Herbivorous fish: names, features of cultivation and nutrition. Fish farm

The cultivation of herbivorous fish or the maintenance of ponds is the main source of fish on the trading shelves of the country. Pond fish farming technologies are developing and changing due to changes in the historical, political and economic situation in Russia.

The cycle of growing carp and other herbivorous fish in ponds traditionally takes from two to three years. Herbivorous fish are fed in ponds by breeding polyculture and fertilizing ponds. Failure to use artificial feed with mineral fertilizers allows you to get an annual increase in all types of ponds (outgrowth and feeding).

Species of herbivorous fish

What fish are herbivorous? The list of herbivorous fish in Russia includes:

• The silver carp is white and motley.
• Carp.
• White amur.

These fish, due to their natural characteristics, easily take root in many countries, while maintaining taste indices.

White amur

This commercial fish belongs to the family of cyprinids and is characterized by rapid growth. Cases of weight gain by grass carp up to 50 kg are known. Any vegetation of ponds, meadow grasses, as well as feed concentrate are suitable for feeding cupid. The diet of grass carp is determined by its age.

Amount of feed consumed by grass carp often exceeds its body weight.

Cupid is called the natural filter of the pond. The algae eaten by them pass through the intestines of the fish and again end up in the pond, creating comfortable conditions for living and breeding for other fish. The number of reclamation fish depends on how much the pond is overgrown with algae and ranges from one hundred to five hundred units of grass carp per hectare.

To increase productivity, it is recommended to introduce in the diet of fish feed from perennial herbs. Alfalfa or sainfoin will do. With low vegetation in the pond, grass carp can feed on mixed feed for some time. But you should not abuse it. This can lead to the development of serious pathologies in the population.

Readiness for breeding in grass carp is dependent on the region of residence. So, in the southern regions of the country, grass carp reaches puberty at the age of five, and in the northern regions at eight.

By replanting grass carp in the amount of up to 600 pieces per 1 hectare, it is possible to clear weakly overgrown reservoirs. For moderately and heavily overgrown ponds, the number of grass carp should be increased to a thousand individuals per hectare. The introduction of young grass carp helps in one vegetative period to clear unprofitable reservoirs overgrown with reeds and prepare them for growing fry carp.

But in order for grass carp to prove itself as a meliorator of the water territory, it needs to create special conditions. So, the depth of the pond should not be less than half a meter. This condition is necessary for fish for a successful wintering. And to ensure the heating of water in the summer months to 18 ° C.

The technology for growing planting stock of herbivorous fish in complex ponds is based on polyculture. Representatives of the fish world such as silver carp (white and colorful), carp, pike and zander get along well with grass carp. Why can the number of herbivorous fish decline sharply? The presence of pike in the pond ensures that it will eat young grass carp. Therefore, to successfully clean the pond from algae, two-year-old grass carp weighing over two hundred grams are planted.

This technology has long been successfully used by the Saratov hatchery of herbivorous fish. After replanting two-year-old and three-year-old grass carp, the company managed to get rid of algae and reeds on an area of ​​more than a thousand hectares, which, in turn, led to an improvement in production and financial indicators.

Carp

Carp is the first name that comes to mind when answering the question which of the bony fish is herbivorous. In fact, carp is a tamed carp. A characteristic feature of its digestive system is the absence of a stomach. Therefore, the carp devotes his whole life to the search for food. Fortunately, it is unpretentious in food - with equal pleasure, carp absorbs algae and other aquatic plants, insect larvae, midges and small plankton.

Carp is a long-lived fish, it is able to live for about half a century. Of course, it does not make sense to grow carp for such a long period of time.

Carp is the most popular species in fish farms. Carp breeding makes up to 70% of all herbivorous fish.

The popularization of the breeding of these fish is caused not only by the variety of what the carp eats, but also by its undemanding care and maintenance. This fish can easily endure difficulties and hardships - cold temperature and lack of oxygen.

There are three main subspecies of carp:

1. Mirrored.
2. Scaly.
3. Naked.

These subspecies branch into many breeds. There are decorative types of carp (for example, Koi carp), which are bred for an aesthetic purpose.

Habitat

Mostly carp are bred in private ponds or stakes. Carp malek is as unpretentious as adult individuals. In the pond with stagnant or low-flowing water, cages - the frames on which the grid is stretched - fall. And in them lives and breeds fish.

The optimum depth of the pond for keeping carp is one and a half to two meters. Shallow depth contributes to good warming of the water. It is recommended to install an oxygen generator to saturate the reservoir with oxygen and backlight for the dark. Night lighting will attract insects, than the carp eats.

With a balanced menu and proper care, the carp is small, weighing 30 grams per season adds three times in weight. And by October, its weight is up to a kilogram.

Silver carp

Best of all, the silver carp is adapted for living in the southern regions. This fish eats a quantity of food equal to half its weight per day. Thanks to such an inborn gluttony, the weight of a white silver carp can reach twenty kilograms.

It gets along well with other herbivorous fish, since its diet does not compete with their menu.

The diet of the white silver carp is presented in the table below:

Land reclamation abilities of the white silver carp are indispensable for eftrophic ponds. The puberty of the silver carp depends on climatic conditions: in the southern regions they are ready for breeding at the age of 5 years, and in the northern regions at 8.

Silver carp motley

It differs from its white counterpart by a shortened body and a huge head and a well-developed filtration apparatus of the gills.

Like white, the motley silver carp eats up to half its own weight per day. The first two weeks, the male feeds on one small plankton, and over time passes to larger algae. Adult motley silver carp prefer blue-green phytoplankton.

This species of silver carp grows the fastest, the weight of adult fish can reach up to 40 kilograms. However, with an increase in the population, motley silver carp compete with carps. The sexual maturity of these fish does not depend on the environment and accounts for an average of five years.

Polyculture fish

Currently, most fish farms have switched to intensive cultivation technology, which is called pasture fish farming. A characteristic feature of such fish farming is the use of several fish polycultures. The calculation of the density of planting material of various species of herbivorous fish in this case depends on:

• The natural productivity of fish.
• Mineralization of the reservoir.
• Feed ration.
• The age of the fish.
• The size of the fish.

The ideal conditions for the productive breeding of herbivorous species of commercial fish, as well as for small marine fish, is the rapid heating of the reservoir. This allows you to increase the temperature of the pond water to optimal values ​​- over 20 ° Celsius - for feeding fish. Given the natural temperature regime of the three summer months - the most suitable time for the reproduction of fish.

Place for growing fry

Larvae of carp and fry of other herbivorous fish spend all their “childhood” in closed water supply (UZV) installations for growing fish - incubation apparatus that promote the growth of young animals (VNIIPRH). The density of the number of fry in the ultrasound for fish rearing is directly proportional to their weight, and averages about two hundred and fifty thousand larvae per cubic meter. Then, the grown fry are relocated to specially equipped containers - pools or trays.

Features of feeding carp and herbivorous fish

How to feed the fish? This is the main question of a caring owner who is interested in the growth of young animals. That is why it is so important to take the time to study the distinctive features of feeding various species of herbivorous fish, their food relationships, as well as the time to transfer fry to specialized food.

The starting food for the larvae and fry of herbivorous fish is feed RK0SZM or its equivalent - "Equiso". The composition of such feed includes:

• Microbiosynthesis products having a high concentration of protein.
• Low-fat fish meal .
• Lean oil.
• A mixture of multivitamins.
• Wheat flour.
• Sodium Caseinate.

After the weight of young growth reaches 100 mg, they are transferred to feeding with STRAS - 1 compound feed. Percentage of STRAS -1 composition:

• Proteins - 55%.
• Fats - 7%.
• Carbohydrates - 16%.
• Water -10%.

For better digestibility, about 50% of the protein compounds that make up the feed are degraded. The use of starter feed for fry of herbivorous fish is allowed after switching to external feeding. The frequency of feeding in incubators is from 20 minutes to half an hour. A single serving is evenly distributed in the area of ​​accumulation of fry. It is recommended to feed the larvae only in the daytime.

Compound feed RK-SMZ, "Equizo" and STRAS-1 are designed for feeding fry in the absence of natural food. To adapt the fry to the natural habitat, it is necessary to add small forms of phytoplankton to fish incubators. The presence of even small amounts of live phytoplankton in the diet of young animals provides for the rapid growth of fry and an improvement in their vital indicators.

The diet of carp larvae weighing up to fifty grams consists of special feed AK-1KE. It includes:

• Meat and bone meal.
• Yeast.
• Soya.
• Lean oil.
• A mixture of multivitamins.
• Dicalcium phosphate.

Upon reaching fry carp weighing fifty grams or more, it is transferred to feed AK - 2KE. And when gaining mass from two hundred grams - compound feed RGM - 2KE. The composition of all feed for fry carp includes dry mixtures of natural origin.

The daily norm for fry of carp, weighing up to twenty grams, is evenly distributed and issued every hour during daylight hours. When a small carp gains weight from twenty grams or more, the number of feeds per day is reduced to nine to ten times.

In winter, if the water temperature remains 6 ° C and above, the fish continue to be fed, distributing the daily norm in three doses. In winter, feeding is carried out only in the daytime and in an amount sufficient to maintain metabolic processes. So:

• If the water temperature is 6-8 ° C - the rate of food per day is 0.5% of the weight of the fish.
• If 9-10 ° C - the norm is up to 1%.
• If 10-12 ° C - the norm is up to 2%.

Best of all for feeding herbivorous fish in winter is plant feed with a low protein content.

Planting fry of carp, whose weight does not exceed twenty grams, is carried out with a density of:

• For pools, 650 units per cubic meter.
• In cages - up to 500 units per cubic meter.

For young large breeds of fish, this number does not exceed 250 individuals per cubic meter.

Fish Farm: Business Plan

Fish farming is not a new business idea, but its relevance is only increasing today. The option of maintaining your own stake or pond is a profitable business. But at the initial stage it requires a solid investment and competent organization of the process.

To begin with, you should find a land plot suitable for installing a pool with cages. A prerequisite for the successful production of fish is the availability of a special filter and equipment necessary for a particular breed of fish.

The purchase of young animals will also require significant financial costs. Keep in mind that the price of the larva is higher than the grown individuals. It is necessary to calculate the natural losses of fry during the growing process. On average, this amount is up to 10%. It will be possible to grow a full-fledged adult individual from the fry only after two - two and a half years.

Any business project begins with a business plan. Evaluation of the fish market makes it possible to conclude that carp is the most popular product on fish counters.

Approximate estimates for the organization of a fish farm for growing carp:

• Purchase of fry carp for replanting in cages - about ten thousand rubles;
• Salary to farm employees - thirty thousand rubles;
• A batch of feed for carp larvae and a vitamin mixture - seven to eight thousand rubles;
• Other expenses (payment of water, light, gas for heating the pool) - twenty-twenty-five thousand rubles.

Total, the approximate amount that you need to have to start a fish farm is about seventy thousand in national currency. Therefore, a fish farm belongs to a business with a category of investments of up to one hundred thousand rubles. For the northern regions of Russia, this amount increases significantly, and amounts to approximately five hundred thousand.

As for profit, without taxes and fees, it ranges from one hundred thirty to one hundred and fifty rubles. However, profit can be expected no earlier than in two or two and a half years. By this time, the male carp is turning into an adult and its mass is one or two kilograms.

Carp, like no other variety, is suitable for organizing a business for growing fish. This is due to its unpretentiousness in food and content. A fast growing fry of carp will help to quickly recover costs and generate income. However, it is not worth neglecting the quality of the conditions for keeping fish and animal feed. The consumer attitude can lead to the development of pathologies in the fry and its death, as well as the inconsistency of the meat of adult carps with sanitary standards.

Pros and cons of the fishing business

If we analyze the successful experience in fisheries, we can highlight the following advantages in favor of this area of ​​agriculture:

• A small start-up capital facilitates the establishment of a fish farm.
• The unpretentiousness of herbivorous fish in the maintenance and care reduces the cost of the owner to pay wages to employees.
• The rapid growth of fish of the cyprinidae family (in just one year, the larva of the carp is gaining marketable weight of an adult) makes it possible to quickly recover costs and make a profit.
• Unpretentiousness of cyprinids in nutrition. Besides the fact that they feed on their own, these fish give a good increase in weight and height when using any mixed feed (both special, for fish, and for birds or cattle).
• The possibility of feeding carps with natural products - grain or potatoes (the only thing, for better digestibility, they must first be boiled).
  

Of course, in every barrel of honey there is a fly in the ointment. Running a herbivorous fish growing business has its “pitfalls”:

• Seasonality of product sales. Basically, the fry is gaining marketable weight by the fall, and the massive influx of fish to the market stalls, respectively, leads to a decrease in prices.
• In the summer, the transportation and storage of fish is a very expensive and complex undertaking.
• Fish growth is also directly dependent on the time of the year: in the warm season, carp actively feeds and grows rapidly, in cold weather these indicators decrease;
• Not every outlet can afford to purchase equipment for keeping fish sold.
• A separate item of expenditures is the maintenance of sanitary standards, the treatment of fish and their protection (we have a lot of people who want to go for “free fishing”).

To get extra profit at the fish farm, it is necessary to take into account the natural symbiosis of the cultivated polyculture. There is an option for breeding crayfish in the same area with carps. Go other species of herbivorous fish. Lake crayfish not only perfectly clean the bottom of the reservoir (pond, cages), but they themselves are competing goods. Additionally, you do not need to feed the crayfish. They feed on fish food residues and eat phytoplankton. During molting, crayfish become weak, some of them die, becoming food for fish.

It is possible to breed carp larvae for sale. To maintain such fry, a separate water area is required. However, such additional income is not immediately possible: male carps reach puberty by the third year of life, and females only by the fifth.

Israeli experience

In the middle of the sands of the Negev desert , a fish farm appeared on the territory of Israel. The distance to the nearest body of water is about three hundred kilometers, while the density of farmed fish per cubic meter of water is about one hundred kilograms.

To create the farm's water space, a well about a kilometer deep was needed, from where water arrives, whose chemical composition corresponds to marine or ocean. This allowed the owners to start and successfully reproduce small sea fish.

Of course, the livelihood of fish in a desert farm is in the hands of a special laboratory staff. They monitor the composition of water, the operation of fans, purification and distillation of water and its saturation with oxygen. In addition, the life of fish also depends on uninterrupted electricity.

The creation of such a fish farm is not just a breakthrough in the development of the desert. Such a fishing company creates jobs and an alternative to fishing in the sea.