Loach Farming

The quality of the water in the breeding pond is crucial to the growth and development of loaches. The water in the pond should be yellow-green in color and the transparency should be between 20 and 25 centimeters.

Loaches are very hardy creatures and basically have no diseases. However, when they are farmed at high density, the high density of loaches, the large amount of feed fed, and the large amount of feces produced can cause changes in the pH value, dissolved oxygen content, and ammonia nitrogen content in the pond.

These data affect the growth and development of loach, and it is not enough to rely solely on the breeder's eyes. A simple method is to use test paper to correctly judge these data.

Fish farmers are familiar with pH test paper, which refers to the acidity and alkalinity of water. It is very easy to use. Follow the instructions and compare the color on the pH test paper to easily know whether the pH value of the water meets the requirements. The most suitable pH value for loach growth is 7 to 7.5. Due to the growth of algae in the pond, the pH value in loach farming is often high, which can be adjusted by sprinkling quicklime.

The dissolved oxygen content in the pond is also very important. The dissolved oxygen content refers to the oxygen content in the water. When testing the dissolved oxygen content, add 5 drops of dissolved oxygen reagent to the water sample and compare it with the color of the color card to get the dissolved oxygen content of the measured water sample. When the temperature is too high and there are too many plankton in the water, the dissolved oxygen content will decrease. When the dissolved oxygen content in the water is less than 2 mg per liter, timely measures should be taken to inject more new water. When new water is added and old water is replaced, the water in the entire pond will form convection, so that fresh water can bring in enough dissolved oxygen to increase the oxygen in the water. Otherwise, the normal growth of loach will be affected due to insufficient dissolved oxygen in the water.

Excessive ammonia nitrogen content in water is highly toxic to loach, which will gradually reduce the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin in loach, causing chronic poisoning and inhibiting growth. Excessive ammonia nitrogen content is caused by the decomposition of loach excrement, leftover bait, and plankton debris. The method for measuring ammonia nitrogen content is similar to the method for measuring dissolved oxygen. The ammonia nitrogen content in loach breeding ponds cannot exceed 0.03. If the ammonia nitrogen content is high, microbial preparations such as photosynthetic bacteria can be used according to the dosage in the instructions, which can significantly reduce the organic matter content in the bottom and water quality, thereby reducing the release of ammonia nitrogen, a product of organic matter decomposition.

Check escape prevention measures

The loach has a very small body, and it can escape by burrowing into holes even if the holes in the pond wall and embankment are very small. Therefore, when the keeper patrols the pond every day, he must check whether the plastic sheeting at the edge of the pond is tight and whether the anti-escape net is strong, and pay attention to plugging the holes to prevent escape.

Cleaning every day

The breeder has to clean the pond every day, especially remove the weeds on the bank to prevent the weeds from growing too long and falling into the water, which will become a path for the loaches to escape. In addition to cleaning, the breeder also has to salvage harmful insects in the pond and remove dead loaches. If any abnormality is found in the loaches, it will be analyzed and dealt with in a timely manner.

4. Fishing of loach

Loaches are put into the pond in May and June, and will grow to 15 to 20 centimeters in November, at which time they can be caught and sold.

Loaches are usually caught using ground cages, which are round cages made of bamboo strips and fish nets. Loaches swim into the ground cage through a small hole at one end and stay in the cage, unable to get out. Catching loaches with ground cages will not harm the mucous membrane on the surface of the loach's body, and can increase the survival rate during transportation. To catch loaches, you can set the cages in the morning and collect them in the afternoon. Set a ground cage every 3 meters along the pond.

After the pond is thoroughly cleaned, there will still be some loaches scattered at the bottom of the pond. At this time, you can use a hand net to catch them again.

The captured loaches must be temporarily raised for 1-3 days before being sold to remove the muddy smell of the meat, empty the feces in their intestines, and increase their survival rate during transportation.