Milkfish (Bangus) Production Part 3
Production strategy
- Purchase the required fry once every year of operation, especially during the peak season in May.
- Start production in the nursery pond, then the transition pond, formation pond, and finally the rearing pond.
- Divide the grow-out process into two phases: formation and rearing phases.
- Allow the fingerlings to grow from a 20g fingerling size to a 50g post-fingerling size in the formation pond using natural food organisms as primary food for the stock.
- Transfer the post-fingerlings to the rearing pond. Milkfish will grow to the marketable size of 250g in three months at an average growth rate of 2.2g/day . Expect the milkfish to grow bigger during the dry season at an average growth rate of 3g/day.
- Provide supplementary feeds to sustain fish growth particularly during the wet season when lab-lab and other natural foods in the pond are depleted. A weekly feed conditioning is necessary to determine the attractability of the feed.
- Efficient feeds should be used. Unattractive feeds results in poor health of the milkfish.
- Eradicate snail pest called suso and bangungon. These pests destroy lab-lab mat and compete with bangus for lab-lab. Use alternative molluscicide, like tobacco dust, applied at 300-400 kg/ha. Or collect the snails by sweeping or handpicking and burn them with rice straw.
Pond water management
- Increase water depth from 0.6 m to 1 m particularly during the last two months of culture operation. Note: An abrubt increase in water depth will cause lab-lab to detach and float. Install fine-meshed screens (bastidor or lumpot) at the gates to prevent the re-entry of wild species or the possible escape of stock.
- Monitor water quality parameters (turbidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature regularly to check for any sign of risk. Maintain the optimum water condition to support maximum growth of milkfish.
- Change water at least every two weeks or as frequent as possible.
- Install a stand-by water pump to maintain desired water depth when water management through tidal fluctuation is not possible.
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Stocking Density |
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| Pond | Stock |
| Nursery Pond | 40 fry/sq m |
| Transition pond | 5 fingerlings/sq m |
| Formation Pond | 2 juveniles/sq m |
| Rearing Pond | 1 grown fish/sq m |
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Milkfish production schemes |
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| Pond | Growing stage(wt-g) | Culture period(days) | Growth rate(g/day) | Food type | Harvest size(pc/kg) |
| Nursery Pond | 0.02-05 | 30 | 0.016 | Lab-lab | 2000 |
| Transition pond | 0.5-10 | 30 | 0.32 | Lab-labBread crumbs | 100 |
| Formationpond | 10-40 | 30 | 1.0 | Lab-labBread crumbs | 20 |
| Rearing pond | 50-215 | 75 | 2.2 | Lablab/pellets | 4.6 |
| Dry | 50-275 | 75 | 3.0 higher | Lablab/pellets | 3.6 |
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Milkfish production schemes |
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| Pond | Growing size(g) | Feed Type | %Feed rate(biomass) | Feeding frequency |
| Nursery Pond | 0.02-05 | LablabStarter mash | 8-10 | 5x /day |
| Transition pond | 0.5-10 | LablabBread crumbs/rice bran | 5-8 | 4x /day |
| Formationpond | 12-50 | LablabBread crumbs | 4-5 | 3x /day |
| Rearing pond | 50-100100-250 | Lablab / algaeFinisher pellets | 3 | 3-4x/day |
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Nutrient requirements of Milkfish Feed |
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| Crude protein | 25-40% | Fish meal, soybean, corn, gluten meal, ipil-ipil |
| Crude fat | 7-10% | Vegetable and fish meal |
| Nitrogen Free extract | 25% | Yellow corn, cassava meal |
| Crude fiber | <8% | |
| Vitamins, minerals mix | 3-6% | |
| Metabolized energy | >3,200kcal/kg | |
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Water quality parameter |
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| Parameter | Optimum level |
| Dissolved oxygen concentration | 3-5 ppm |
| Temperature | 22-35 degrees Celsius |
| pH level | 6.8 -8.7 |
| Salinity | 18-32 ppt |
| Turbidity | 0.5 m |
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