CARP HATCHERY DEVELOPMENT

IN INDIA

Dr. U.P.Singh
Prof.&Head Aquaculture
 The major requirement in aquaculture is:-

 The appropriate technology of breeding,

 Hatching and
 Rearing of fish through standardized method which apply on
national scale

 The breeding of fast growing fish species such as Catla and silver
carp posses considerable problems due to:-

 Erratic or late monsoon

 Or dry spell as a result of which the eggs get reabsorbed
 TRADITIONAL METHOD OF HATCHING

1. Hatching pits-
Pit dimension size - 3’×2’ ×1’ may vary according to
requirements

Pits are dug in several rows and inner walls are plastered
with mud

Approximately 25,000- 40,000 eggs per are kept

Now a days the pit are made in such a way that they are
inter connected and constant flow of water is maintained
to ensure proper aeration
2. Chitagong type hatching pit-

Double walled cloth-markeen & mosquito net

Hatchlings pass through the net and are collected in the

cloth

Cloth is kept usually a few centimeter above the bottom

of pit

Mosquito net cloth is removed after hatching

3. Earthen pot hatchery-
Controls pH and temperature

Eggs are kept in locally made earthen pots

Hatching take place in pot itself

4. Conventional Hapa hatchery
(Conventional cloth hatching hapa)
Double walled- 2×1×1 m, 1×0.5×0.5 m

Fixed in water by bamboo poles

5.Floating Hapa –

2.1×1.1×1.2 m fitted in frame

of plastic pipe

Outer- 2×1×1 m

Inner- 1×0.5×0.5 m

Capacity, 75,000 to 1,00,000 eggs

6. Tub hatchery –

Improvement over fixed hapa

Provide for hatching in running waters

Fertilized eggs are transferred in a series of galvanized iron

hatching tubs have a regular flow of water

8-12 hatching tubs are connected to each other

Each tub is of 2.5’ ×2.5’ ×1.5’, has two nets

Constant current of water through inner connecting pipes

assure supply of water for developing eggs
7. Cement cistern –
Source of water is from pond itself, pumping of water not required

Each cistern is 2.4×1.6× 0.45 m in size

Constructed in two rows and each cistern receive water supply

directly from pond

Capacity is 3,00,000 eggs for each cistern

Having inlet and outlet

Having additional inner hatching hapa (for removal of spoiled

eggs and eggshells) and showers
8. Glass jar hatchery –

Consist of continuous water supply,

Breeding tank,
Incubation,
Hatchery apparatus
Spawnery
FIG. Cross section of the hatchery
FIG. Tank for spawners
FIG. Details of the hatching jars
FIG. Details of the larvae rearing tank
Water source:-
Fresh water pond or tube well

Overhead tank with capacity of 5500 liter

capacity

Placed on 4 meter height on the brick tower

Breeding Tank:-
Done in breeding hapa

They may be inside the hatchery proper

Provided with showers for spraying fresh water

Incubation and Hatchery apparatus:-
Unit consist of Cylindrical glass jars, cone shaped at bottom
of 6.35 liter capacity

Fixed in vertical position

Capacity of 50,000 swollen eggs

Spawnery:-
Is a Cement cistern - 1.8 × 0.9 × 0.9 m

With Nylon hapa inside – 1.6 × 0.8 × 1 m

Spawns are collected after hatching in spawnery

Operational technique:-

After spawning the eggs are placed in each jar

Regular flow of water to insure continuous churning of

eggs in the jar

Flow of water for incubation is 600 to 800 ml/minute

Spawn are kept in the container until the absorption of

yolk sac
9. Transparent polythene jar hatchery
Principle is same as in jar hatchery

Jars are replaced by polythene jars of 2 liter capacity

27 cm height 10 cm dia.

Each jar is provided with 5cm long tube an outlet pipe

1 liter egg capacity of inner container

1 liter/minute water flow

Mosquito net is fitted in side the jar

 Plastic hatchery jar        

FIG. Plastic hatchery jar        

10. Galvanized iron jar hatchery –
Has more capacity than glass jar hatchery
Jar made of galvanize sheets of conical shape

Dimension of the jar:-

• Height of jar:– 75.5 cm

• Cylindrical body height:– 48.5 cm
• Dia :– 23.0 cm
• Height of conical part :– 19.0 cm

 Length of connected tube at narrow end of jar:– 8 cm

 Jar are fixed at an angular iron framework
 Rate of water flow 1 liter/ minute
 Spawn unit consists of a series of cement cistern (1m x 0.9m x 0.8m)
11. Plastic bin hatchery
Consist of an outer hatchery container in which 3 single egg
vessels are placed

Outer hatchery container is a rectangular aluminium sheet tub

having dimentions of 54” x 18” x 22” which is uniquely divided
into 3 chamber

Has capacity to circulate 243 litre of water

At a time, 8 litre of egg hatched in each hatchery unit

Egg vessel made of 14 gauge aluminum sheets, has

perforation of 2.5mm dia.

Vessel is cylindrical in shape with dia of 12” and height of 12”

Each vessel can hold about 2 lakh of major carp eggs

12. Plastic bucket hatchery
Made up of 2 containers:-

1. An outer plastic bucket with a perforated aluminum bin egg vessel

2. Galvanized iron sheet spawnery

Plastic bucket is a cylindrical bucket having 3 inlets at the bottom

and two outlets at the top

The height of plastic bucket is 47cm with 30 cm bottom dia

Water holding capacity of bucket is 45 litre

13. CIFE-D-81 MODEL
 Egg Cap. Per Jar : 200000 eggs.
 Complete System Consists Of-

 Breeding Pool
 Hatchery Jar with Egg Sac
 Spawn Receiver with Net Hapa
 Blower with Aeration Accessories
 On Ground Pipeline With Accessories

"IDEAL FOR SIMULTANEOUS OPERATIONS WITH

EGGS OF DIFFERENT SPECIES"
 Highlights
 Portable. Complete Ready to Install System.

 Allows Segregated or Mass Scale operations. Could be

provided with Re-circulatory Systems.

 Adaptable for Hatchery Operations of different species.

Applications
 Used for Hatching of Fish Eggs Under Controlled
Conditions With Regulated Flow and Simulation of Ideal
Riverine Conditions.
CIFE D-81 Model
 14. Chinese carp hatchery
Chinese have developed a technique based on the
continuous flow of water by gravity to breed the carps and
hatch the eggs and rear the spawn.
 COMPONENTS OF HATCHERY
Overhead tank (to store filtered water)
Brood stock ponds (@ 1500 kg/ha)
Breeding tank (3-5 kg of brood per m3 is recommended )
Conditioning tank
Hatching tank
Spawn collection tank
Rearing tank (for rearing of larvae)
Nursing ponds
Transporting equipment
Figure 1. General layout of hatchery complex
 Water supply pipe

Drain pipe
Figure 2. Layout of the carp hatchery

Breeding
tank
Larvae rearing tank of
200l capacity

Hatching jars

Fish
manipulating
table

s
t
o
r
Tank for
a spawners2.5m2
g
Working
e table
Fig. 3:- Water system

A) Pump
B) Sand filter or pressure filter
C) Reservoir
D) Larvae rearing and algal culture tanks
E) Brood stock development tanks
 WATER SOURCE AND SUPPLY UNIT
 In any type of water source, water should not use
directly
 There is need of:-
 Pump for lifting up the water into the overhead
tank (at the height of 4-6m
from ground level for gravity flow)
 Filtration unit

 Oxygenation unit in transit tank

 Uninterrupted water supply to the hatchery units

 SPAWNING UNIT

The spawning phenomenon of carp in an Chinese

hatchery is the result of the cumulative impacts of
physicochemical factors influenced by :-
Water current,
Water shower
And inducing agent

It is a circular smooth cistern made up of brick, RCC

or fibre material
 BREEDING POOL

Diameter :- 3-6m
Depth :- 1m
Diameter of the water inlet pipe :- 2”-3”

Water depth is controlled by the outlets

Single water inlet facilitates the water current and

centrifugal force helps to sweep out eggs soon after the
spawning

Conti….
The breeding pool should have a sloping bottom
leading to the outlet at centre, so that it can be
completely drained when required without leaving
any eggs behind

Breeding pool is provided with straight egg

delivery pipe line from its central floor to egg
incubation unit

No t, y, or L joint on egg delivery line is

recommended, as any such joint on the egg
delivery line is found to be detrimental to the
developing eggs by causing mechanical injury
 OPERATIONAL ASPECT
 Good quality water with at least 5-6 ppm of D.O.
can hold 3kg brood/m3
 Water depth :- 0.6- 1m
 The brood fish in the pool should be under shower
before and after hormone administration
 Water flow both in the central outlet and each inlet
must be adjusted in such a manner that it creates a
speed of 3-5m/sec maintaining the required depth
 Water current is stopped and brood fish are removed
and transferred back in pond as soon as breeding
operation ceases

 Spawning pool is cleaned and disinfected with strong

formaldehyde and KMnO4 before and after each
operation
 EGG INCUBATION UNIT/
HATCHING TANK

Based on flow through

principle
Have outer and inner
chamber

Water enters into the cistern

by a series of duck mouth
inlets (at equidistant position)
and
expel out through a
screen, encircled over the
inner chamber
CIRCULAR FLOW THROUGH

INLET
OUTFLOWPIPE

I
INLET
N

E
The duck mouths direction and the speed of water are well
adjusted to assure favorable circulation of eggs in the water
preventing them from mechanical injury
The equidistant principle with unidirectional water flow allow
the eggs to run without low oxygen concentration and without
touching the screen of the cistern

Diameter :- 2-4m

Depth :- 1m

Mesh size of the screen is 1/50 inch which prevents eggs and
spawn escaping out
 OPERATIONAL ASPECT
 Speed of the water in hatching tank is
maintained at the rate of:-
 0.4-0.5m/sec for first 12 hr.
 0.1-0.2m/sec for next 6 hr.
 0.3-0.4m/sec for rest of the operation
 Reducing speed after 12 hr. of operation avoid
premature hatching and prolong hatching of the
developing eggs
 Regular cleaning of hatchery units counts the
recovery and survival of hatchlings, spawns and
eggs
 EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS
ON SURVIVAL OF FISH EGGS AND SPAWN
 Carp eggs and spawn are very sensitive to the environment

 Effect of ecological factors such as :-

a) Temperature
b) Dissolved oxygen
c) pH
d) Alkalinity
e) Light

 All affects the early life stages of fish

 TEMPERATURE

 Water temperature ranges between 26-320 C

 Physiologically is affects the incubation period

 Hatching is prolonged by low temperature and

accelerated by high temperature

 High temperature accelerates mortality due to reduced

solubility of oxygen
 DISSOLVED OXYGEN CONTENT

 Play important role in time of incubation, hatching and also

the survival of spawn

 During incubation developing eggs require more oxygen

 Maximum oxygen is required just before hatching

 Less than 5mg/l oxygen retards embryonic development and

prolong hatching time

 Percentage of hatching is less in lower oxygen concentration

 pH

• pH ranges from 6.5 to 8.5

• The effect of pH on hatching is not well known

ALKALINITY

 200-300 mg/l alkalinity is optimum for hatching

SILT

 Water should be free from silt

 Deposition of silt on eggs prevents successful development of

eggs
and diffusion of oxygen through egg shell
Thank you