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Feeding Catfish in Commercial Ponds

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Feeding Catfish in Commercial Ponds SRAC Publication No. 181 February 2008 VI PR Revision Feeding Catfish in Commercial Ponds Menghe H. Li 1 and Edwin H. Robinson 1 Since feeding is the most impor - to meet the fishes’ total nutritional motes total consumption to avoid tant task in the intensive pond requirements for normal growth waste and higher production cost. production of catfish, the person and development. All catfish feeds Catfish feeds are available as meal responsible for feeding should be are manufactured commercially; (powder), crumbles, and floating an experienced fish culturist who none are prepared on the farm. or slow-sinking pellets. Sinking can tell whether or not the fish are Manufacturers usually produce feeds (prepared in a pellet mill) feeding normally by observing “least-cost” formulations rather are seldom used in catfish produc - them as they come to the surface than “fixed-formula” feeds. In tion. Some producers use sinking to feed. This is generally the only least-cost feed formulation, the medicated feed containing oxyte - time the fish can be seen during formulas vary as ingredient prices tracycline because the antibiotic is grow out. Feeding behavior can be change. However, there are several sensitive to the high heat used in an important clue to the general limitations in the manufacture of the manufacture of floating feeds. health of the fish and the pond catfish feed using least-cost formu - However, there are now floating environment. If the fish are not lations. oxytetracycline-medicated feeds feeding normally, the person who made with “cold-extrusion” tech - is feeding must inform the farm • There is a relatively small num - nology. ber of suitable feedstuffs. manager that there may be a prob - The size and form of feed to use lem. Feed cost is the largest oper - • There is a general lack of depend on fish size, water temper - ating expense in catfish produc - knowledge about the nutrient ature and the type of management tion, so fish should be fed a nutri - levels that result in maximum used. Meal feeds are used in tious feed in a manner that results profit as opposed to maximum hatcheries and nursery ponds dur - in fast growth and efficient feed weight gain. ing the first 3 to 4 weeks of fry conversion without degrading • Feed mills lack the storage culture. When fry grow to about 1 water quality. Because feeding is capacity to house a large num - to 2 inches and come to the sur - influenced by a number of uncon - ber of different ingredients. face seeking food, they are fed trollable factors and because the 1 Examples of feed formulations small floating pellets ( ⁄8 inch in environment in each pond is dif - diameter) or crumbles. Floating ferent, there are no standard feed - used to grow catfish at various life stages are given in Table 1. feed is generally preferred because ing practices in the catfish indus - it makes feeding behavior much try. The following recommenda - Form and size easier to monitor. tions are guidelines. In commercial food fish produc - Feeds must not only contain all 5 3 Feed formulations tion, floating feed pellets ⁄32 to ⁄16 essential nutrients, but must also inch in diameter are usually used. be palatable and of a size that can Feeds used in commercial catfish In multiple-batch cropping sys - be readily ingested. If fish don’t production must contain adequate tems, where various sizes of fish eat it, or cannot eat it, maximum amounts of all essential nutrients are present in a pond, it would be growth is not achieved and the desirable to use multiple feed producer loses money. The feed 1 sizes, but this is not practical in Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture must be offered in a way that pro - Center, Mississippi State University. large-scale operations. Slow- Table 1. Examples of feed formulations used to culture catfish. % of feed Ingredient Fry feed Fingerling feed Food fish feed (50%) a (35%) (32%) (32%) (28%) (28%) (26%) Soybean meal (48%) a – 44.2 41.6 47.0 30.1 35.4 28.3 Cottonseed meal (41%) – 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 5.0 Menhaden meal b (61%) 74.2 8.0 4.0 – 4.0 – 4.0 Corn grain – 27.6 32.1 30.3 33.6 31.9 35.3 Wheat middlings 20.4 7.5 10.0 10.0 20.0 20.0 25.0 Dicalcium phosphate c – 0.5 0.6 1.0 0.6 1.0 0.7 Catfish vitamin mix d include include include include include include include Catfish mineral mix d include include include include include include include Fat/oil e 5.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 a Values in parentheses represent the percentage protein. b Other animal proteins can be used to replace menhaden meal. c Phytase enzymes can be used to replace dicalcium phosphate. d Commercial mixes meet or exceed all requirements for channel catfish. e This is sprayed on finished feed pellets to reduce feed dust (“fines”) . sinking feeds are often used dur - catfish are generally fed once daily Factors affecting ing the winter when low tempera - to what is commonly called satia - feed conversion tures make catfish reluctant to tion (that is, feeding the fish all they come to the surface. Using a slow- will eat in about 20 to 30 minutes). Feed conversion ratio (pounds of sinking feed at this time gives fish Since catfish feeding activity varies feed fed per pound of weight gain) a better opportunity to feed. with fish size and age, water tem - is a production term used to mea - Antibiotic-medicated feeds are perature, water quality, and fish sure how efficiently fish convert the available as small and large float - health status, producers must feed to body mass. The lower the ing pellets to treat bacterial infec - decide each day how much and ratio, the better the feed is being tions. how often to feed. No two ponds of used by fish. In commercial catfish production, the feed conversion Factors affecting fish are exactly alike; as a result, feeding behavior may differ greatly ratio dramatically affects the prof - feeding practices from pond to pond and from day to itability of the farm. The higher the feed conversion ratio, the higher Feeding is a highly variable day. Under normal conditions, cat - fish should be fed daily as much production cost will be (Table 2). process among catfish producers. For example, at a feed price of $250 Some producers use computer pro - feed as they will consume without adversely affecting water quality. per ton, it takes 25 cents worth of grams that determine feeding rate feed to produce 1 pound of fish if based on a percentage of fish body However, depending on water tem - perature, water quality and the the feed conversion ratio is 2, while weight. Feeding a prescribed it costs 38 cents (a 50 percent amount of feed based on fish bio - health of the fish, sometimes it may be better to restrict the daily feed increase) at a feed conversion ratio mass in a particular pond works of 3. best when the biomass in each allowance or to feed less frequently. pond is known and a fairly accu - Most commercial ponds are relative The feed conversion ratio of catfish rate estimate of feed conversion large (usually 10 acres or larger). It is influenced by feed quality, fish can be made. However, since most is important that the feed be blown size, feeding rate and frequency, catfish producers remove only over a large area to make it accessi - stocking density, water temperature market-size fish and replace har - ble to as many fish as possible. It is and water quality. Fish size appears vested fish with fingerlings, it is better to feed on all sides of the to have a marked effect on feed difficult to know the biomass after pond, if wind conditions allow. If conversion. As fish grow larger, the several harvests and restockings. the wind is blowing, feed must be feed conversion ratio greatly In fact, many catfish producers distributed along the upwind side of increases. For example, in small estimate their inventory by the the pond to prevent it from washing experimental ponds, it takes 1.8 amount of feed fed. As a result, ashore. pounds of feed to grow 1 pound of Table 2. Feed cost in cents per pound of catfish produced at different pounds per acre per day. The total feed conversion ratios and feed prices. feed input, net production, weight gain and feed conversion were Feed price, dollars/ton about the same when fish were (cents/pound in parenthesis) fed to apparent satiation or fed at Feed conversion 200 225 250 275 300 325 a “cut-off” rate of 120 pounds per ratio (10.0) (11.25) (12.50) (13.75) (15.0) (16.25) acre per day. Generally, the higher the stocking density, the lower the 1.5 15 17 19 21 23 24 feed efficiency will be, but this 1.6 16 18 20 22 24 26 may be due partly to poorer fish survival at higher densities. 1.7 17 19 21 23 26 28 Unfavorable environmental condi - 1.8 18 20 23 25 27 29 tions, such as temperature extremes, also can lower feed effi - 1.9 19 21 24 26 29 31 ciency. 2.0 20 23 25 28 30 33 Warm weather feeding 2.1 21 24 26 29 32 34 Fry and fingerlings 2.2 22 25 28 30 33 36 2.3 23 26 29 32 35 37 When stocked into nursery ponds, catfish fry are tiny and are weak 2.4 24 27 30 33 36 39 swimmers.
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