Tips & Tricks for Catfish Feeding Based on Age

The most important factor that makes a catfish farming business successful is the provision of the best quality feed. In feeding, you need to provide feed to catfish based on age.

Budidaya ikan lele merupakan salah satu jenis budidaya yang terbilang cukup mudah dibandingkan ikan air tawar lainnya. Hal ini disebabkan karena ikan lele memiliki daya tahan hidup yang kuat sehingga risiko kerugian akibat kematian terbilang rendah.

Apart from that, another advantage of catfish farming is that you can start with minimal capital but can still generate lucrative profits. This is because catfish farming has a relatively fast harvest time and a stable selling price on the market.

You also don't need to find it difficult to sell your harvest, because there will always be buyers who need catfish, from food stall owners, mobile fish sellers, to luxury restaurants.

The good news is, amidst the large demand for catfish, the competition for catfish farming is still relatively loose or not yet competitive so that you have a pretty good prospect. Therefore, you need to know tips & tricks for feeding catfish based on age. Here's the review!

Types of Catfish Feed Based on Age

Important factors in catfish farming are feed, pond conditions, seeds, and how to deal with diseases. Of these factors, feed is the top order in terms of growth. For fish, feed is a necessity that must be met for their survival.

To stimulate the growth of catfish, the feed given must be in sufficient quantity and of good quality. Thus, the nutritional needs of catfish can be met. Nutritious feed must contain protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Protein functions for growth, energy metabolism, and repair of damaged tissue. Fat serves as a source of energy and an introduction to the absorption of vitamins. While carbohydrates serve as a source of energy.

To maximize feeding, you need to adjust the size of the catfish feed to the size of the fish based on their age. 

The following is a table for catfish feed based on age:

In addition, you can provide alternative feed for catfish so that their growth is faster. For catfish aged 5-15 days, you can provide feed in the form of finely chopped silkworms. 

Meanwhile, in the enlargement phase, you can also provide snail feed at least once a week, because it has a high protein and iron content. Not only that, snails are easy to find and the price is relatively cheap, so they are suitable for use as food for catfish so they grow up quickly.

For catfish feed sizes that are 2 months old, you can give pellets whose granules are rather large. Try to soak the feed in the form of pellets first so that they are soft, so that the catfish can easily digest the feed and will get hungry quickly. Catfish that get hungry quickly will be fed more often and grow bigger, so the harvest time is faster.

After you know the type of catfish feed based on age, you must sort it at least once a week or once every two weeks. This aims to separate the size of catfish that do not grow evenly.

With the same size of catfish in one pond, their growth will be relatively uniform and minimize the risk of mass death or cannibalism due to the presence of larger catfish.

Tips for Feeding Catfish Based on Age

In feeding, the catfish will eat the required amount of feed and will ignore the feed when it is full. Keep in mind, that overfeeding (overfeeding) will damage the water quality, change the color of the water, and cause odor.

There are several tips that need to be considered in feeding catfish in order to produce quality and superior catfish. The goal is that cultivated catfish can grow according to the standard weight of fish that can be consumed by humans.

1. Choose the Right Feed

The right feed for catfish is quality feed, feed characteristics according to needs, and economically profitable.

2. Feeding As Needed

Giving pellets ideally as much as 3-5% of the total weight of the catfish in the pond. That is, if the weight of the catfish in the pond is 100 kg, then the feed that must be given is in the range of 3-5 kg/day.

3. Feeding Regularly

Pellets should be given regularly, 2-3 times a day. For example, every 8 am and 4 pm, the goal is that when feeding, the catfish are really hungry.

4. Feeding according to the age of the fish

Feeding should also be adjusted to the age of the catfish. The difference in catfish size is not only from the body, but also from the opening of the mouth. So that the size of the feed used will determine whether or not the feed is included.

Even though you use the best quality feed, you don't give it the right size, the feed is not eaten optimally and has the potential to reduce water quality.

5. Observe the health of catfish when feeding

When feeding catfish, you need to take the time to observe the health of the catfish. See if the catfish can respond quickly to stimulation. For example, when you give feed, do the catfish respond immediately or not. If yes, then the catfish is in good health.

6. Pay attention to the amount of feed given

Give feed little by little until the catfish does not eat feed anymore. You need to pay attention to how much feed is needed so that you can better determine the next feed.