Loach Eel Harmless Farming Key Points, Difficulties and Examples

Author: Xu Zaiquan, Pan Jianlin / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: [Excerpt:]
1. Pond Construction
(1) Pond Area
The area of a loach breeding pond is generally not advisable to be too large for ease of management. The scale can be designed based on actual conditions such as funding, labor, land area, water supply, feed and fertilizer sources, technology, and market demand. Construction can be done in single ponds, contiguous plots, or with (complementary) pools for seedlings, breeding, and adult loaches. In the initial stages, it is best to utilize existing ponds, pits, or depressions with minor modifications to reduce infrastructure costs. Expansion or renovation can be planned after achieving profitability.
Loach Seedling Ponds (also used for spawning and hatching) should be 8–12 square meters per pond, fingerling-rearing ponds 16–40 square meters per pond, and adult loach ponds 100–200 square meters per pond. The layout of complementary water surfaces can be adjusted flexibly based on these proportions.
(2) Soil Pond Selection
Choose clay or loam soil with good water retention for digging and pond construction. The pond walls should have a slight slope. If possible, use bricks or stones to reinforce the banks and cement to fill the joints. The pond bottom and walls must be compacted. The pond depth should be 0.6–1 meter, with a water depth of 30–50 centimeters.
(3). Concrete ponds can be built as underground, above-ground, or semi-above-ground structures. The walls are typically constructed with bricks or stones, with a cement smooth finish. A 12-centimeter anti-escape overhang (about half a brick) should be installed at the top of the walls. The treatment of the concrete pond bottom is crucial. If necessary, a layer of "three-composite soil" should be laid first, followed by a layer of oil felt or thick plastic film to prevent leakage. Then, a 5-centimeter-thick concrete layer should be poured on top. The pond depth varies depending on the feeding method: 0.7–0.8 meters for soil-based feeding and 0.5 meters for soilless flow-through feeding. The soil should be loam rather than clay when backfilling the pond bottom.