5 Ways to Cultivate Vaname Shrimp in Traditional Ponds & Their Prospects

How to cultivate vannamei shrimp in traditional ponds is an important knowledge for farmers. Cultivating vannamei shrimp in traditional ponds is suitable for beginners because it does not require large capital.

What is a Traditional Pond?

Before diving into this topic further, let's talk about it. What is a traditional pond? Traditional ponds are often called extensive ponds, which means ponds with low stocking densities. Traditional ponds also usually do not use complex and expensive pond production facilities or means.

As already mentioned, traditional ponds have a low stocking density, only 5-8 fish per m2, in contrast to other ponds such as intensive ponds which can reach 75-100 fish per m2.

Even though traditional ponds have a low stocking density, the traditional pond cultivation system still has advantages over other cultivation systems. The level of treatment is easier and the risk of disease is relatively smaller. 

If you are just starting to cultivate vannamei shrimp, traditional ponds are the cultivation system that is right for you.

Business Capital for Vaname Shrimp Cultivation in Traditional Ponds and Their Turnover

The cultivation business capital that you need depends on the number of shrimp to be cultivated. 

For example, you have 1 hectare of land for shrimp farming. For traditional ponds with a stocking density of 8 fish per m2, the number of shrimp cultivated is 80,000 heads.

This capital analysis is divided into two, namely fixed costs and operational costs. Check it out below!

1. Fixed Costs

Fixed costs are investments that are only issued once and can be used repeatedly.

2. Operational Costs

Operational costs are costs for purchasing consumable needs such as feed, electricity payments and others.

Then the total capital required is Fixed Costs + Operational Costs = IDR 20,300,000. Then how much profit do you get?

3. Turnover

First of all, let's calculate the estimated turnover that you get from selling vannamei shrimp. If the success in cultivation is 90%, the total shrimp that can be harvested is 72,000 heads.

Furthermore, if the weight per head is 12 grams, then the total weight of 72,000 tails is 864 kg. So with a price of 50,000/kg, the turnover obtained is IDR 43,200,000. Here are the details of the calculations.

So in a cultivation period of 102 days, you can generate a turnover of IDR 43,200,000. Big enough, right? If you are interested, let's immediately see how to cultivate it.

5 Ways to Cultivate Vaname Shrimp in Traditional Ponds

Here are 5 ways to cultivate vannamei shrimp in traditional ponds that you can follow so that your shrimp cultivation can earn big profits.

1. Preparation of Aquaculture Ponds 

Aquaculture ponds are drained until the bottom of the pond is cracked. This process can take 7-10 days, depending on the weather. Then the pond bottom soil is reversed.

Generally, the soil in ponds has an acidic pH so it needs to be given lime. You can add burnt lime at a dose of 1000 kg/ha and agricultural lime 320 kg/ha.

After that, the process of growing the pul phytoplankton begins. Phytoplankton is useful as additional feed for vannamei shrimp. The trick is to fertilize using urea (150 kg/ha) and manure (2,000 kg/ha).

Next, the pond is filled with pond water until it reaches a height of 0.8-1m and left until the plankton begins to thrive. If the plankton has grown, the water will be green, indicating that there is a type of chlorophyta which is good for shrimp.

2. Selection of Superior Seeds

Superior fry is the key to success in your shrimp farming. There are several criteria for superior shrimp fry as below.

• Lively and active
• Intestine contains
• Skin glows and brightens
• Free from disease and equipped with a certificate
• Uniform size

3. Spreading fry 

Before you spread the shrimp fry, you need to do the acclimatization process first. This process is carried out so that the vannamei shrimp fry can adapt to the environmental conditions of the pond pond.

The acclimatization process is carried out by placing the shrimp fry in transparent plastic. Next, the plastic is floated in the pond for 60 minutes.

After that, the plastic was slowly opened and left in the pond. The shrimp fry will swim out of the plastic by themselves.

4. Shrimp Maintenance

The process of raising shrimp is done by maintaining the quality of pond water and feeding. Don't let the oxygen content in the ponds get low. The way to keep it is to do the aeration process.

Nutritious feed is also important for the growth of vannamei shrimp. You can provide shrimp feed 3-4 times a day. The feed can be artificial or natural feed, but it is recommended to use artificial feed in the form of flour, granules or pellets, depending on the size of the shrimp. Also make sure you provide feed with a high protein content of 40%.

5. Harvesting

You can harvest shrimp after cultivating for 100-110 days. The process of harvesting shrimp is recommended to be done at night.

Why is it better to harvest shrimp at night? The shrimp you harvest are sensitive to sunlight. So by harvesting at night, the quality of the shrimp will be maintained. The harvesting process must also be done carefully so that the shrimp are not damaged and deformed during harvest.