Best Ways To Start A Tilapia Fish Farm In Nigeria
First and foremost, Fish farming is becoming increasingly lucrative in today’s Nigeria. The preference of fish over meat is becoming increasingly high. Therefore, to start a tilapia fish farm in Nigeria wouldn’t be an effort in futility.
Meanwhile, Tilapia fish has a lot of advantages over other kinds of fish that will make you want to raise it in Nigeria. It is easier to breed and it is highly resistant. A little wonder it is becoming very popular in the country.
You might want to start a tilapia fish farm for fun or for fund raising purposes. Either ways, the following tips will help guide and direct you on how best to start a tilapia fish farm in Nigeria.
Tips on how to start a tilapia fish farm in Nigeria
This is usually the first thing you will consider if you want to start a tilapia fish farm in Nigeria. The motive, the raison d’être for starting the farm has to be clear. This is because the overall business plan that will reflect the business strategy is usually determined by the motive.
- When a decision on the scale of the farming has been made, you will need determine what it will take achieve success on that chosen scale. You will need to find out what you will need to start a tilapia farm.
- The human and material resources needed should be resolved. The pond, the workers, sources of water, feed etc are things you need to figure out before you start the business.
It is very crucial that you draft a business plan for your business to include all the necessary aspect of the business. You should also put up a budget that would consist of all the items you would need to start up, feed and maintain your business until the fishes are ready for harvesting and sales. I believe the plan carries the budget.
Let us come down to specifics. These are the things you need to consider when you want to set up your tilapia fish pond.
The temperature of the tilapia fish pond should not be below 28 degrees Celsius or 82 degrees Fahrenheit as Tilapia fishes need a water temperature of 28-30 degrees Celsius to survive. You should also be mindful of the PH level. It should be suitable with sufficient oxygen to enhance survival of living organisms. Get rid of pollutants such as sulphur from your pond.
To start a tilapia fish farm, you will need access to water supply. The water has to be constant and clean. You should also beware of flooding.
- Your pond has to be deep enough when you start constructing it. This is to allow water flow into the pond. You should also note that the bottom of the pond should also contain about 16 percent lime or compost and the PH level should be between 7-8.
- The bottom of the pond has to be made with clay to help water retention. One side has to be higher than the other to ease harvesting. There should be outlets for inflow and outflow of water from the pond.
You have to choose from the four common brands of tilapia fish. Blue tilapia has the fastest growth rate. You can also try Nile tilapia.
- The feeding of the fish is not difficult because they are omnivorous in nature. They sometimes feed on algae and larva so you won’t go through a lot of stress to feed your Tilapia fish but you must make sure that they have enough food at all times. They also feed on aquatic plants and insects.
- Good feeding enhances their growth and makes them available for sale within a little time. It also increases their sizes.
- Earning here is a function of the number of fish raised. When you want to start a tilapia fish farm, therefore, you should adopt a breeding system that would help you maximize the number of new fishes you get weekly. Guide against over populating the pond because a female Tilapia can produce an average of 100 fingerlings in a week!
- You should avoid over-population by using hormones or genetically specific breeds. Make sure you separate the fingerlings from the breeders. The fingerlings should be kept in a spacious pond to enable them enough space for effective growth while the breeders should be kept in a smaller space or in an aquarium.
The Tilapia fish is harvested by seining and draining the pond.
- You should know that tilapia can be affected by bacterial or viral diseases so you must take pro-active measures to protect your pond from such outbreak. You can do this by cleaning your pond regularly, preventing overcrowding, and screening your pond often for risk factors.
- In the event that there is an outbreak of diseases, the first treatment is to change the water. More so, you can still apply chemicals like formalin, salt or organophosphates but this should be done with professional guidance.
Marketing your fish:
If your motive is to make profits, then you must give careful consideration to the best marketing options available to you that would maximize your profits. You can decide to sell directly to consumers or to people who will buy from you in bulk, and sell them to consumers.
Tilapia fish farming is a lucrative business with high target population. You can start a tilapia fish farm today and make profits or feed your family as you decide the motive. All the best.
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