How long does it take to grow carp to harvest? Check Here!

To find out whether the carp cultivation process is running smoothly, namely through the carp harvest period. The length of time for harvesting carp can reach 12 months, but there are also some cultivators who need a short time for harvesting carp, which is 4-6 months. It all depends on the weight and quality of the carp that you cultivate.

The carp carp business opportunity is quite attractive considering the high market demand which is in line with the stable selling price which tends to be high. However, the problem is that it takes quite a long time for the carp harvest to arrive. Therefore, to anticipate this, here's how to quickly harvest carp with the appropriate weight.

Gurame Fish Harvest Period

The ideal age for ready-to-harvest carp ranges from 8-12 months. Compared to other types of freshwater fish, the process of cultivating carp until the harvest is relatively longer. This is because the growth process is slow. 

Factors that slow down the growth process of carp can be due to the cultivation techniques that the cultivators use are still traditional techniques, low seed quality and quality, ecosystem and stocking density, to less than optimal feeding. In fact, carp are slow enough to eat their food. So if you unite carp with other types of fish in one rearing pond, it has the potential to take longer for carp growth. This is because the carp run out of food because it has been eaten by other fish in the same pond.

The trick to reducing carp harvest time is by cultivating two types of carp. Carp that is cultivated from hatching takes 8-12 months until the fish are ready for harvest with a body weight of 7 ounces to 1 kilogram. While the process of rearing newly hatched seeds or seed nursery is around 3-4 months. Meanwhile, carp grown from seed weighs 2.5 ounces or approximately 100 grams, it only takes 4-6 months to reach harvest-ready weight.

When entering the harvest season, there are several things that you need to pay attention to, including:

1. Use a fine net when harvesting carp so as not to damage the fish's fins.
2. Tracing the entire pond using a net to catch fish, when a fish is caught you must carefully lift the net.
3. An alternative to catching carp can be done by hand.
4. Immediately catch the fish in a separate container filled with clean water.

How to Quickly Harvest Gurame Fish

There are several factors that you need to pay attention to in the process of cultivating carp to accelerate the growth and development of carp. These factors come from the ecosystem of fish life, water quality, selection and stocking of seeds, selection of feed to handling sick fish.

1. Application of the Gurame Ecosystem

Gurame is a fish that comes from fresh water waters such as rivers, lakes or swamps. So, it doesn't matter if you use an earthen pond, a tarpaulin pool, or a wall and cement pool as long as you pay attention to and apply the original ecosystem of carp. It is recommended to build a pool above a height of 800 m above sea level (asl). The goal is to avoid easily stressed fish. 

In addition, pay attention to the size of the pool. It is better to build a pond with a large size so that the carp can swim anywhere. Gourami fish need sunlight for their growth, but if it is too hot it can also interfere with the mental health of the carp. Therefore, it is better to place a pond that is directly exposed to direct sunlight and use aquatic plants such as water hyacinth or lotus leaves on the surface of the pond so that the carp can shelter from the sun.

Then, to maintain the ecosystem of the pond, you are required to change the water once a week by keeping 30% of pool water from wasting, cleaning the bottom of the pool from ammonia and other bacteria, giving lime or dolomite as much as 5-10 g/m3 and lactobacillus probiotics as much as 3 ml/m3.

2. Regular Monitoring of Water Quality

As for maintaining water quality, you need to routinely check pool water. Ideally, pond water for carp cultivation has a temperature ranging from 25-30 degrees Celsius with an acid-base level or water pH of 6.5-7.5 and a dissolved oxygen content of above 3.

3. Seed Selection and Stocking

When buying carp seeds, you should choose those that have reached 100 grams in weight so that the cultivation period is shorter, because when adult carp reach 500 grams in weight, they can be harvested. That way, you can speed up the carp harvest period.

After that, do not immediately spread the seeds on the pond. You need to do treatments specifically to minimize the presence of fungi, bacteria, and other diseases in the pool. First, dry the pond first for 10-14 days.

Furthermore, to improve the cleanliness of the pool, you can add lime of approximately 200 grams/m2. treatment Special treatment is also given to cultivation equipment by soaking it in chlorine solution water for half an hour and then drying all the tools.

4. Feed Selection for Gurame

In choosing feed, you must pay attention to its nutritional content, especially protein content. You can look for sources of protein that come from animal or vegetable protein.

Gurame requires a minimum of 25% animal protein content to accelerate its growth and development. As for vegetable protein, you can fulfill it by providing feed in the form of cassava, sweet potatoes, papaya, bean sprouts, watercress, leaves of kale, pumpkin, beans, corn on the cob, tofu dregs or bran (bran). Also complete the feed with complex enzymes as much as 2% of the total factory feed.

5. Handling of Sick Fish

If you find a sick carp, immediately separate the fish and isolate it in a special pond that has been mixed with a salt solution of 20 mg/liter for one hour. Carry out regular and intensive monitoring so that the disease in the carp is resolved immediately and does not have an impact on fish mortality.

The source of disease in fish usually comes from decreased water quality. Therefore, you need to make good pond management, such as changing pool water regularly and monitoring pool water quality. Another trick is if the disease in carp comes from the growth of plankton then the way to overcome it is by adding organic materials to the pond.

Those are ways to speed up the process of fish growth and development so that the carp harvest period can be accelerated by up to 6-8 months. That way, you can immediately harvest and reap maximum profits.