Do It Yourself Fish Farming - Building Hatching Trays & Rearing Ponds

As you would expect, fish eggs are delicate and vulnerable, they require to be kept secure. Left to nature, most of fertilized ova do not survive. But you can assure that plenty of yours do make it..."

By this time, you've gotten your do it yourself fish farming pond all set up, and you've gotten the vegetation planted. You have an adequate natural food source for the fish and you're ready to start farming some fish. This is a critical stage in the procedure. It is of the essence that you start up rearing ponds, boxes and hatching trays before you introduce fish or fish eggs.

Hatching trays can be made of perforated zinc fairly easily. Make them 1 in. deep, and the ova will hatch out well in them. The size of hatching tray you'll require will depend on the size box you will suspend them in.

A great box for securing your hatching trays can be made with perforated zinc sides. The remainder of the box is made of hardwood. These are placed in the pond and the bottom is filled with a nice layer of gravel.

When in operation in the water, the trays are loaded with ova and suspended in the boxes. They have to be positioned so that a nice current of water can move through them. Before you put ova into these boxes, you should allow them to sit in the pond. This will insure that nothing contaminates the area when the eggs are introduced.

Young fish and eggs need to be protected from the sun and predatory animals. That's why you'll need to keep your rearing ponds near willows and other shady trees. It is also quite important to have as much tall grass and weeds as possible growing on the banks.

Netting can be placed over rearing ponds to keep hungry birds out. But you'll have to keep a look out over your babies. Birds are smart and even when you thought that you've made things secure, they might still get in.

There are also some water foliage that will provide shade and protection. They can easily be grown in most any size rearing pond. A small number of water-cress, water-lobelia, or water-milfoil will go quite a long way in a small pond.

For the do it yourself fish farmer, it's all about protecting and nuturing those tiny fish to adulthood. Taking the time to outfit yourself with hatching trays, rearing boxes, and ponds is well worth it.

In the next report of this series, you'll learn about the early stages of the fishes life. We'll cover lots of ground, from collecting the ova & fertilizing it to caring for and feeding new hatchlings.

Until next time...