Pabda farming require a degree of patience in the initial weeks of establishing a pabda farm. However, once the pabda fish have gained some weight, farmers must exhibit sharp attention to details. Pabda fish take approximately six month to go from the hatchling state to the market stage.
This six-month period make pabda fish farming appropriate for farmers who own ponds that require relatively quick turnover in the fish farming cycle. In order to successfully raise these fish, farmers must understand the needs of the pabda fish based off their size and the available resource in the farm. The growth chart represent the stages through which pabda fish travel, from the time they hatch to the time they reach the market stage.
Pabda Fish Growth, Feeding and Pond Care
The growth chart also displays the growth of the length and the weight of the pabda fish after they leave the yolk-sac phase. At this initial stage, the fry are almost transparent and use the energy reserves within there bodies. However, they require live food in the form of crustaceans in the initial few days of their lives.
If farmers doesnt introduce this food for the fry during this time, the number of fry will drop rapid. When pabda fish reach the fingerling stage, they will take on the classic shape of catfish species and will begin to eating foods like worms or higher-protein fish food pellets. The growth chart displays this change in feeding because the daily growth of pabda fish increase at this stage.
Any mistake made in feeding or pond maintenance at this phase will result in some pabda fish outgrowing others of the same batch. Most of the weight of pabda fish is gained during the middle months of their growth cycle. At the juvenile stage, pabda fish efficiently convert the feed that is fed to them.
However, if the dissolved oxygen in the water are not high enough or if the ammonia content is too high, these fish will not be able to efficiently convert the feed to body weight. Additionally, the feed rate as a percentage of the total body weight of the pabda fish decrease each passing month on the growth chart. Fish farmers who are new to raising pabda fish may not be aware of this decrease in the feed rate, and they may continue to feed the same amount of feed to the pabda fish for too long.
This feeding method can lead to a cloudy water within the pond and wasted money by the fish farm owner. Water chemistry is a very important factor in the growth of pabda fish. This factor is more important than many people may first think when learning of the needs of pabda fish farming.
If the water temperature is maintained at around the mid-twenties on the temperature scale, the metabolism of the fish will remain active. However, the metabolism of the pabda fish may create demand for the water to contain more dissolved oxygen at these temperatures. If the pond is maintained at slightly alkaline pH levels, the pabda fish will experience less stress during their lives.
The parameters listed on the growth chart represent the ideal water chemistry for pabda fish farm. Maintaining these chemical factor within the pond is the most important aspect of pabda fish farming. If any other factor within the pond is maintained at an ideal value, it is far more dangerous to alter any of these parameter.
Therefore, farmers should perform water changes and aeration weekly to provide stability to the ponds chemistry, even when the chemistry appears to be within the parameters specified on the growth chart. Like the diet of the pabda fish changes with their size, the growth chart makes it easy for farmers to adjust the diet of the fish according to their size. Pabda fry must have live food such as zooplankton since their mouths are still small enough to perform the feeding.
However, after a few days, pabda fry grow in size and can be fed with food such as worms and brine shrimp. Eventually, pabda fish will eat floating fish food pellets. Alternative diets such as rice bran and mustard cake can also be introduced to the diet of pabda fish.
However, these foods should be used as supplement to the diet of the pabda fish. While pabda fish are omnivorous, protein level should be maintained at a minimum of thirty percent of the total diet of the fish during the final phase of the growth cycle or the growth of the pabda fish will slow down. The visual representation of the different feed option within the growth chart allows farmers to plan their purchases of feed for the farm to ensure that they do not purchase too much or too little feed for the fish to eat during each phase of their lives.
Another factor in the lives of pabda fish is the concept of stocking density in pabda fish farm. The stocking density for the initial nursery pond should be three hundred pabda fish per square meter. This stocking level is appropriate for the fish at this early life stage.
However, once the farmers move the pabda fish to grow-out ponds, the stocking density must be reduce. If too many pabda fish are stocked in a pond at any time after they reach the three-gram mark, the smaller pabda fish will not be able to catch up to the larger fish due to competition for food and dissolved oxygen in the pond. The growth chart for pabda fish allows farmers to adjust the stocking density throughout the life stages of the pabda fish.
Another crucial aspect of pabda fish farming is the maintenance of the health of the pabda fish. Low levels of dissolved oxygen in the pond or too much feed left to rot on the pond floor can cause issues related to bacteria. Parasites can also appear in pabda fish that are underfed or under great stress.
The prevention section of the growth chart provides recommendations for maintaining adequate water movement in the fish pond and limiting spikes in the pond’s water temperature. Maintaining adequate water movement and avoiding spikes in water temperature is a much more cost-effective method of pabda fish farm management than treating the pond with drugs to treat bacterial or parasitic infection. The timing of harvesting pabda fish from grow-out ponds depends upon the weight of the fish and the requirement of the market for these species of fish.
The best weight for pabda fish is one hundred fifty gram because the meat will be the tenderest and there will be a high yield of pabda fish meat from each individual fish. Because it takes six month for pabda fish to reach this weight, farmers can establish two growing cycle per year in many climates. This rapid growing cycle allow pabda fish farmers to gain a benefit in economic terms compared with other species of fish that grow at a slower rate.
The growth chart indicates that after six months, the rate at which pabda fish gain weight begin to flatten. Therefore, there is no benefit in allowing pabda fish to continue to grow beyond six month. The same concept can be applied to the comparison of the pabda fish to other fish species.
The pabda fish grows at a faster rate than other catfish species and can command a higher price for their fish. However, they require a higher amount of dissolved oxygen in their water and require more care in the feeding of the fry during their early life stages. However, if farmers understand these difference between pabda fish and other catfish species, they can make an informed decision to raise pabda fish.
To successfully farm pabda fish, farmers must keep the water within their pond as clean as possible. Additionally, the feed given to the fish must be appropriate to the life stages of the pabda fish. Finally, farmers must thin the pabda fish in their ponds before the fish become too numerous within each pond.
