How much feed do catfish need until harvest? Check Here!

Calculating the need for catfish feed until harvest is one of the important steps for cultivators to do in planning catfish cultivation. Generally, medium-scale cultivators will cultivate 1,000 catfish. For that, you need to know the feed rate for 1,000 catfish per day.

Catfish is one of the prima donna commodities of freshwater fish. It's easy and difficult to sell catfish harvests as long as the fish have optimal weight. To get the optimal weight, cultivators need to calculate 1,000 catfish feed until harvest. The goal is to have an overview of the capital requirements for fish feed so that the existing capital can be used more optimally.

This is because the provision of fish feed dominates business capital up to 60-80% of the total capital, so you need to be more careful in determining feed including daily feed dosage. This article will outline the details catfish feed requirements until harvest for 1000 tails.

Catfish Feed Needs 1000 Heads Until Harvest

Ideally, cultivators can provide catfish feed 3 times a day in the morning, afternoon and evening. In the morning it can be given at 8-9 am, in the afternoon around 4-5 pm, and in the evening it is given at 8-10 pm.

Meanwhile, the type of catfish feed itself is divided into 2 types, namely natural feed and artificial feed. For natural feed, it is more appropriate to give it during the hatchery process, while artificial feed is given during the nursery and enlargement processes. Examples of natural food for catfish include water fleas, silk worms or artemia. 

Natural food is good for catfish fry because it is rich in nutrients needed by catfish seeds or larvae. As for adult catfish or catfish in the enlargement process, giving artificial feed from factories such as pellets helps accelerate the growth of catfish because they contain more complex nutrients needed by catfish. 

Artificial feed such as pellets generally contains a minimum protein content of 25%, a minimum fat content of 5%, a maximum moisture content of 12% and an ash content of 13%, and a maximum crude fiber content of 8%.

There are 3 types of pellet feed based on their size, namely feed measuring 1 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm. To determine which feed to give to catfish depends on the size of the mouth of the catfish itself.

It should be underlined that every Cultivator naturally wanted optimal yield with maximum fish weight. However, that does not mean that you can provide feed without clear rules. In addition to scheduling feeding catfish feed dose of 1000 tails needs to be calculated carefully so that there is no waste or inhibition of catfish growth.

Because excessive feeding actually creates ammonia that arises from the remaining sediment of catfish feed. This ammonia can contaminate and reduce the quality of pond water, especially dissolved oxygen levels. Excessive feeding also has an impact on waste so that the capital spent on feed costs will swell.

Therefore, there are clear rules regarding feeding, namely providing feed as much as 3-5% of the total weight of catfish biomass. Biomass is the total weight of fish in one cultivation medium based on the density and volume of water. By knowing the amount of biomass, you can find out the right amount of feed and can predict harvest time and yield.

There are 2 methods for calculating biomass, the first is by weighing the entire wet catfish population directly in the same medium. The second way is to take a sampling of the average fish weight and then multiply it by the number of fish in the same cultivation medium.

How to Calculate Catfish Feed Needs

To find out the feed dose for 1,000 catfish per day, you can use 2 methods, namely the ad satiation method and the restricted method. The following is an explanation for each method.

1. Ad Satiation Method

The ad satiation method is a method of feeding fish by spreading the feed little by little continuously until the fish show a response that they don't want to eat anymore. When the fish doesn't want to eat anymore, it means that the fish is starting to get full. The frequency of feeding in the ad satiation method is 2-3 times a day.

The advantage of this method is how the condition of the catfish's appetite and the amount of feed that must be given at a certain time. Because, feeding in the morning will be different at night. That way, you can know when is the right time to give the maximum dose of feed so that it doesn't cause residual feed to settle.

Even though it makes it easier for cultivators to determine the condition of fish appetite, this method is actually not recommended because you will find it difficult to determine the amount of feed for 1,000 catfish. If using this method, you need to carry out an in-depth evaluation, especially the greedy nature of catfish and minimize the emergence of residual feed that settles.

2. Restricted Method

Meanwhile, the restricted method is a feeding method that applies daily servings at certain limits based on the percentage of feeding rate (FR). Feeding rate itself is a technique for calculating the percentage of feed based on fish biomass. The restricted method is highly recommended because cultivators can count 1,000 catfish feed until harvest. Generally the percentage of FR used is between 3-7% depending on appetite and changes in fish body weight. Increasing body weight of catfish will also increase the percentage of FR.

Generally, one phase of catfish enlargement ranges from 3-4 months depending on the size of the seed. For catfish measuring 7-9 cm weighing 7 grams, it takes 95 days or 3 months for the enlargement process, while catfish measuring 5-7 cm weighing 5 grams takes 4 months in the enlargement phase until they are ready to be harvested.

The following is a prediction of catfish feed requirements until harvest for a dose of 1,000 catfish feed per day assuming the size of the catfish ranges from 7-9 cm with a weight of 7 grams. The calculations include:

• Biomass data obtained 1000 tails x 7 grams = 7000 grams or 7 kg.
• The enlargement phase lasts 95 days or 3 months.
• The initial phase of stocking (1-10 days) uses the percentage of FR 3% so that the feed needed (7000 grams x 3%) is 210 grams.
• The second phase (11-31 days) uses the percentage of FR 4% and the third phase (32-95 days) uses the percentage of FR 5%.
• As for feeding for one time, it can be divided into 3 times. For example, the cultivator will spread 210 grams of feed per day, then the total feed dose is divided into 3 times to produce a dose of 70 grams for one feeding.