12 Types Of Catfish Farming Equipment For Success

Introduction

The fishery industry occupies around 3.2% of the agriculture industry and it is one of the easiest agriculture businesses you can start. Having the desire to start a fish farm is one thing, having the required knowledge on how to start the business is another thing.

As a potential investor in fish farming, you need to know some things about the fishery industry, more than just making money from it and how to start, you need to know the basic catfish farming equipment to carry out this project.

Many times people wonder what equipment is necessary for them to start a fish farm. If you are among those thinking about what important equipment you need to successfully run a catfish farm, then this article will be of help to you.

Fish farming especially catfish farming is one of the most lucrative businesses anyone can venture into. Sometimes you don’t even have to spend so much to make this happen.

In this article, I will be taking you through different useful catfish farming equipment that must be on your farm. If possible have two of them so that if one is damage, you can easily use the other one pending the time you fix it.

Most of this equipment is majorly required to start a catfish business

Useful Catfish Farming Equipment

1. Pond

The first useful catfish farming equipment is a pond. Is there a way to raise fish without a place to stay? NEVER. A pond is a place where you raise your fish from the first day you collect them to harvest day.

There are different types of ponds that you can use to raise your fish. It is not compulsory to use the common ones everyone goes for especially if you are a beginner and you just want to run your catfish business on a small scale.

I personally always advise my clients or anyone that wants to start a catfish business that they have at least two (2) different ponds on their farm. WHY? It helps them be able to sort their fish when the time is right or there are fish way bigger than the rest.

If you are confused about choosing the best type of pond to use for your fish farming, then read this article.

2. Water tester

The second catfish farming equipment that every farmer must have hands-on is a water quality tester. Why is a water tester important? Knowing the alkalinity and acidity of your water is important and can be a determinant of whether or not you will succeed in this business.  

There are simple (manual) and automatic types of water quality testers that are not too pricey you can get.

A water tester is more important especially if you are going to be hatching your fish and raising them to either fingerling, juvenile, or table size. Knowing the quality of your water will help you quickly determine if you need to regulate your water or not.

3. Plastic Bucket (For transporting the fish):

Another catfish farming equipment is a fish transporter. What is a fish transporter? If you are buying your fish from another farm, you will need to transport the fish from that farm to your farm. Something like a plastic keg, bucket, or bag will be useful for this purpose.

Whichever type of fish transporter you wish to use, make sure there is a space for ventilation where little air can pass through so that your fish will not die in the process of transporting your fish from one farm to another.

4. Nets

The next type of catfish farming equipment that every farmer must have is a dip net. A dip net is equipment used to pack fish from the pond to the plastic when you want to weigh them or sell them.

5. Power Supply

Another keep equipment that every farm raising catfish must have is a source of power supply. A constant and reliable source of power is important because you will need it to pump water into the ponds at regular intervals. A source of power can be a government power supply, a generating set, or solar supported source of power.

6. Water Pumps (If you are raising in an earthen pond)

This next catfish farming equipment is useful for anyone raising their fish in an earthen pond. The equipment is a water pond.

A water pump is used to control water and also to drain water from the pond when you want to harvest the fish.

It is not compulsory to buy one as you can easily rent from stores that rent/sell fishing equipment. But advisable you own one as it can also be another source of income for you.

7. Automatic Feeder

An automatic feeder is another catfish farming equipment that is useful and important if you are running large-scale fish farming. It helps to feed the fish automatically at a specific time of the day.

This is commonly used in countries like India, the Philippines, and other countries where they run and raise fish in the lake.

If you are someone that is just starting and raising catfish on a small-scale basis, this equipment might be a bit expensive for you.

8. Scale

Another type of catfish farming equipment is a scale. A lot of people don’t pay attention to owning this equipment because they believe it’s not necessary.

If you are serious about fish farming, you need to have a scale or weight machine on your farm especially if you are going to raise your fish to table size and people will come to buy from you in bulk.

I advise people not to allow customers to use their weight scale to measure the fish they want to sell. The reason being these people might have adjusted their scale to suit their preferences.

9. Seine Reels

The next type of catfish farming equipment is a seine reel. This particular equipment is very useful if you are running large-scale farming and raising your fish in a lake. It is used for harvesting fish from the water.

The reel is thrown into the river or lake where it transfers the fish through the seine to the sorting or harvesting area.

If you are running a small-scale fish farm, then you don’t need this equipment.

10. Aerator

The next catfish farming equipment is an aerator. An aeration device provides enough oxygen to the fish in the pond. Having an aerator allows a farmer to have more fish in a small pond or tank.

11. Handling and Grading Equipment

Another type of equipment for catfish farming is handling and grading equipment. It is necessary to have if you own a Seine reel already. It is useful to sort the fish during the transfer process. If you have a large fish farm, it is advisable to own this equipment so it makes life easier for you and your workers.

12. Pipes

The next type of catfish farming equipment is a pipe. As a water pump is used to drain water from the pond, the pipe is used to put water into the pump.

If you have a concrete pond, plastic pond, or tarpaulin pond, the pipe would have been worked during the construction process so you won’t need a separate pipe to transfer water.

Conclusion

If you want to make money from fish farming and you are serious about this, the equipment mentioned above is what you need to succeed in the long run. Even if you don’t have enough money to get some, you can always improvise and get a substitute for the equipment.

Whatever you have at the moment is good enough for you to start something, don’t be idle. The goal is to start small and grow big. If you are determined to start, you can read this article on how to start a fish farm.

Cheers to your success