CONSIDER THESE BEFORE YOU SET UP YOUR POND .

                                                                             

            To establish a fish pond, the following conditions must be necessary

Ø ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF WATER: Fishes are aquatic animals, so their life solely depends on water. There must be constant supply of water and this can be obtain from streams, lakes, river, canals, irrigation, springs etc. The water must be free from pollutants.

Ø AVAILIBILITY OF FINGERLINGS: The fingerlings to be used must be fast growing type, more so, they must have high feed convertibility. Ideally, the fingerlings must be ready to be harvested at about seven months from the time of hatching. Also improved varieties {breeds} in stocking fish pond makes fish farming   more profitable.

Ø VEGETATION OF THE PLACE: Light vegetation is ideal, preferably grassland. This will be easy to clear, stump and excavate before sitting the fish pond. Woody sites are not suitable as clearing and stumping will greatly increase the cost of setting up the fish pond.

Ø TOPOGRAPHY: The shape of the land should allow for easy draining and filling the pond with water. The water must flow from a place that is higher than the pond so that the water can flow into the pond directly if not, the need for water pump would arise and this will increase the cost of the project. However, fish pond can be constructed on a flat or level ground but lots of soils have to be removed to create the slope.

Ø SOIL PARTICLES: The floor of the area must contain clayey soils because this helps to retain water. Also, the soil must be rich in order to survive the fingerlings.

Ø SIZE AND LOCATION: The size depends on the availability of funds and the type of fish farming to be practiced. Therefore, for commercial fish farming a large expanse of land is required. The location can be either in the lowland or upland.

Ø AVAILABILITY OF FEEDS: Supplementary feeding is done to ensure rapid growth of fish and allow high stocking density. Artificial or compounded feeds in form of pellets are used to supplement the natural feed {PLANKTONS}. The addition of fertilizers also promotes the rapid growth of planktons in the pond.

Ø LOCATION OF HATCHERY: The hatchery must not be too far from the fish pond. Fingerlings are very fragile and die off easily, hence when release from the hatchery must be sent immediately to the pond.

Ø IDENTIFICATION OF MARKETS: You need to identify your market before setting up your fish farming venture. You need to know the taste and the preference of your prospective consumers, the readiness to buy and at what price. Also you need to determine how the goods will get to your consumers.