How to Hatchery Dumbo Catfish
This time I will share how to hatch African catfish, or the technique of "breeding" African catfish broodstock to produce seeds that can be sold or raised as pets. In this tutorial, the method I use may be different from the technique used by students majoring in fisheries or African catfish seed breeders. I will share how to seed African catfish without using "stimulant" injections, and can be applied to tarpaulin or cement pools. The method is quite easy and simple, all you need is:
Tarpaulin or cement pool.
The brooders of African catfish are quite mature, weighing about 1 kg per head (try to have more than one female broodstock).
Ijuk as a place for eggs.
Aerator, as an additional supply of oxygen when new catfish hatch.
Tarpaulin / Cement Pool Preparation:
To spawn African catfish broodstock, first prepare the pond that will be used. Here you can use a tarpaulin or cement pool. If there is still water, dry the pool first and then let it dry first or in other words, dry it in the sun for at least a day. Make sure the pond that you are going to use is really clean, so that later the newly hatched catfish puppies will not get sick, because later they will also be used as a medium for raising catfish puppies until they are about 2 weeks old.
Brood Preparation:
For broodstock, choose African catfish that already weigh about 1 kilogram or are more than a year old. The bigger the sires used, the more catfish puppies that will be produced. To determine the sex of the African catfish, you can see it in the image below.
physical differences in catfish
For broodstock, try to have more female sires. If I usually use 1 male breeder and 3 female sires, to ensure that the seeding is successful. Because usually male catfish will be ready to mate at any time, but not necessarily for female catfish. After obtaining the catfish broodstock that will be used, separate it in a separate place such as a bucket and then place it in an undisturbed place to reduce stress on the catfish. As additional information, the skin of catfish will be striped like white spots when stressed. The results obtained, of course, will not be good if the sires we use are stressed.
:fiber image
Preparation of Ijuk as Egg Place
When African catfish spawn or mate, these fish need media as a place to lay or attach their eggs. Media that is commonly used as a place for eggs is palm fiber. This palm fiber, which comes from the sago tree, besides being used as a handicraft material, also plays an important role in fish farming. Choose palm fiber that is smooth and does not have a lot of dirt. In my place, this palm fiber can usually be purchased at a store that sells traditional household items. For a lot of palm fiber used, adjust it to the area of the pond to be used. This palm fiber will later be spread over the bottom of the pond, so that 3/4 of the bottom surface of the pond will be covered by this palm fiber. Wash the palm fiber that will be used, clean it from all the dirt that sticks, after cleaning it is then dried in the hot sun.
Implementation:
If everything you need is available, you can immediately start spawning catfish. The best time is in the afternoon when the weather is not too hot. Ponds that have previously been dry and sun-dried are given a layer of clean palm fiber. Then fill the pond with water, but don't need too much, just 30-40 cm deep. After filling with water, let the water cool down a bit, then add the African catfish brooders to be spawned. So that catfish broodstock do not feel stressed or disturbed, cover the surface of the pond so that it is not visible from the outside. At night, you can hear "noise" in the pond where the sires are. And in the morning, you can see white grains like frog eggs scattered on the bottom of the pond and around the fibers, that's the African catfish eggs which will later become catfish puppies.
If there are eggs, immediately lift the African catfish broodstock, then provide an aerator or air supply into the pond. After a few days, you can see the African catfish hatchlings. When they just hatch, these catfish puppies don't need to be fed, because they still get food intake from their eggs. After that is finished, then they are given food, the food given can be in the form of mashed egg yolks such as flour or water fleas which are usually in the gutters.
That's the simple and easy way to breed African catfish that I've ever done and it's successful. It's easy enough, you guys can do it. If you want to use stimulating hormone injections, you can give Ovaprim injections before being put into the spawning pond.
source: angler