Quality Fingerlings: Fish farming is undergoing major transformation as farmers embrace cages and make their own feeds to cut costs.
It is better one buys quality feeds and ends up with good stock than make own and produce fish that cannot be sold in the market.
With fish, like any other farming venture, one needs the highest quality of feeds and fingerlings.
If you need to make feeds you need proper knowledge.
Like with any other farming venture, fish needs good management.
With the farmer paying attention to all aspects of the venture, from pond constructing to sourcing fingerlings and marketing.
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Then there are feeds, which can make up to 90 percent of the cost of doing the business if not well managed.
One should also look out for the genetic material of the fingerlings.
If you have bad fingerlings, the fish will grow slow heaping you with losses.
The fact is using high-quality feeds has a direct impact on the Food Conversion Ratio (how much feeds it takes for single fish to hit 1kg).
Quality Fingerlings
If you offer fish quality feeds, they should be able to attain a kilo of biomass with 1.3 to 1.4kg of mass of feeds in six months.
Quality Fingerlings: A fingerling is a small fish that has grown to the size of a finger.
They are popularly sold across fish rearing farmers because they are best used for the commercial production of fish.
That is why, when buying a fingerling from a nursery.
It is essential to look out for the best as this could affect your turnover.
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Quality Fingerlings
It is very important for a fish farmer to carefully select the fingerlings that are to be brought into his farm.
Quality fingerlings are as important to the fish farmer as quality seedlings are to the crop farmer.
That’s because both have a direct bearing on the final harvest.
Not having quality fingerlings could turn out to be a waste of the resources used in its purchase.
Because they might eventually die off in the end, or not produce fish big enough to be sold at a good price.
So, are you a fish farmer working towards a bountiful fish output?
Check the quality of your fingerlings with these:
Quality Fingerlings
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1. Quality Fingerlings :Size
To know if the fry to be purchased is of a good quality, check if they are of the same size.
Fingerlings also known as fry should be carefully observed to ensure that they are of the same size.
Fingerlings of the same size often tend to grow appropriately, yielding good profit.
Also, it enables the farmer to properly plan towards harvest as he/she can forecast the growth of the fingerling.
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2. Quality Fingerlings :Age
There is a size appropriate to the age of a fingerling.
Those that look too small or too big for their age might not be a good quality fry and should be avoided, as they might not be good for fish production.
The inappropriateness of their size should tell that there is an underlying problem with them.
Always carefully check that their sizes are appropriate for their age.
3. Quality Fingerlings :Fish type
Are they of the same fish type? You might be purchasing poor quality fingerlings if they are of different fish types.
Avoid selecting fingerlings that are of different types.
Choose the appropriate specie for the set you want to buy so that it would be easier for you to group them in the farm and attend to them according to their types.
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4. Quality Fingerlings :Uniformity
The fingerlings should be of the same age.
Purchasing fingerlings of different ages as a set would lead to an uneven growth of the fingerling, with some overshadowing the growth of the other in the fight for survival.
It is not good practice to groom fish of different ages in the same nursery.
Care should be given according to their ages.
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5. Quality Fingerlings :Form
If it seems like the fingerling is diseased or has any form of injury or deformity.
You might want to leave it for more healthy ones.
A diseased fingerling could pose a health risk to other fishes in the farm.
Good quality fingerlings will have a form that is free of diseases.
Injury or any form of deformity that could lead to a loss.
Whether you get good or poor quality fingerlings.
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Quality Fingerlings
Proper feeding and hygiene practices are essential to having a good harvest.
Use only products that provide the best nutrition for your fish.
With Vital feed, the right nutrition for your farm is absolutely guaranteed.
In Nigeria, this amazing produce is popularly referred to as Aya or Ofio.
And is a very popular sight with Hausa traders, who hawk it in their wheelbarrow, everywhere you turn.
It is relatively cheap and available all year long.
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Conclusion:
As any other farming venture, fish needs good management.
With the farmer paying attention to all aspects of the venture.
From pond constructing to sourcing fingerlings and marketing.
With catfish you can make sausages, samosas and fillets for more money.
Using high quality feeds has a direct impact on the Food Conversion Ratio (how much feeds it takes for single fish to hit 1kg).
Unlike the catfish which is a carnivore, tilapia fish is a vegetable eater.
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