Freshwater aquaculture

Unit 4 - Cultivable fish and their culture methods

4.2.2. Culture of stinging catfish
Heteropneustis fossilis commonly known as singhi has a good potential as aquaculture candidates. This is an air breathing fish which can thrive well in shallow derelict water bodies with poor water quality.

Larval rearing
The larvae are very delicate and require good water quality at this stage. The optimum DO is 5-6 ppm; pH 6.5-7.5 and water temperature 26-28OC. Initially the larvae are fed mixed zooplankton, Artimia nauplii and tubifex worms. Regular cleaning of debris, uneaten food and dead or weak larvae is necessary. They grow to 12-15 mm during 14-15days rearing period.
After attaining fry stage they are stocked in well prepared small, cement tanks. The water depth should be shallow to allow fry to come up for breathing. The fry are stocked @ 300-500/m2. Finely minced trash fish, molluscan meat with rice bran in equal proportion is fed to the fry. In about a month they reach fingerling size.

Grow-out culture
Singhi can be grown in monoculture or poly culture with carps and magur. It is stocked in well prepared ponds and fed with compounded diets or slaughter house waste/trash fish, silkworm pupae. Its production potential has been estimated to be 4-15 tons/ha in 4-12 months culture under AICRP.

Other species of catfish : Other species of catfish such as Pangasius sp., Wallago attu, Ompak sp., Mystus sp., Rita rita and Bagarius bagarius grow to large size and have good market demand. It is necessary to have greater thrust on research to develop technologies for culture of these catfish.