By Victoria Nampala Bugembe
Feed’s nutritional and physical characteristics should be good to allow easy consumption and digestion by fish.
The feed should contain all the right nutrient proportions for the specific fish and be accessible to fish.
Feeding fish
Correct feeding of fish leads to good uniform growth rates, low apparent feed conversion ratios, good reproduction rates, and better water quality management in culture facilities.
Ronald Nkalubo, an expert in fisheries & aquaculture says that feeding correctly is done by giving feed of the correct nutritional quality for a specific age of fish, the right feed size for consumption with correct feeding amounts, and at the right times of the day.
There are various ways in which fish is fed, including broadcasting and automated fish feeders.
Nkalubo says fish farmers must know and observe that fish must have access to feed, minimal metabolic expenditure, and rapid and positive feed consumption.
Richard Lubega, a fish farmer from Busesa adds that there are several factors to consider while selecting the right fish food.
“For a fish farmer to yield a good harvest, it is necessary to ensure that fish are well-fed throughout their different growth stages until they are taken to the market,” he explains.
He states fish can be fed on supplementary feeds only in case one is aiming at having healthy fish in a given period.
“The supplements are available on the market but the farmer must have enough knowledge about it before buying,” says Lubega.
He adds that there is a variety of supplementary feeds that are prepared for the different types of fish, specific types of fish like tilapia, catfish, and other fish species.
Nkalubo advises that in case a farmer cannot get the required feeds from the market, one can mix the ingredients to make the perfect mixture of feeds for the fish.
However, the food should have all the necessary nutrients like vitamins, proteins, energy-giving foods, and minerals.
Note
Estimating the correct amounts for feeding reduces overfeeding and underfeeding. These would in turn lead to feed wastage, deterioration in water quality, poor growth rates, and reduced profit margins realized from the enterprise.
The feeding ratio varies depending on the fish size ( average weight) and the culture facility water (dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pollutant levels) amount of feed per ration = average weight of fish x feeding rate x total fish biomass in the culture facility.
