The management of a pond can be divided into two major aspect s;
1. fish culture operation
2. water quality management
Be fore we proceed let us take a quick look at the qualities of a good
fish manager’.
1. he must ensure that discipline and punctuality are practiced in the farm .
2. he must be orderly
and maintain tidiness in the farm e.g the material s and equipment should be
their proper places and the whole
farm environment should be kept clean.
3. He should maintain the equipment needed for work in the farm.
4. He should keep
records of all the farm activities for easy references.
1. FISH CULTURE OPERATION S
fish culture operation refers to the various steps or activities that a farmer carries out in order to increase the productivity of his
pond;
these include;
Liming; this is use to improve the pond bottom and to kill
parasites or undesirable organisms in the pond .it also helps to reduce
turbidity of water as well as prevent water f rom becoming too acidic.
Material Used For Liming
Rate
Of Application
Quick lime e.g Calcium
Oxide 200-500kg/ha
Hydrated or Slaked lime calcium hydroxide
not
common
Agric. Lime e.g Calcium
500-2,000kg/ha carbonate
How We Lime The Pond?
Grind the lime
materials and then spread over the entire dry pond bottom. You can allow the
pond to stand for some time, say a
period 1-2 weeks. This will allow the
lime to properly mixed with soil .
FILLING THE
POND WITH WATER
after liming the pond is then filled with water up to 60cm
level (say up to the knee). You should
allow the water to stay there for 2-4 days so that you can observe seepage and
leakage . thereafter you can fill the pond with water up to 1m level.
FERTILIZER APPLICATION
Application of fertilizer to a pond helps to form
natural food organisms for the fish. The application of fertilizer is only done
when a pond is already filled with water and not on the dried pond bottom. There are two types of fertilizer .
(a)Organic and (b) Inorganic.
Organic
Compost apply 2,000-5’000kg/ha/yr
Cow dung apply 3,000-5,000kg/ha/yr
Poultry manure apply
5,000-8,000kg/ha/yr
Note; Do not apply or spread the above
fertilizers directly on the surface of surface of the pond since this
may result in water quality problem.
You can apply either by
(a) use of a
crib with say bamboo stakes at
one corner of the pond and dump the
compost or manure inside the crib. The
manure will then replenish from time to time unto the pond or
(b) Inorganic Fertilizers.(Chemicals)
The primary nutrients
in this type of fertilizers are .
Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. They are very effective in
hastening,, the growth of natural food organism
in the water e.g,
1. NPK 15:15:15 apply 1000-2000kg/ha/yr
2.Single Superphosphate
apply 1,000-2000kg/ha/yr
3. Double Superphosphate
apply 300-1500kg/ha/yr
Methods Of Application
1. Dissolve the fertilizer in water, using a plastic bucket
and sprinkle it over the entire surface of the pond .
2. You can fill a jute bag with the fertilizer and then submerge it under the pond water.
Note: To Prevent the reaction of inorganic fertilizer with
the lime apply the fertilizer with the lime apply the apply fertilizer 2 weeks
after liming. Do not fertilizer dried ponds since phosphorus can easily
get lost into the mud.
POND MAINTENANCE
For a culture fish to be happy it should be in a well
maintained pond .therefore, the maintenance of fish pond is very important
aspect of fish farm management and should be done as follows;
(a) Repair the dams, dykes, monks, pond bottom, screens, gates
and water supply structures.
(b)Keep unwanted organism off the farm
(c)Control the aquatic weeds at the margins of the ponds
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