PRINCIPLES OF

AQUACULTURE
(AKU3201)
LeSSon 4
Site selection & pond system
 Site selection
• Cost
- Land
- Water supply
- Construction & consultation
- Labour

• Water & soil source

• Topography
• Location
- Distance from market/consumer
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 Site selection

• Climate condition
• Availability of skilled labour
• Public utilities security
• Easy communication system
• Protection from natural disasters
• Access to materials

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 Water
Water Sources
– Municipal water
– River/Lake/Dam
– Underground
– Ocean

Water quality

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 Water Quality

Water characteristics:

Physical - Temperature, color, turbidity

Chemical - Oxygen, pH, Alkalinity, Ammonia, Nitrite

Nitrate, Ferum, Pesticide, Herbicide, Salinity

Biological - Other organism, predator, pathogen

(parasite, bacteria, virus)

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 Topography

- Hill slope, valley, riverside, flat land

- Need to be considered for – building,

infrastructure, pond & tank design, water
system

- Construction at hill side is costly

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 Climate
• Suitable with selected fish species

• Otherwise- construction of indoor culture

in order to maintain suitable climate
(temperate fish, i.e. Salmon- need 20-25’C,
therefore not suitable for Malaysia)

• Tilapia require higher temperature (above

25’C- not for temperate countries)
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• Access to infrastructure

– Good electric supply

– Processing facilities

– Near to proper roads

– Technical assistance

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 Others

- Easy access for marketing

- Seed supply

- Room for expansion

- Environmental impact

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 Environmental impact
assessment (EIA)
 EIA = Study to identify, predict, evaluate on
the impacts on the environment of the
proposed project & detail out the mitigating
measures prior project approval &
implementation

e.g, clearing of mangrove swamp forest

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 Soil Quality
• Soil type

• Soil texture

• Soil pH

• Soil gradient

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 Soil type & texture
Can contained water
- Clay = Not less than 45% clay (>better)
- Sand = Not more than 27% (<better)
- Sandy clay
- Clay + loam soils

Texture
- Clay = small particle
- Sand = large particle
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 Soil pH

- Alkaline pH (avoid acid-sulphate soil)

- Best soil pH = 6-9
- Acid-sulphate soil: contain iron sulfide
Iron sulfide + O2 = sulfuric acid

 If soil is acidic, need to add lime to increase pH

 If high, add potassium permanganate to reduce
pH

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 Types of culture
 3 different types
a) Extensive
b) Semi-intensive
c) Intensive

- Stocking & fertilization rates

- Supplementary feed quality
- Level of technology
- Level of investment
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 a) Extensive
- Simplest method of culture
- Low stocking rate
- Use fertilizers
- Low level of technology
- Investment = low
- Yield = low
- Production rate 100-500kg/ha/year
- e.g., backyard hatchery, wastewater
treatment ponds, rice field
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 b) Semi-intensive
- Stocking rate > extensive
- Fertilizer + additional feed
- Technology > extensive; pond
preparation & management
- Investment > extensive
- Yield > extensive
- Production rate 500-4000kg/ha/year

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 c) Intensive
- High stocking rate
- Greater dependence on commercial
feeds
- High technology = e.g automated
feeding, aeration, H20 purification
- High level investment
- High yield/ risk
- Production rate 5,000-
15,000kg/ha/year
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 Method of culture

POND CULTURE

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 Outline
• Pond culture

• Types of ponds

• Pond construction

• Pond management

• Types of culture
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• POND SYSTEM

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 POND
 POND

- enclosed space
- shallow water
- useful nutrients
- good physico-chemical parameters

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 POND CULTURE

• POND CULTURE =

- Cultivation of any aquatic organisms

- Natural environment
- Provide food in the captivity of pond area

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 Types pond

 5 types

1) Dug-out pond
2) Embankment pond
3) Concrete pond
4) Combination pond
5) Natural pond

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 1) Dug-out pond

 No pond engineering basis

 Small
 No commercial purpose
 One pond/house

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 1) Dug-out pond
• constructed by excavating soil from an area to
form a hole which is then filled with water.
• They are usually undrainable and fed by rainfall,
groundwater
• No pond engineering basis
• Small
• No commercial purpose
• One pond/house

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 2) Embankment pond
• Fish pond with dikes around

• Generally earthen ponds

• Rectangular/square in shape

• Most common type of aquaculture

pond in Malaysia

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 2) Embankment pond
• formed without excavation by building one or
more dikes above ground level to impound
water.
• usually drainable and fed by gravity flow of water
or by pumping.
• Generally earthen ponds
• Rectangular/square in shape
• Most common type of aquaculture pond in
Malaysia

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 Pond type
• Nursery
• Transition pond (Intermediate size animal)
• Grow-out/Rearing pond
• Treatment

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 Pond Types
There may be different types of pond on a fish farm, each used
for a specific purpose:
• spawning ponds - production of eggs and small fry;
• nursery ponds - production of larger juveniles;
• brood ponds - broodstock rearing;
• storage ponds - for holding fish temporarily, often prior to
marketing;
• fattening ponds - for the production of food fish;
• integrated ponds - which have crops, animals or other fish
ponds around them to supply waste materials to the pond as
feed or fertilizer;

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 Pond Types
There may be different types of pond on a fish farm, each used
for a specific purpose:
• spawning ponds - production of eggs and small fry;
• nursery ponds - production of larger juveniles;
• brood ponds - broodstock rearing;
• storage ponds - for holding fish temporarily, often prior to
marketing;
• fattening ponds - for the production of food fish;
• integrated ponds - which have crops, animals or other fish
ponds around them to supply waste materials to the pond as
feed or fertilizer;
• wintering ponds - for holding fish during the cold season.

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Typical pond structure

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 Pond construction
 Land
 Select the site (soil & water quality)
 Prepare the site

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 Pond construction
• Clear land from all vegetation

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Water supply and loss

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 Pond construction
 Dig pond & compact
 Sheep foot roller
 The soil can be stockpiled for dike

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 Dike
b) Height
freeboard
 1 - 1.5 m
 Freeboard : 30 cm
> 1m

b) Width
1-1.5m
 >1m
 Plant grass on dikes
 Don’t use plants
 3:1 optimum
Clay core
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Pond bottom

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 Pond bottom
• Pond depth: 1.0m – 1.5m
• Near inlet = 0.5-1.0m shallow end
• Near outlet = Sloping 1.5 m at the drain
end
• Drain system – allow water to be removed
by gravity

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Pond bottom
Pond bottom

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 Advantages of sloping bottom

• Easy fish harvesting

• Easy pond drainage

• Easy pond drying

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 Inlet & outlet pipe
 Inlet & outlet – Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
 Individual inlet & outlet
 Filter water entering & leaving ponds

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 Water inlet system
• Water pump – pumps water from a water
source
• Inlet pipe

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 Water outlet system
• Outlet pipe = removes water from the pond

• T-pipe – maintains water level of the pond

to avoid flooding

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 Monk
• Control amount of water in & out of pond
• Normally concrete

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 Monk
• Concrete pipe with appropriate diameter

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Summary

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 Pond management

 Cleaning & drying

 Liming
 Fertilizing

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 Pond drying
 Flush pond with water to remove sediments
 Dry the pond until the bottom cracks

Advantages
- Improve soil texture
- Removal of undesirable metabolites e.g H2S
- Elimination of predators, parasites & their eggs &
unwanted macrophytes
- Removal of excessive mud from pond bottom

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 Pond drying

• Excessive mud
- Increase the height of pond bottom
- Decrease depth

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 Pond liming
• Pond preparation for fertilization
 Calcium oxide (CaO) = Quicklime
 Calcium carbonate(CaCO3)= Limestone
• Neutral-alkaline pH (7-8)
•

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 Pond liming

• Advantages

- Favorable environment for microbial growth

- Raise pH to desirable levels
- Pond disinfectant – kill parasites
- Increase the effectiveness of fertilizer

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 Pond fertilization
 2 type of fertilizers

A) Organic fertilizers
Animal manures, compost, sewage

B) Inorganic fertilizers (Synthetic fertilizer)

Contain concentrated NPK
(Nitrogen, phosphorus, Potassium)

 Superphosphate, triple superphosphate

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 Pond fertilization
 Increase primary productivity

 Stimulate phytoplankton production

(autotrophic)

 Stimulate bacteria & zooplankton

(heterotrophic)

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Phytoplankton/ Microalgae

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Zooplankton

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Pond fertilization

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 Polyethylene sheet
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
• Pond lining

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 Actions Schedule
10–12 days before stocking. The most
effective method of eradication of
Drying
unwanted fish and aeration of pond
soil.
10–12 days (or one month) before
stocking. It is necessary in undrainable
Poisoning ponds. 2–3 mg/l. Rotenone, 0.25 mg/l
Phostoxin, or 0.15 mg/l Thiodin
(waiting time one month) are suitable.
5–6 days before stocking. 40–140 kg
Liming lime/ha after dewatering, or 40 kg/ha
followed by daily 10–15 kg for 1 week.
Racking the bottom of undrainable
Bottom treatment ponds for a few days for aeration of
upper soil layer.
 Actions Schedule
3–4 days before the planned stocking.
Partial or total refilling The required water depth is at least 1
m.
3–4 days before the stocking (on the
day of refilling) 100–150 kg poultry or
Manuring 200–250 kg cattle manure for one ha as
a preparatory dose followed by 10–15
kg or 20–25 kg daily dose.
If well water is used for refilling (or
algal blooming is not sufficient in
undrainable ponds) in addition to
Fertilization
manure 5–7 kg/ha Urea and 3–4 kg/ha
TSP followed by daily dose of 0.5 kg
Urea and 0.2 kg TSP.
30–50 hours before stocking Dipterex
treatment (0.5–1.0 mg/l) or
Eradication of Copepods
Sumithion/Edithion (2-3 mg/l) if
cyclops are present in the water.
 HATCHERY WORK AND POND
PREPARATION
Schedule of activities In hatchery For pond preparation
Poisoning, repeated
12 days before stocking -
netting
6 days " " - Liming
5 days " " Injection/stripping Refilling, manuring
3 days " " Hatching Raking of pond bottom
Cleaning of larvae
2 days " " Dipterex treatment
keeping tanks
Raking of pond bottom
1 day " " Cleaning of larvae
Sumithion/Edithion
12–20 hours before stocking keeping tanks
treatment, repeated
netting
First feeding of fry
0 day 3–4 hours before Stocking
stocking
 Types of culture
 Monoculture

 Polyculture (Integrated)

- Common carp =benthic

- Grass carp = herbivor
- Silver carp = phytoplankton
- Bighead carp = zooplankton

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 Concrete pond
• Ponds made of concrete or cement

• Ground level / above ground level

• Rectangular, square, circular

• Advantages/ disadvantages

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 Combination ponds
• Embankment + concrete ponds

• Dikes covered by concrete/cement

• Bottom is earthen

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• SUMMARY

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