The process of raising more than one type or specie of fish in the same pond at the same time is also known as ”Polyculture” Fish farming or Polyculture Fishery.
Although polyculture fish farming method is meant to be practiced by highly skilled and well experienced fish farmers, young experienced fish farmers can also carryout this process through proper guidance as we generally learn better by doing those things practically especially in Agriculture / Farming.
There is nothing wrong in raising both Catfish and Tilapia together in the same pond. However, enough information must be gathered about the features of the two fishes so that you not have a problem, in handling them.
For instance, Tilapia normally multiply very rapidly than catfish and as such, if care is not taken as to know the right time to introduce them into the pond, they may become a problem to the catfish which will bring more money.
Therefore, they are better introduced into the pond when catfish would have grown a bit so that they can feed on most of the tilapia but that is if you as the fish farmer is intending to use the Tilapia fishes to feed your catfishes to minimize your cost of feeding.
Alternatively, if you are planning to raise both the Tilapia and Catfish together and sell them both at maturity level (Edible size) then the below method is for you:
All you need do is to stock your tilapia fishes first to enable them get to big size followed by a much small size catfish so that the catfishes will not predate (feed on) on your Tilapia fishes as they grow bigger. They can co-exist and act as natural population control.
The idea behind this practice most times is that since Tilapia fishes can reproduce under captivity. The Catfishes feeds on the baby Tilapia fishes produced and with this system you may spend a little less in overall cost of feeding.
However, the size of the fish pond to be used for this purpose must be considered as it determines the quantity of fishes to be stocked both for Tilapia and Catfish. Meanwhile the larger the fish pond, the better to avoid overcrowding and other difficulties that arise as a result of inadequate space in fish farming.
The advice is that if you must raise both of them together; make sure you carry an expert along.
Now let us look at the comprehensive guide to raising tilapia and catfish below as it will help you understand how to handle them together successfully in the same pond.
Comprehensive Guide to Raising Tilapia
From the tilapia farmer’s perspective, there are three main events in the tilapia farming timeline: hatching, rearing, and harvesting. Of course, these events have many different names depending on with whom you are speaking. Some people might use words like spawning, grow-out, and processing, but no matter what terms they use they’re all talking about the same things.
An important point to remember is: that we are referring to the events and jobs in the farming timeline and not the development cycle of the tilapia. Although they are interwoven, the tilapia are going through their own cycle of development that doesn’t require any significant shifts in your responsibilities. Because this is an important distinction we will briefly overview each of the tilapia farming events.
- Hatching includes delicate jobs such as caring for breeding colonies, encouraging or inducing spawning, egg extraction or nursery isolation, tilapia fry care, and raising the fry to fingerling size; ultimately grading the fingerlings for their rate of growth before delivering them to the grow-out facility. Each of these jobs has several individual steps and techniques that are unique to the operation of a tilapia hatchery. It should also be noted that the equipment and facilities used for hatching, are unique to hatchery operations, and only useful during the first few weeks of the tilapia’s life.
- Rearing, or grow-out, is the part of tilapia farming that picks up after the hatchery has raised them to fingerling size. At this stage, the tilapia farmer’s goal is to raise the tilapia to harvest size quickly, economically, and in good health. Tasks include testing, sorting, weighing, and several maintenance jobs. These tasks are the subject of this guide.
- Harvesting, or processing, involves selecting tilapia, moving them to a finishing pond, killing them humanely in a way that respects what they are providing, and then removing their filets. Many of these jobs can be skipped by the farmer and passed on to the person preparing the tilapia. The equipment used for harvesting has nothing to do with the rearing facilities, and obviously doesn’t incorporate any of the hatchery equipment.
So as you can see, hatching, rearing, and harvesting not only involve completely different sets of responsibilities, they also require different equipment and facilities. It should also be noted that the size of the operation doesn’t matter.
For example, a processing facility can be as complex as climate controlled clean room, full of stainless steel tables and equipment, or as simple as a home kitchen, with a sink and a cutting board. Every tilapia needs the same things to live, and the only difference between the large commercial farm, and the backyard farm, are the methods used.
In the end, the results are all that matter. The level of creativity that you use to get there is up to you, and part of the personal satisfaction that you’ll get from tilapia farming.
What follows is intended to be a need-to-know, answers-only guide, to tilapia farming. We’re not going to fill your head with theory and science beyond what is absolutely necessary. In addition, we are going presume that you have an average level of common sense.
With respect to book writers, who have to fill pages with text by first stating, and then repeating the obvious, sentences such as “the tilapia go into the pond” are not a part of this guide. So without further ado, let’s learn about tilapia farming.
