African catfish are raised in man-made ponds, although the cage system can also be used, it is rather difficult to acquire, thus in this course, our focus shall be on growing catfish in ponds i.e Earthen ponds and Concrete ponds.

Ponds can be built in a number of shapes and sizes, and they are often lined with clay or plastic to stop leaks or made of concrete.

The type of pond generally depends on the type of lining used.

There are 3 types of ponds namely;

Earthen ponds (covered with clay)

Concrete ponds (covered with concrete)

Tarpaulin ponds (covered with tarpaulin or rubber)

Compared to concrete ponds, earthen ponds are often less expensive to build and require less running cost due to the earth’s natural ability to serve as a buffer for temperature, Ph, and other minerals.

Earthen Ponds are better suited for clayey soils. loamy soils or sandy soils are not better able to hold water and thus inadequate for earthen pond construction.

However, you can construct concrete ponds or tarpaulin ponds in soils that are sandy or loamy or clayey.

Thus no soil is bad for catfish production, you simply just need to understand the topology of your land, and adopt the right pond strategy towards it.

Concrete ponds are more robust but they are typically more expensive to build, and typically more expensive to grow catfish in it.

Due to the lack of a buffer (the earth) in a concrete pond, you will have to ensure adequate water pH, Dissolved Oxygen levels, Temperature, Ammonia levels, etc.

This often involves the consistent periodic change of water, as soon as any of the parameters mentioned above are not met.

It is crucial to correctly plan and maintain the pond system in order to guarantee the health and well-being of the catfish.

Pond size, water quality, aeration, and feeding are all things to think about, we will deal with each of these details as we proceed.

Pond size is a crucial consideration when breeding African catfish because it affects how many fish may be housed there. You can use the catfish stock density calculator to determine the accurate number of fingerlings to stock.

The pond’s size should be determined by the anticipated catfish harvest size as well as the appropriate stocking density.

The health of the catfish depends greatly on the condition of the water, which is greatly affected by the type of pond you create.

The good news is that you create these ponds yourself, thus we can start and with the requisite knowledge produce the right type of ponds for our needs.

Stick with us as we learn more.