Many people who also complain of the risks associated with investing in a fish farm have likewise failed on their own part to get the technical know-how that is needed to successfully own & manage one of these & in the end, just resort to the simple answer of it being an mounting task. 

Through this thinking, several investors have lost so much money which could’ve been seen in yields on the business. Just imagine the number of households that consume fish on daily, & then imagine yourself supplying these fish to the numerous fish markets so as to meet consumer needs. By the time you deduct the operating costs from the cash at hand, you’d be smiling to the bank.

On the other hand, what does it take to invest in this lucrative branch of agriculture before we start thinking about the millions to be made?

The first thing you would need to consider when going into any business is the capital you have at hand, the budget you are hoping to work with & on what scale you want your fish farm to be seen. You could go for a commercial large scale, middle scale or even a small scale fish farming enterprise & work your way to the top. 

The operating costs you’d incur in the fish farming business includes purchases to be made on fingerlings, feed, chemicals & medicine to be used for your fishes. You’d also need to consider the payments of water bills, electricity bills, rent on land you’re making use of, taxes & wages for labour employed. Start from here & draw up a budget for yourself to see what scale you fall under.

Pond construction.

Now that you’ve successfully sourced the capital needed & you have gotten a land as well, what is next is the construction of the ponds where your fish would be kept & bred in. it’s advised that you use an area of loamy clay soil to construct fish ponds as this best replicates their natural environment.

There’re different kinds of ponds to consider also with options such as earthen ponds (digging the earth), concrete ponds (using concrete blocks to build a pond) & fiber ponds (use of fiber tanks). You should note the availability of fresh water supply, depth & proximity to power source before you embark on your construction.

After successfully constructing your ponds & getting it in the right order, you are now ready to start introducing your fish into them for breeding. It’s not compulsory but highly helpful that you start your fish pond project with juvenile fish instead of fingerlings. Also, lime the ponds before you start adding fish. The purpose of the lime is too purge any bacteria that might be in the water. Be sure you don’t cluster the fishes in one pond too. If you need to breed more fish, create more ponds & give them space to breed freely.

Basically, that is all you need do, but it’s not as easy as it sounds although its reward is very promising. You’d need to keep a constant eye on the behavior of the fish & feed them on a regular basis also. A vet would be needed to come inspect them from time to time to ensure that they’re in good health & you should remember to change the water as at when due.

Lots of agricultural experts advise that on start up, you have about 3 ponds so that you can separate the fish according to size. This is because bigger fish eat the smaller ones & this might spell doom for your business.

Fish farming is at present one of the biggest investments out there now especially with fish being one of the most consumed food items out there now & a highly recommended source of protein. That should be a big push enough to make you take this big step of faith & start making cool cash.