Tips for Success in Profiting with Betok Fish Cultivation!

Unlike the cultivation of tilapia or tilapia fish which many people do, very few people are interested in cultivating betok fish. In fact, in Kalimantan this fish has a high economic value. The reason, betok fish have delicious and tasty meat.

Betok fish is a type of carnivorous fish that lives in fresh water such as rivers, reservoirs or lakes. Not only in Kalimantan, betok fish exist in several other areas with different names. For example, in Kalimantan this fish is known as papuyu fish, in Central Java and East Java it is known as betik fish.

Almost all of the betok fish sold in the market are fish caught from the wild. Therefore, it is not surprising that the size of the betok fish being sold is getting smaller day by day. If taken seriously, actually parrot fish farming has quite profitable business potential.

Betok Fish Cultivation Business Opportunities

The potential for betok fish cultivation has the potential to generate maximum profit. There is a lot of demand for parrot fish from household consumers to business owners or culinary restaurants. In addition, the types of betok fish being sold are dwindling because they are caught wild and not cultivated. So, you can see this as a very attractive business opportunity.

Cultivating betok fish is sufficient with minimal capital, starting with small land, such as in the yard of the house, and easy maintenance. You don't need to worry anymore about the difficulties of cultivating betok fish. 

One of the characteristics of the betok fish is its ability to survive and adapt even in media or containers that lack water. Betok fish can survive in water that has little oxygen levels. Even in the wild, betok fish can survive on land because of the help of gill fins or scabs. 

To get maximum and fast cultivation results, you are advised to cultivate betok fish in the lowlands close to the sea. However, this does not rule out the possibility for you to cultivate betok fish in the highlands. 

Another advantage that will be felt by betok fish cultivators is that even though they live in fresh water ponds, betok fish do not have cannibalistic characteristics, in contrast to catfish.

Things to Prepare

The two main things that must be considered in starting a betok fish farming business are the pond that you will use as a cultivation medium and the selection of fish seeds. Friends of Cultivators can use earthen ponds, cement pools, or tarpaulin ponds as cultivation media. 

However, it is more advisable to use an earthen pond because this type of pond has a good water circulation system and has the potential to grow natural betok fish food such as worms, algae or plankton.

To increase the growth of plankton, you can soak the contents of manure mixed with special probiotics in a sack, then immerse it in the pond. Set up a large cultivation pond close to a spring.

Other things that you need to pay attention to so that parrot fish farming is profitable are:

1. Give a netting fence or mosquito nets to protect ponds and fish from predators.
2. Even though they rarely get sick, there are 3 main factors that cause parrotfish to be exposed to disease, namely the environment, the condition of the fish host, or the presence of disease bodies in the pond. Look at these factors carefully.
3. Routinely provide prebiotics once every one to two weeks.
4. Choose a dark green type of parrot fish because this type of seed can grow to its optimal size, compared to yellowish green ones.
5. After 2 months, see if there are fish that are not the same size. If there are, separate the large and small parrot fish so they don't hinder the growth of the small parrot fish.
6. When harvesting, you need to be careful to maintain the quality of the fish on the market.

Types of Betok Fish

Most of the betok fish that are sold in the market today are betok fish that are caught directly from the wild so that the size is still not uniform. In order to get a uniform size of the betok fish when cultivating, you are advised to choose the green-colored parrotfish because this type of fish is more able to reach a more optimal size than the yellowish-green ducklings.

To ensure that the betok fish seeds that you have are of good quality, you should do the spawning yourself. The trick is to prepare several adult male and female parrot fish, then store them in the same aquarium. 

A few days later, you can move the female fish in your own aquarium until you see the baby parrots. If the betok fish seeds or puppies are of different sizes, you don't need to worry about keeping them in the same pond because the betok fish do not have cannibalism.

To distinguish female and male parrot fish, you can pay attention to the physical shape of male and female fish. The male parrot fish has a relatively smaller body, but has elongated genitals, and moves more agile and agile.

The female type of parrot fish has the physical characteristics of a larger body size than the male fish. The genitals of the female parrot are round, the body movements of the female parrot are slower, and the color of the female parrot is duller, with a fatter belly.

Betok Fish Food to Grow Big Fast

Ketentuan pemberian makanan ikan betok dilakukan sebanyak dua atau tiga kali sehari dengan rasio banyaknya pakan sebesar 4-6%dari bobot tubuh ikan. Dengan jumlah pakan ikan betok yang telah dihitung, Bapak/Ibu bisa membaginya menjadi dua atau tiga kali pemberian pakan.

If the parrot fish farming pond is near the house, then you can feed the parrot fish three times, namely at 9 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm. However, if the location of the aquaculture pond is far enough from the house, feed can only be given twice a day, at 9 am and 4 pm.

You are advised to feed the parrots at 9 in the morning, because in the morning the ducks' appetite is not too strong. Choose parrot fish feed with a high protein content so that the parrot fish grow up quickly.

Generally, parrot fish food that is rich in protein is pellets. If you always provide feed in the form of pellets, the operational costs for cultivation can increase. However, pelleted parrot fish food is reliable and will help your parrot fish grow stable and healthy.

To get around the swelling cultivation costs, you can prepare alternative feeds such as earthworms, silk worms, crickets, magot, or golden snails. Give any natural food that has a high protein content. Considering that the parrot fish eats everything, you can provide feed in vegetable form, such as leftover rice, rice bran, leftover vegetables, tofu dregs or coconut dregs. This type of food can help reduce the cost of your parrot fish cultivation.

Betok Fish Marketing

You don't need to worry because you are confused about where to market your betok fish. You can market the betok fish directly to fish sellers or vegetable traders in markets, restaurants, hotels, to household consumers. The price for betok fish per kg is priced starting from IDR 50,000 to IDR 70,000 per kilogram, depending on the region.