Grow fish at home

Having approached the formation of the pond correctly, having studied the parameters of the water and preparing everything for the launch of the fry, the owner will be able to grow the fish to the optimal size. Careful care and cleaning of the artificial reservoir will increase the number of fish for sale, and therefore increase the amount of profit.

The content of the article:

• Home fish farming from scratch
• Fish farming as a business at home
• Equipment for the reservoir
• Costs and technology of fish growing
• What is the best fish to breed?
• Growing fish at home on a mini-farm: how to organize it correctly?

At the moment, many experts in the field of fish farming consider the fish business to be quite a promising direction. Therefore, creating conditions for its development can solve the problem of providing the state with fish and help fish farms in such a difficult task as growing various fish species.

Previously, it was popular to breed fish in artificial reservoirs, but in this case, poachers prevented the growth and development of young animals and grown-up individuals, it is for this reason that fish breeders began to engage in organized reproduction and raising fish on mini-farms and at home. But in order for fish breeding to be successful, a novice fish farmer needs to study the breeding instructions and adhere to all the prescribed rules. Without what, domestic fish farming will not bring the desired results?

Home fish farming from scratch

The most important resource for raising any type of fish is water. The growth, development and health of young animals will depend on its quality.

Step one. Creation of an artificial reservoir.

Before proceeding with the creation of a pond, it is necessary to devote time to a complete analysis of the water, having studied all the indicators and quality standards necessary for settling the reservoir with new residents.

For this purpose, it is best to contact Surveillance and ask specialists to carry out the necessary analyzes of the aquatic environment and give advice on improving it, if necessary. If the water quality is not up to standard, do not despair. It is enough to carry out aeration and cleaning of the pond and everything will return to normal.

Step two. Determination of the quality of water resources.

The water in the fish pond must necessarily have the following characteristics:

• Optimal salt ratio;
• Regular and irregular temperature conditions;
• The total number of microorganisms living in it and PH;
• General transparency;
• The presence of minerals necessary for future fish;
• Color qualities;
• The ratio of gases dissolved in water;

If all these characteristics correspond to the declared standards, then it will be possible to grow fish without any problems.

Step three. Launching fry.

Before you start the fry into the reservoir, you need to know what temperature regime is suitable for the fish species you have chosen.There are fish that are more suitable for cold water, and there are fish breeds that will only feel comfortable in warm water.

Cold-loving breeds include grass carp, carp, catfish, crucian carp, sterlet, silverheads, trout, peled and salmon. Heat-loving fish need to ensure the water temperature is not lower than twenty degrees, and for those who prefer cool waters from ten to twenty degrees. Wintering in the reservoir will also be determined by the fish species.

Step four. Stages of fish growing.

In order to properly build your mini fish farm, you need to know that breeding stages are taken into account when growing fish. First, the fish spawn, then fry appear, then the wintering stage follows, the next stage of growth, and experienced fish farmers consider the feeding stage as the last step.

Taking them into account, it is possible to clearly distinguish between these periods and create the necessary scheme for the growth and development of young animals and reared individuals. For each of these stages, it is best to equip your own pond or use plastic pools.

In the pool or pond for spawning, fish farmers are engaged in removing fry from eggs. The hatched fry are transplanted into a pond where they will grow. Upon reaching a certain age, they are placed in a growing reservoir, where they will gain weight. When the generation gets stronger and it will no longer be possible to worry about its health, it is transferred to a feeding pond, but for wintering a special wintering reservoir is used with conditions appropriate for fish.

In order for the fish to grow and develop well, the water in the reservoir must be clean and enriched with oxygen. Also, it should not contain hydrogen sulfide and methane. To avoid their appearance, the pond must be created in an appropriate area, which can be determined using a geodetic map. Also in the reservoir there must be appropriate vegetation, which will saturate the water with substances useful for fish.

Step five. Feeding.

Not only does water play an important role in fish farming, but also the use of appropriate feed additives. In order to grow healthy fish, it is necessary to use feed mixtures appropriate for each breed. They consist of fats, fiber, legumes, grains, proteins, minerals and vitamins that fish need. The secret of success is simple: in order for the fish to grow well, fish farmers fertilize the reservoirs and mineralize them.

For each age of fish, it is necessary to use its own feed additives, as well as to raise immunity, use therapeutic and stressful feed, which helps the fish to cope with the disease and gain immunity to it. That is, in principle, all that is necessary to know for fish farmers who decide to grow fish at home.

Fish farming as a business at home

The most important thing for growing fish is water, without it it will simply not be possible to breed any of the fish species. It is for this reason that, before deciding to grow fish at home, it is necessary to build a suitable artificial reservoir for it.

For this purpose, you can rent a state reservoir, but this idea is better left. Because it will take you a lot of time to obtain various permits and approvals, and in addition to all this, your "fishing spot" will also be threatened by poachers trying to catch as much fish as possible in your reservoir. For this reason, it is best to forget about renting a pond from government agencies. Moreover, the cost of a business based on state lease will be very expensive for you.

Another option is to create an artificial pond in your country or summer cottage. The creation of an artificial reservoir will also cost a lot, but it will still require much less material and nerve costs from you, and you will also be one hundred percent sure of the reliability of your business.

If you want to breed fish for which fresh water is good, then you can use a polycarbonate greenhouse with a plastic pool installed in it. It also needs to purchase compressor and filtering equipment, which will cost the lack of three thousand dollars. If you can create such equipment yourself, you can significantly reduce the cost of equipment for the reservoir. But before you start creating or purchasing it, you need to find out what kind of equipment and materials you need.

Equipment for the reservoir

Purification of water in a reservoir should be carried out using a gravity filter. It is quite simple to install and it will not take much of your time. It costs about five thousand rubles. It is used not only for water purification, but also allows you to remove microorganisms that cause water bloom and the appearance of mud.

In order to saturate the water with oxygen, compressor equipment is used. Its cost can reach ten thousand rubles. In order to prevent the water in the reservoir from blooming, sterilizers with ultraviolet diodes are used. To pump water out of the reservoir, you need to purchase a hydraulic pump (about five thousand rubles). You can also do it by yourself collecting it from the tubes. In this case, the reservoir will be filled with water from underground sources and springs. Feeders can be purchased at tackle stores. Also, do not forget about the drainage equipment.

Costs and technology of fish growing

The benefits of fish farming are clear. On the market, take, for example, a sturgeon, a kilogram costs about two hundred rubles. Buying fry or breeding them yourself, you can get up to a ton of fish per year, which is about one and a half thousand kilograms, which means three hundred thousand rubles.

Having spent one hundred and fifty thousand on your fishing business, you can work out the costs for a year and still make a profit. The main thing is to find points of sale and then you don't have to worry about profit.

Of course, only those people who understand all the risks and are ready to take them can engage in fish farming, because this type of business is quite competitive. And if you are not ready to fight and breed really high-quality and selective fish, it is better not to start it.

And now, finally, you have made a firm decision to create your own fish farm. What documents do you need? Since you will be starting a business, you will need to register your business. This will also require additional costs. You will also need a license to grow fish, which you will need to issue. And when you get the first "harvest", you still have to go through product quality control and obtain special permission from the relevant structures.

What is the best fish to breed?

While the cost of creating an artificial reservoir is easy to calculate, the cost of purchasing and raising fish is very difficult. It is for this reason that a clear business plan must be drawn up.

The most unpretentious fish in food and maintenance is carp. It is also affordable and affordable. When purchasing a ton of carp fry, you will need to spend about a thousand dollars. Moreover, this fish breed will not begin to multiply immediately, but only after three years. In addition, in the cold season, carps grow twice as slow.

In industrial terms, the most profitable fish species are considered to be all varieties of sturgeon. An adult sturgeon weighs an average of five hundred grams. A kilogram of sturgeon at wholesale will cost about ten dollars. In your artificial pond, you can grow about a ton of such fish in six months. And this means that this business can really be called profitable.

Growing fish at home on a mini-farm: how to organize it correctly?

If you follow all of the above tips, then growing fish in your pond or pool is not a problem. This is exactly what the farmer Mikhail Atamanov, who grows sterlet and trout on his farm in Yaroslavl, does. He grows and sells up to ten tons of fish per year and is not going to stop there. According to him, such a business brings him not only tangible profit, but also pleasure.

In our economically difficult times, many are trying to find alternative sources of income. And if you are one of them, you may be interested in your own fish farm. And for this it is not at all necessary to have a pond or a lake in private ownership. A small pond is suitable for this. You can dig out a pond for fish farming yourself. Of course, in this case, you will not get big profits, but you will always be able to provide your family with fresh produce. And this, you see, is important. Growing fish at home does not require large costs, so people can do it even with a small start-up capital. Fisheries technology is akin to animal husbandry: in order to get a good result, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions for aquatic animals. This article will describe some recommendations for growing carp, crucian carp, carp. Fish farming in the country is quite real!

To start with it?

At first glance, fish farming at home is not easy. But this is only at first glance: of course, there are some nuances here, but after overcoming the first difficulties, you will understand that everything is not so difficult. Of course, this venture requires a free area, not necessarily very large. Depending on how many pets you are going to settle in the reservoir, calculate its area and depth. You will also have to purchase fry. If this is not possible, then you can independently catch several individuals during the spawning period. Just remember that in this case the final stage of growing will take a little longer. And yet, the water temperature in your reservoir should be exactly the same as in the natural one. Otherwise, the fish will die.

What breeds should I give preference to?

Not sure which fry to start? Before organizing fish farming at home, carefully familiarize yourself with the life features of those species that you would like to see in your pond, and later on the table. If you do not want to bother too much in this matter, then preference should be given to carp, crucian carp, carp, bream, tench.

Features of each type

Tench is a very shy fish, so if the choice fell on this particular breed, then take care in advance of a reliable shelter for pets. Lay out a house out of stone and branches where the fish can take refuge. And if the conditions of detention are met, then the fish will gain about two hundred grams in weight a year. Do you think tench grows very slowly? Pay attention to the carp. In practice, it turned out that fish farming at home becomes more effective if crucians or carps are put into the pond. They grow much faster and are unpretentious in care. These representatives of cyprinids feed on almost everything: algae, insects, porridge, earthworms. This is their favorite food.

Some nuances

You should pay attention to the following fact. Year-round cultivation in self-dug ponds only makes sense when you have the opportunity to leave the fish for the winter. For this, the reservoir must be deep enough, otherwise the water in severe frosts will freeze to the bottom and aquatic inhabitants will die. If the conditions of keeping do not correspond to the optimal ones, release the fish into the pond for growing in the warm season: April – November.

Feeding features

Of course, in order for the fish to gain weight faster, it must eat well. And for this, the temperature in the pond must be high enough.It is advisable to feed the fish at the same time, then carps and crucians will be waiting for you at the appointed hours. Give steamed grain, small insects, worms as feed. If funds allow, you can buy ready-made fish mixes. In the presence of a small reservoir, it is better to make a pallet with sides made of galvanized iron, which can be taken out of the water. It is more convenient to sprinkle food on it, and besides, you can observe the intensity with which your pets eat. In the hot season, watch the water level, if it starts to fall, you will have to reduce the number of inhabitants of the pond. You can determine this by how carps behave: if they float to the surface and gasp for air, then there is not enough oxygen in the water. For a favorable existence, crucians and carps need a water temperature of twenty-twenty-seven degrees. You will have finished products for the third season. Now you know that fish farming at home is a painstaking, sometimes difficult business, but very interesting, and most importantly - profitable. Of course, a good result will be influenced not only by your efforts, but also by the weather conditions. Any seasoned fish farmer will tell you that you can adapt to anything. And then there will always be fresh fish on your table. And you can always easily sell the surplus on the market. Those who are interested in growing fish at home can only wish good luck!

Selling food is the most profitable business.

Sturgeon fish farming is an excellent alternative to traditional livestock farming.

Sturgeon fish grown in artificial reservoirs is distinguished by its environmental friendliness and excellent taste.

The peculiarity of cultivation is that the fish does not require special care and is quite capable of surviving in fresh water.

Hence the conclusion that fish farming at home as a business is easy to manage and incredibly profitable, only you need to act according to a certain plan.

Features of the activity

Sturgeon breeding as a business has a number of its own characteristics:

• Extensive sales market. You can sell the fruits of your activity anywhere, for example, in a restaurant, in the market, in stores, for the production of canned goods.
• Lack of competitors. In our country, only a few farmers are engaged in fish farming, and many residents do not even know about this way of doing business.
• The main advantage is the low start-up costs.
• No knowledge of fish farming is required, everyone can start from scratch, all skills come with time. At the initial stage, it is enough to read some literature related to care and feeding, you can find answers to all questions on the Internet.
• You do not need to hire staff, you can cope with the work on your own, it will take only 3-4 hours a day.
• There is no need to create special conditions for the sturgeon, it is unpretentious and can live in artificial reservoirs, moreover, it does not require special feed.
• Unlike livestock, sturgeon is not infected with deadly diseases, if you follow the rules of feeding correctly, no health problems will arise.
• The payback period for the business will be approximately 7 months.

back to contents ↑ Preparation

You can grow sturgeons at home or in a pond. For this you need a reservoir, you can artificial.

You should start growing in a pond with preparation, or rather cleaning it.

For this, a layer of lime is placed on the bottom of the reservoir, which is first filled with water, then washed.

It is worth holding this event two weeks before the fry are placed in the reservoir.

It is best to place fry in the summer at night. A separate small pond should be equipped for breeding.

When the fish has grown to medium size, it must be placed separately. The new fry can then be returned back.

For a comfortable existence of fish in the pond, there should be algae and any other greenery, preferably the presence of insects and mollusks.

The second option is to raise fish in the pool.

At the initial stage, it will be enough to purchase an ordinary plastic pool 1 m deep and 1.5 m in diameter. In such a container, you can grow about 1000 kg of sturgeon.

In addition to the main pool, a sorting tank is required, where eggs and fry, weighing up to 5 grams, will be placed.

To grow sturgeon in the pool, several important conditions must be met.

First, the water must be clean and changed regularly. Secondly, the comfortable water temperature is from +2 to + 27⁰C, for breeding - from +17 to + 22⁰C.

back to content ↑ Feeding

Any living organism requires high-quality nutritious food; health depends on it.

Any fish food can be used to feed the sturgeon. The main thing is that they contain a sufficient amount of nutrients, namely, crude protein, crude fat, fiber, micro and macro elements.

But the fry cannot be fed with food for adults.

Feeding 4 times a day for an adult, fry - 6 times.

This should be done at the same time, otherwise the fish may refuse food due to stress.

The better and more nutritious the food, the greater the weight of the individual and the better the taste.

back to contents ↑ Care and breeding

The most pressing question is where to start the activity after the preparation is over.

To begin with, buy fry, then grow them correctly, that is, follow the basic rules of care and feeding.

If the fish is kept in the pool, then the water needs to be changed regularly.

You can use running tap water. But it must be pre-filtered; a simple charcoal filter is suitable for this.

Change the water approximately every three days. To do this, a small amount of water should be drained, only about 15%, and replaced with fresh water.

At the initial stage, raising fry in the pool is extremely difficult, especially for an inexperienced entrepreneur.

Sturgeon fish begin to spawn only at the age of 6. If there is no experience in caring for fish, you can get a certain percentage of the mortality of individuals. Better to acquire individuals from farms.

back to contents ↑ Issue price

The financial plan worries all aspiring entrepreneurs. This question depends on many factors.

In addition to the cost of swimming pools or pond equipment, the purchase of fry is required.

The minimum cost of one individual starts at 12 rubles. To begin with, you will have to purchase 1800 individuals, their total weight after growing will be 1 ton. Accordingly, the purchase will have to spend at least 21,600 rubles.

It is also worth considering the cost of electricity and water, the total cost of resources will be approximately 28,000 rubles, plus the cost of feed - 70,000 rubles.

The cost of one sturgeon will be 120 rubles. And the market price per kilogram of sturgeon starts from 500 rubles or more.

With this plan, the proceeds from the sale will be 380 rubles per kilogram, and 380,000 rubles from one ton. This is the amount of net proceeds minus the cost price when sturgeon is sold at the lowest price.

Thus, fish farming is a delicious and profitable business. If you invest maximum funds and your own forces in this business, you can deploy a large-scale enterprise.

Sturgeon meat and caviar are highly valued; it is quite easy to find buyers for the products.

Home-based fish farming as a business has many advantages, only minor financial costs and a little free time are required from its owner.

Read also:

In the human diet, a product such as fish must be present without fail. You can buy it in any store or market, but you can also grow it yourself: of all freshwater fish species, the most profitable for breeding is a relative of the wild river carp - carp... It is about how to breed this fish in a personal plot in small ponds or pools that will be discussed in this article.

Advantages and disadvantages of carp breeding

Growing carp on your own has both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• Fast growth - unlike other representatives of its family, this cultivated species grows very quickly, reaching by the end of the first year its weight up to 400-500 grams. At the end of the second year, the fish is able to reach a marketable weight of 1 kg.
• Unpretentiousness - carp are not as whimsical to the oxygen content in water as most river freshwater fish.
• High quality meat - in this fish, it is soft, tasty and has a relatively small amount of small bones.

Carp is fast growing

Flaws:

• Frequent morbidity fish with a very dense population of their capacity
• Initial costs for the purchase of fry and the device of the pool are high enough

Breeding technology at home

Purchase of fry

You should only buy fry in specialized fish farms have a good reputation and have been working for a long time.

Fish seed should not be purchased from unverified and unreliable suppliers - private individuals engaged in carp breeding and reproduction, newly formed fish farms.

It is better to transport purchased fry in spacious buckets or fishing canals. It is better to take water from a pond or lake, in extreme cases - rain.

Organization of food - what and how to feed

If carps receive a balanced and nutritious diet, then in 9 months it is quite possible to grow a half-kilogram fish

A neglected carp should be fed twice a day:

• Early in the morning - when the sun has risen and the water has warmed up enough
• In the evening, before the sun goes down

It is better to use as feed:

• Finely chopped rain worms
• Fodder bloodworms
• Larva caddis flies (shitik)
• Steamed cereals - oats, wheat, barley
• Bread rye

In order for the pool to also contain all kinds of bottom microorganisms, small crustaceans that the carp feed on, it is necessary to periodically add water from a nearby pond or lake. You should also periodically feed the fish with special compound feed.

In order to periodically catch the largest specimens fish should be fed in the same place, by making a small tray in it into which food will be poured

The food should be filled up in small portions so that it is completely consumed by the fish, and does not fall to the bottom of the container, rotting there over time and causing a deterioration in water quality.

Launching fish into the pool

The purchased fry should be launched either in the spring or in the fall.

Spring stocking is preferable - the fish has time to gain weight before wintering and adapt to habitat conditions

It is necessary to launch the fry in the spring when the water warmed up to a temperature of 22-25 ° C.

Conditions of keeping and growing

Pool, location and dimensions

You can either buy a ready-made plastic pool or fill it yourself.

Pools for fish farming made of polypropylene

The most convenient for growing carp in a personal plot or summer cottage is a round container made of plastic or polypropylene with a diameter of 2 to 3 meters and a depth of at least 1.2-1.5 meters.

It is better to position the container in such a way that part of it is illuminated by the sun for most of the day in summer, and the other is in the shade. This arrangement will help to avoid overheating of the water and will give the fish an opportunity to take refuge in the cool shade in the heat.

Also, pools can be located in frame greenhouses or garages.

Water quality

The pool water must be renewed. For this, the following system is mounted:

• Filter with pump taking water from a nearby stream or small river
• Polyethylene pipe line connected to the pump and supplying water to the tank
• Drain line from a polyethylene pipe of a larger diameter than the supply. Place the drain line at the bottom of the tank and lead it into a stream or river, installing a tap or a plug at the end

Pool water is regularly updated

If there is no river or stream nearby, then it is necessary to use water from the well, pumped into the pool by a submersible pump with a filter. In this case, the water must be drained through a filter into the sewer.

Tap water rich in bleach and minerals should not be used to breed specks.

Temperature

Pool water during the growth and development of fish should warm up to a temperature of at least 22-25 ° C, but not more than 30 0С.

Such a temperature background is achieved by placing the container in a sunny place and periodically replacing (draining) part of the water.

Oxygen content

Although carp is unpretentious to the content of dissolved oxygen in water, it a deficiency can lead to a slowdown in growth or complete death of the entire livestock.

Water aeration

To increase the oxygen content, use special aerators or low power compressors.

Reproduction

Reproduction of carp is a rather painstaking process. To do this, when catching 2-3 year old fish in the fall, leave several large heterosexual individuals in a container so that they spawn in the spring:

• In order for carp to reproduce, it is necessary make two separate spawning and nursery ponds... Spawning should be 3 × 3 meters in size with a depth of no more than 0.5 meters. The nursery pond should be slightly larger in area and depth. Its optimal size is a square with a side length of 4 meters and a depth of up to 1.5 meters.
• In ponds it is necessary provide a fresh water supply system from a river or stream, well, as well as its discharge
• In early spring when the water warms up to 18-20 0С in the spawning pond, you must first transplant 1-2 males during the day, and closer to the evening - 1 female

Spawning in carp begins when wheat blooms

• In order for the females to have something to lay eggs in the pond in advance, they should plant with reeds or cattails, or place freshly cut meadow sod at the bottom
• After fertilized larvae hatch, large carp must be returned back to the pool
• 6-8 days later the spawning pond should be lowered, and the larvae should be caught with a fine-mesh net and transplanted into the nursery pond
• In the nursery pond larvae should be fed with small bloodworms, special compound feed, milk powder
• The nursery pond must be lowered before winter., and grown fry weighing 15-20 grams. transplant into a pool or large home aquarium

What to do with carp in the pond in winter

• In winter, in a dug-in or solid-cast concrete pool carp can overwinter provided the fact that the container does not freeze to the bottom and a sufficient amount of oxygen will get into it
• In order for the container not to freeze after it has formed a sufficiently strong ice cover for walking, it is necessary cover with a large layer of snow, in the absence of such - with insulation mats and foil, providing places for drilling holes
• In order for oxygen to enter the pool in its ice cover with a fishing ice screw several holes need to be made and make sure they don't freeze

Reeds will prevent thick ice from freezing and give fish oxygen

• If the container is located indoors or in a greenhouse, then for the winter, feeding carp should be reduced, make feeding depending on the activity of the fish

Business payback for beginners

Breeding carp is not only an opportunity to always have fresh, self-raised fish, but also quite a profitable business. Let's try to calculate its approximate profitability

Costs

• Pool from polypropylene with a volume of 2.7 m3 - 26,000 rubles.
• Malek –3000 rubles. (500 pieces) for the whole container

Malek carp

• Feed - purchased compound feed at a consumption of 1 bag per month and the duration of feeding minus autumn and winter from May to September (5 months), the cost of purchasing it at the cost of one bag weighing 40 kg at 640 rubles. in two years will amount to 6400 rubles.

The total amount of all expenses is 35,400 rubles.

Profit

• Taking into account the population density of a container of this size with at least 200 one-year-old fry per 1 m3 and the percentage of their death in the first year with normal feeding no more than 5% in the second year in the pool you can grow about 500 carps weighing about 1 kg - 500 kg of fish
• Carp marketable weight of 1 kg has an average cost of about 130 rubles - the sale of all farmed fish will bring 65,000 rubles.

Carp is usually caught in autumn

• Less all expenses equal to 35 400 rubles. profit is 29,600 rubles., and the estimated profitability of growing carp at home is:

Profitability = (Profit / Cost) × 100 = (29,600 / 35,400) × 100 = 83.6%

Growing carp in a backyard can be not only a good hobby, but also quite a profitable business even for a novice fish breeder.