Fakta kos bela ketam

Fakta Ternakan Ketam Nipah

• Anak ketam 100g boleh membesar sehingga 500g - 600g dalam masa 60 hingga 70 hari.

• Modal untuk satu set RM6,000 (tidak termasuk kos operasi).

• Kos operasi semusim (60 - 70 hari) ~ RM570 untuk satu set. (Ketam, makanan, elektrik, bahan
kimia, set penyelenggaraan).

• Peratusan hidup untuk ketam ~ 93%.

• Ketam diberi makan ikan sehari sekali 5% - 10% berdasarkan berat ketam. (Jika berat ketam 100g,
berat makan diperlukan dari 5g - 10g untuk satu hari).

• Breakeven ~ 9.2 bulan.

• Anak ketam dibeli dengan kos RM7/kg (termasuk dalam kos operasi), dijual semula selepas 60 hari
pada RM28/kg.

• Satu orang pekerja sepenuh masa boleh menjaga 10 - 20 set.

• Satu set boleh memuatkan hingga 120 ekor ketam

Grouper (Lapu Lapu) Culture

Grouper (Lapu-lapu)
(Epinephelus spp.)

Locally known as lapu-lapu, grouper has been cultured in ponds and cages in Southeast Asia for more than a decade. It is one of them most expensive fish in the market and is valued because of its texture and taste as well as its great potential in the aquaculture market. The demand of the grouper in the international market is fast growing particularly in Hongkong, Japan, and Singaore.

In the country, grouper culture in cages have been succesful in Pres. Carlos Garcia, Bohol. The Sto. Rosario Fishermen's Association of this municipality has established market links with buyers based near Cebu City. The Cagay Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Roxas City has also been succesful in culturing grouper. Raising grouper is therefore another significant earner for the country.

Grouper Species

There are about 40 species of groupers distributed in tropical water and there are 2 species cultured commercially. These are:

1. Epinephelus coioides or Orange-spotted grouper - They have yellowish-brown dorsal body, shaded to whitish on the side of the belly, and they have numerous brownish orange or brownish-yellow spots unevenly scattered on head, body and fins. Whitish or creamy white chin or underside of the head and belly.

2. Epinephelus malabaricus or Black-spotted grouper - Body color is light brown on the upper part o the body, belly and ventral side light grey. The body has 5 distinct broad dark brown oblique bars which tend to bend. The head and the body with numerous small well-separated blackish spots on the chin. The fins are also has small black spots.

Source of Stock

At present, supply of grouper fry for commercial cage/pond production still depends on the wild. However, institutes like SEAFDEC/AQD and other progessive finfish hatchery operators are refining their broodstock and production techniques.

Grouper fry are collected in nominal quantities using various devices, eg scare lines or brush piles. The size of fry varies from 1-9 cm and is collected by fish traps from coastal waters near mangrove areas. In the Philippines, the major source of grouper fry are in the provinces of Pangasinan, Cavite, Mindoro, Quezon, Masbate, Bulacan, Cagayan, south Cotabato, and Negros Occidental.

Site Selection

The site should:
a. Be in calm water like sheltered lagoons, coves, islets, bay, behind an island or a river mouth. This is to avoid damage caused by strong winds, waves and current.
b. Have salinity ranging between 32-34 ppt
c. Have water depth not less than 3 meters during low tide.
d. Have good water exchange to maintain good water quality
e. Be relatively free from any source of pollution and protected from environmental hazards such as typhoons, floods, erosions, etc. It must be accessible but secured from vandals and poachers.

Cage Specification

A floating cage is usually composed of 4-12 compartments supported by a framework. Consider the following when putting up a cage:

1. Cage frame - made of bamboo and durable enough to withstand stress caused by wave action and increased weight during culture operation.Cage dimensions - it should be 5m x 5m x 3m x 3m x 3m x 3m.

2. Maintain water column at 2.5m

3. Sinkers - Use small concrete blocks as sinkers suspended by ropes, placed at the bottom of the 4 corners of the cage for rigging.

4. Catwalks - Attach lumber to the framework to serve as walks.5. Floaters - Use plastic drums as floaters on each side of the cage between the bamboo pipes. Tie the drum to the cage frame using a rope 5 mm in diameter to stop the drum from drifting, especially during strong wave actions.

Cage Netting
Nets are placed like an inverted mosquito net or hapa. Each cage is supported with polyethylene rope (5 mm) inserted along the sewed borders of the net and held using a clove hitch with overhand knot.

Each cage should have double-layered nets to avoid loss of stock due to tearing and other mechanical damage.

AnchorThe rope length from the floater to the anchor should be the same as the water depth at high spring tide. The raft structure needs 14 concrete blocks (0.5 - 1 ton each) with 8 placed at the ebb end (ebb tide being stronger than flood tide), 4 at the flood end and 2 in the mid-section.

ShelterGroupers need a place to hide; unlike other fishes. To provide a place for groupers to hide, use sawed-off bamboo, 5 cm in diameter and 15 cm in length (for nursery cages) and 10 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length (for grow-out cages) tied in triangular bundles and suspended in strategic areas inside the net cages.

Nursery Cage Operation
Use nursery cage for fry 2-10 cm long. Stocking rate should be 60-100 fish per cubic meter. Feeds include shrimps and/or finely chopped trash fish given at the rate of 10% of the average body weight per day. Divide the feeds equally and give 2-4 times each day.

Install a 50-watt incandescent lamp (hover type) inside the cages, about 0.5 m above the waterline at night to attract live food like mysids, copepods, and other smaller fishes.

Grow-out Cage Operation
Use a grow-out cage to stock sizes of more than 10-15 cm in total length. Stocking rate should be 30-60 fishes per cubic meter. Give trash fish at the rate of 5 percent of the average body weight per day. Divide the feeds equally and give twice a day.MonitoringTake a few samples of the stock every 15 days to determine feed requirement and growth rate of grouper stock. Scoop out 10-15 samples and measure the weight and length of each sample. Always inspect the nets for tears. Remove dirt, debris, and fouling organism attached to the nets. Repair or replace damaged nets.

Health Management
It is recognized that many diseases in fish culture are often associated with stress. Stressed fish can easily be infected with disease-causing agents and this affects growth. The following tips may minimize stress on fish and prevent disease outbreaks:

1. Observe any unusual swimming behavior, especially during dawn or late afternoon. Fish gasping for air usually indicates low levels of dissolved oxygen. Should this happen, thin-out stocks by transferring some of them into another compartment.

2. Weak fish - those refusing to school with other fishes and those losing balance while swimming should be separated from healthy stocks immediately. Stocks found to have sudden loss of appetite and with red spot-like wounds on the skin and fins are likely to have a bacterial infection. Use a Povidone-iodine solution (eg. Betadine solution) at 15 parts per million for 5-10 minutes for 3 alternate days, as an effective treatment for bacterial infection. Methylene blue can also be used by swabbing. Transfer treated fish to a new compartment.

3. Maintain a distance of 1 meter between compartments to ensure easy and continuous water flow and maintain ideal water quality for the fish.
HarvestingStarve the fish 24 hours before harvesting. Harvest depends on the demand of the local and export market.

Post Harvest
Scoop live marketable size groupers (400 g and up) from the cage. Hold grouper temporarily inside the conditioning tank and provide aeration for about 1-2 hours. Adjust water temperature gradually to 18 degrees Celsius by adding packed ice. Place 3-5 fish inside an oxygenated double-sheet plastic bag, with water at 3-5 cm or at least covering the nostrils of the fishes. Place crushed ice on top of plastic bags to maintain the water coolness during transport.

Place plastic bags inside the styrofoam with carton cover having a tag "live fish" and then ready for transport.

Before transporting harvested stocks a "freshwater dip", or short bath in freshwater for 2-10 minutes is advisable. The dip will not increase parasite infection and lessen the incidence of disease and mortality during transport.

Green Mussel (Tahong) Culture

The green bay mussel or tahong (Perna viridis) is a popular and delicious food item. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, protein and carbohydrates.

Green mussels were originally regarded as pests before World War II because they competed with food and space in oyster farms. In 1950, it was recognized as a primary bivalve food. The first mussel commercial farm started in Bacoor, Cavite, in 1955.

How to culture Green Mussel or Tahong

Site Selection

Mussels are known to exist in bays, coves and inlets. They are found in Manila bay, east coast of Panay, Negros Occidental southwest coast and in Maqueda Bay and Jiabong, Samar.

Green mussels may be transplanted in new areas with seeds (juveniles) or breeders for growing and multiplication.

Mussels grow best in brackish to salty waters, with salinity ranging from 20-35 ppt. Good culture sites are indicated by the presence of indigenous existing mussels in the area to have sufficient breeding stock and spatfall. The water must be greenish in color which is an indication of abundant natural food of mussels.

The site must be free from pollution, with enough tidal exchange and moderate currents for the transport of food. It must be protected from strong winds and waves and must be relatively deep from two to four meters. Muddy to sandy bottoms that is semihard and sticky usually produce high yields.

Species, reproduction, food and growth

There are two species used as food in the Philippines, namely: the green mussel and the brown mussel (Modiolus philippinarum). The green mussel commonly referred as tahong is the commercial species.

The male mussels's mantle or meat is milky white to creamy and the female is orange to red orange. Since they have stationary forms of life, either one can change sex for the purpose of reproduction.

Spawners release eggs and sperms into the water where fertilization takes place in a few seconds. Eggs hatch into free swimming larvae within 24 hours and remain at this stage for 15-20 days. After the larvae are ready to settle, they secrete hair-like threads called byssal filaments to attach themselves. This ability to secrete new byssal when cut will allow thinning and transplanting operations. The settlement of larvae is called spatfall and the young mussels are called spats. Spawning normally occurs every two months, but the peak spatfall season in Manila Bay (Bacoor) occurs from April to May and October to November; February to March and September in Eastern Panay; and January to March and July to September in Western Negros Occidental. The spat is about the size of a grain of beach sand.

Mussels eat waterborne phytoplankton and minute organic materials by sucking and filtering water through its four rows of gills that is directed to the mouth. The gills serve both as a respiratory or breathing organ and as a filter-feeding organ.

Spats or larvae are attracted by filamentous objects and later move on to solid substrates or objects. Coconut coir and abaca coir are the best materials that can lure the spats.

Mature mussels can reach the size of 15 cm. in length, but they can be harvested in four to six months' time. Frequent visit, at least every three days, is recommended to check the growth of filamentous algae and the presence of starfish and crabs that prey on the spats. It is best to place bottom nets for crabs or crab traps as an added income to mussel farming. Usually, there are plenty of blue crabs in oyster and mussel culture areas.

Methods of culture

There are five common methods of culture, like: stake (tulos), wigwam, raft or hanging, tray and rope web. The best and most popular ones, however, are the stake and rope-web methods.

Logs, hard bamboo (Bambusa sp.) and light bamboo or bagakay (Schizostachyum lumampao) can be used. However, hard bamboo is more popular because they are readily available and cheaper than logs.

Sharpen the bottom tips of the bamboo and drive it (pile) at the bottom by about one-half meter. Place a hole at the upper section of the bamboo segment to reduce buoyancy. The distance of the bamboos as post is 1-1½ m. Tic or nail the 2-3 m row of horizontal braces (bila). Connect every two rows of poles with short horizontal supports (baral) forming a square with the long bila.

Light bamboos can be used for the supports and braces. The series of squares forms the plot. Leave 1½-2 m in between 2 rows or plots for the wooden boat (banca) to pass through. Tie spat collectors to the poles. Preferably use abaca rope with coconut or abaca coir in the rope lay at 7.62-12.7 cm distance.

The best time to construct plots is the month before the occurrence of peak spatfall in the area to insure higher production. Mussels settle in the plot materials. The depth of the plots should be 1-2 m below zero tide level at the upper portion and about 0.50 m from the bottom. An average of 1,000-2,000 seeds or pieces of mussels per meter can be attained at these levels.

The rope web method is recommended in areas where there is heavy occurrence of spatfall. A sharpened hard bamboo pole is driven by piling at the bottom by at least ½ m. The upper portion of each segment of the bamboo must have at least 2.54 cm hole to prevent too much pressure from floating. The bamboo poles are 4.0-5.0 m apart. Abaca or polypropylene (nylon) ropes of 12mm-15mm are tied horizontally at the upper portion of at least ½-1 m from zero tide level. Another rope is tied horizontally at the lower portion with at least ½ m from the bottom. The upper and lower rope tied between the 5.0 m distance pole will form a parallel. The distance between the parallel ropes can be 1.5-2 m.

Abaca or nylon ropes of 10.0-12.0 mm diameter are made into webs that are tied vertically in zigzag fashion to the parallel ropes between the bamboo poles. The interval of the zigzag ropes or webs must be at least 30-40 cm. Web-rope lines can be spaced at 1.0-1.50 m rows for space to work on and for wooden boat to pass through.Bamboo pegs of 20 cm length and 2.0-3.0 cm width are inserted into the zigzag rope lay at spacing of 30-40 cm to serve as spat collectors. Abaca or coconut coir can also be used because mussel spats prefer filamentous or hairy objects as clutches. The two rows of rope webs will form the plots.

Juvenile mussels can be placed in wet gunny sacks in clusters and transported to new areas to be transplanted. Transplanting is done by tying the young or small mussel clusters into the culture medium, like rope web or stakes.

HarvestingMarket preparation and knowledge of peak demands and high prices season are important in the timing of harvesting. Selective harvesting can also be done by harvesting the bigger ones first and leaving the smaller ones to grow further.

Divers are hired to do harvesting in the stake method. This is done by scraping the mussel clusters from the stakes and supports with the use of sharp knife or bolo. Care is taken not to pull the mussel shells because the byssus or beard when detached can kill the mussels. The byssals are parts of the muscle structure of the green mussel. The mussels are placed in bamboo or rattan baskets and cleaned by continuously dipping them in the sea water. The mussels are separated or detached with the use of scissors.

Marketing of green mussels has never been a problem because of its demand as a source of low-cost protein. Also, it has generated employment in the coastal-producing areas. Green mussels can live three to four days after harvesting by continuously wetting them with sea water. It his a high nutritional and medicinal value.Mussels are versatile aquatic products. Bivalves’ culture has a relatively simple technology and the labor is not intensive. The cost of investment is minimal but high profits can be expected.

Hito (Catfish) Raising

If you want to know tips and procedure how to culture Catfish or Hito, then this is the post your looking for.

Hito can be raised in a small pond. There are two common varieties of catfish in the Philippines—one that is our own native hito that thrives in rice fields and rivers, sometimes in muddy places; and the other one brought over from Thailand or Taiwan. Both kinds can be raised and grown commercially.

Within four months, hito can grow as big as a size weighing 300-400 grams or three in a kilo. In Taiwan, they grow hito as big as two kilos each.

Hito from Taiwan origin is dark gray with white belly.

Cage

1. For commercial purposes, one hectare of fish pond can rear as many as 100,000 small hito or fingerlings. In other countries like Thailand, they grow as many as 300,000 to 400,000 fingerlings in one hectare of fish pond.

2. The sides of the fishpond should be concrete so as to withstand flood or heavy rains. The smaller the grow-out ponds, the easier to manager them. (1 ½ hectare)

3. It is not necessary to provide an aerator even if the fish population is big because the hito has an auxiliary respiratory organ and can naturally breathe fresh air; therefore it is not stressed by low dissolved oxygen levels.

4. The ponds water depth must be about one and half meters ( ½ m) throughout the culture period. fresh water may be drawn from a nearby river. Change of water is done when it becomes murky.

Feed

Hito needs protein, so they like flesh meat. They can also thrive on any food growing in the pond bottom, or they can eat one another, or escape from the pond. So, they must be provided with enough protein foods—carcass, trash fish, commercial fish feed.

Some hito growers get their carcass feed from chicken or poultry internal organs, or trash fish from fishermen.

It takes four months to grow hito that is about 2 kilograms, or three-to-four-pieces per kilo.

Starting a mud crab hatchery

by Junelyn S. de la Rosa

Today, more and more farmers are going into mud crab farming. Studies have shown that mud crab farming is a very lucrative business with a 1.54 return on investment in only 60 days. Scientists from the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV) have prepared a guide in starting a mud crab hatchery.

Mud crab species:
There are four kinds of mud crabs in the Philippines: the king crab (Scylla serrata), the purple crab (S. tranquebarica), the orange or red crab (S. olivacea), and the rare green mud crab (S. paramamosain). Among the mud crabs, the king crab is the most popular for its fast growth and flavor and is called an "export winner" for its high demand in the international market.

Hatchery/nursery facilities
Tanks for broodstock maturation, rearing, spawning, nursing, and for holding water should be constructed. They can be made of concrete, fiberglass or wood with dimensions of 0.5 to 1 cubic meter. The number of tanks should depend on the number of larvae and crablets that you are planning to produce.

Food production
Mud crabs feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton. Thus, in any hatchery one must learn how to culture phytoplankton to ensure that there is enough food for the mud crab juveniles. The first step to phytoplankton culture is obtaining an algal starter from laboratories or institutions that are selling them.

Chlorella, Nannochloropsis, and Tetraselmis are the common algae. You can start culturing them in one-liter capacity bottles. When the phytoplankton has bloomed and the density is 3 to 5 x 105 cells/ml, transfer them to ten-liter carboys. Upon reaching the same density, they should be transferred to a 0.5 to 1 ton- tanks where they will be allowed to bloom more.

In culturing phytoplankton, maintain the water temperature from 20-25 °C for indoor culture and provide good aeration to give enough supply of carbon needed for plant growth. And use boiled or filtered seawater with a salinity of 25-30 ppt for the culture and sterilize all the containers before use.

Also, for bigger culture, use urea (21-0-0) and ammonium phosphate (16-20-0) to supply the essential nutrients needed by the algae.

Broodstock management and spawning
The major source of broodstock is the wild-caught post juveniles or half-grown crabs while adult or berried female crabs are used as spawners. A minimum weight of 200 to 300 grams for broodstock and 450 grams for spawners are desired.

The king crab is sexually matured when the width of its carapace reaches 14 cm and it weighs 450 grams while the other mud crabs can spawn even if its carapace is still below 10 cm and weigh 300 grams.

As soon as the broodstocks and spawners of the king crab arrive at the hatchery- they place them in the tanks at 300 spawners per tank and 1000 broodstocks per tank with a 10 cm sand substrate at the bottom. Feed them daily with mussel meat (Perna viridis) at 5% to 10% of their biomass. Change the water (at least 30%), scrub the sides of the tank and remove excess feed daily.

Mud crabs become mature and mate when they are 4 months old. In ponds or tanks, male and female crabs clasp for 5 to 7 days to fertilize the eggs.

There are two methods of spawning: the natural and the induced. In the natural method, the mud crab is left in the tanks until they become sexually mature and spawn. For induced spawning, the most common method used is ablation where one (unilateral ablation) or both (bilateral ablation) of the mud crab's eye stalks are crushed or cut to induce spawning 7-13 days after fertilization.

The advantage of unilateral ablation is that the mud crab can spawn again while in bilateral ablation the mud crab dies after hatching the eggs. In both cases, observe the mud crabs closely until the eggs fill the abdominal flap.

Since ablation increases the appetite of the mud crabs, feed the mud crabs more until the eggs are hatched. Incubation ranges from 7 to 13 days. At this time, the berried (pregnant) crabs should be transferred to another tank without the substrate. Expect the eggs to hatch when the eggs turn from light orange to dark grey.After the eggs are hatched, transfer the larvae into the large tanks filled with 5-10 tons of filtered seawater with 34 ppt salinity. Add algae and rotifer at a rate of 5 x 10 (3) cells per cubic meter and 25 ind/ml, respectively. Yeast-grown rotifer may also be added at 5 ind/ml. Give supplemental diet of 6 grams/ton/day and feed them at 6AM, 12 NN, 6 PM and 12 MN.

Rearing of larvae in nursery
Line the nursery tanks with soil (10 cm thick) inoculated with lab-lab. For large tanks, line them with mud substrate that has been seeded with lab-lab. Apply lime and chicken manure at 2 kg/ 10-ton tank and ammonium phosphate at 500 grams per tank. After fertilization, transfer the megalopae at a density of 20,000 to 30,000 per cubic meter. Apply organic fertilizer to encourage the lab-lab to bloom.For those using hapa nets as nurseries, use hapa nets with a mesh size of 1 mm and a dimension of 1m x 1 mx 1.5 m. Install the nets in a canvass-lined earthen pond. Line the hapa net bottom with 3-5 cm thick mud substrate. Apply chicken manure and inorganic fertilizer (16-20-0) at a rate of 20 g to 500 g /cubic meter. Fill the pond with water until a depth of 20 cm to promote growth of microbenthic algae that will serve as food for the larvae. Other organisms such as bloodworms, oligochaetes could also serve as food for the larvae. Harvest by totally draining the pond.

A Nice Lesson..!

Once a boy went to a shop with his mother. The shop keeper looked at the small cute child and showed him a bottle with sweets and said ‘Dear Child..u can take the sweets…

But the child didn’t take. The shop keeper was surprised, such a small child he is and why is he not taking the sweets from the bottle. Again he said take the sweets….

Now the mother also heard that and said.. “take the sweets dear..” Yet he didn’t take… The shopkeeper seeing the child not taking the sweets… he himself took the sweets and gave to the child. The child was happy to get two hands full of sweets.

While returning home the Mother asked the child… Why didn’t you take the sweets, when the shop keeper told you to take?..

Can you guess the response: Child replies… Mom! my hands are very small and if i take the sweets i can only take few.. but now you see when uncle gave with his big hands…. how many more sweets i got!

Moral: When we take we may get little but when God gives… HE gives us more beyond our expectations… more than what we can hold..!!

The Christian Bear

Bear An atheist was taking a walk through the woods “What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!” he said to himself. As he continued walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a 7 foot grizzly charging towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster.

He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear raising his paw to take a swipe at him. At that instant the atheist cried out: “Oh my God…”

Time stopped.

The bear froze.

The forest was silent.

It was then that a bright light shone down upon the man and a voice came out of the sky saying: “You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don’t exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?”

The atheist looked directly into the light, “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the bear a Christian?”

“Very well,” said the voice.

The light went out.

And the sounds of the forest resumed.

Then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke: “Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful. Amen.”