Grow Catfish Faster
Many people have asked me how to grow catfish faster hence this publication. I have been into catfish farming for more than 20 years with good results. Haven gone through the experimental stages to perfect my act. However catfish farming sometimes offers unexpected challenges like mass death of fingerlings, strange behavior in fish or rapid growth in catfish.
How fast do they grow?
Catfish generally grow almost all their life however the growth process slows with age. The rate of grow is relatively slow from fry to fingerlings before they attain juvenile stage.
However if the farmer succeeds in breeding them to juveniles he stands a good chance of success. Therefore I suggest that new catfish farmers purchase only juveniles for stocking. A good measurement for juveniles will be the size of the middle finger of an adult male person.

How to Grow Catfish Faster
Fish Selection
Success or failure starts right from the purchase of the fish. Always ask for juveniles and avoid purchasing fingerlings. This is because fingerlings die easily and are difficult to raise to juveniles. Only experienced catfish farmers should stock fingerlings.
Another reasons catfish farmers purchase fingerlings or fry is because of the relatively cheap price. The gain on buying cheap quickly reduces when most of the stock dies therefore buy only juveniles.
In fish selection another advice is to purchase shooters from the catfish breeder. Shooters are the fast growing fish hatched at same time in a stock. To identify them the fish farmer will notice some that are already twice the size of those in the stock. Shooters are more active and have the genetic markers for faster grow include good feed conversion rate.
Pond management
Before stocking the pond make sure it is conducive for fish growth. There are different types of ponds used in catfish production. There is the earthen pond, block pond, concrete pond, plastic pond, tarpaulin pond, cage pond.
In urban areas the best pond for better management is the block, concrete or plastic pond. Make sure the pond has an inlet and outlet for changing the water. Construct the outlet pipes in such a way to prevent fish from escaping while water is changed.
Types of Ponds
- earthen pond
- block pond
- concrete pond
- plastic pond
- tarpaulin pond
- cage pond
Water Source
Do you know that catfish bred in a river system grow the fastest to huge size? This is because of the free flowing fresh water and abundant food source. The water source is very important for rapid growth in catfish.
Best water source in commercial pond is borehole dug to appreciable depth to harness clean clear water. If in doubt of water quality test the ph. level or salinity of the water. Catfish grows in clean fresh water therefore avoid water sources from ocean or stagnant pools. To grow catfish to large size clean clear water is the number one condition.
Aeration
Aeration is very important to grow catfish faster in commercial pond. Adhere to sensible stocking ratio so the fish has adequate space to grow and use the dissolved oxygenated air. If the pond is big enough with good clean water and good stocking ratio the dissolve oxygen in the water is adequate for fast growth
Quality of food
Once the famer purchase the juvenile buy appropriate feed size for the fish. The secret ingredient in pelleted catfish food is protein. Protein is the ingredient that boosts fish growth to achieve huge size. Luckily fish feed producers know this therefore early starter feed have from 40% to 45% protein. Once the juvenile fish eat heartily they will display rapid growth.
The size of feed starts from 1 mm -1.5mm – 2mm-4mm and so forth. Make sure to purchase the size the fish can easily eat without stress. A good way to test the right size is to drop a few into the pond if the fish easily swallows them they feed is adequate.
Basic Composition of catfish feed
The basic composition of catfish feed is fish meal, soybean meal, poultry byproduct meal. Others are hydrolyzed feather meal, wheat flour, corn fine grind. More are cassava meal, broken rice, rice bran, wheat bran, bone meal, fine fish oil.
Composition of catfish feed
- fish meal
- soybean meal
- poultry byproduct meal
- hydrolyzed feather meal
- wheat flour
- corn fine grind
- cassava meal
- broken rice
- rice bran
- wheat bran
- bone meal
- fine fish oil
Nutritional information of catfish feed
Nutrients | Minimum percentage % | Maximum percentage % |
Crude protein | 42.0 | |
Crude fiber | 0 | 3.5 |
Phosphorous | 1.10 | |
Sodium | 0.30 | |
Fat | 0 | 12.0 |
Ash | 0 | 8.0 |
calcium | 2.0 |
Moisture content in catfish feed is 8%
Live food
Some catfish farmers add live feed if available to boost the stock. Protein rich live feed include earthworms, maggots. Purchase live earthworms from bate shops or raise them in the garden here is an article on how to start a worm farm.
Anti-Stress Formula for Starter Fish
Soy
Vegetable protein is another good source for catfish feed. In the United States of America a key ingredient in American made catfish feed is soy.
Feeding technique
The best way to feed them for rapid growth is at least twice a day. Make sure the food is rich in protein and feed them in the morning and again in the evening. Make sure the fish pond has adequate shelter from the sun with good shaded areas.
Conclusion
How to grow catfish faster
To grow catfish faster purchase juvenile fish and make sure they are the shooters with good genetic markers. While stocking make provision for adequate space and avoid over stocking.
Next verify the source of the water by building a borehole and include an inlet and outlet for easy water changing. Purchase only quality feed with high protein content, use live bait, soy rich feed.
Feed them twice a day once in the morning and in the evening. Finally provide a shelter to keep them from the direct sun. Don’t forget to change the water regularly to ensure clean water in the pond.
Grow catfish faster
- purchase juvenile fish
- make sure they are the shooters
- avoid over stocking
- verify the source of the water
- include an inlet and outlet
- buy quality feed high protein
- use live bate
- buy soy rich feed
- feed them twice a day
- provide a shelter
Hope this has helped
The protein content is the main source of growth in catfish. Manufacturers generally include higer protein content in low mm feed for fingerlings and progressively reduces content in large mm feed. catfish feed with higher protein content are more expensive howeer the difference is negligible.
what are the causes of death of (juvenilline) at 4-8 weeks of life
I lost over 100 juvenile about 5 months ago due to poor stock. I was lazy and sourced them online instead of my regular source. This set we’re very poor breed and came with diseases. I later applied handful of salt to the water with one tetracycline and they recovered.
I appreciate your write up but I still need more information. Thanks
Very educative thanks a lot mister writer
Thank you sir
Hi Tony
your article are helpfull Im about to go on cat fish farming to the Congo my home
still in south africa looking where a can get
a training thank you God bless you
I don’t know if catfish farming is popular in congo. If so you need to take advantage of this and start your own fish farm. All you need is a large plastic tank similar to your overhead water tank, then buy juvenile from catfish farmers. The only thing to do is buy catfish feed and try not to over feed them. Feed once a day and change the water once a day.
For more resources on catfish farming subscribe to our channel and see some videos on catfish filmed on our farm.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm5FRcWfJaSNyNIJUpv3riQ?sub_confirmation=1
Thanks a lot sir…I really appreciate its really going to help me….GOD bless you more and more
Amen. If you need any more info, l will readily provide. I sold my stock about two months ago and just recently stocked juveniles. Catfish farming is lucrative but be careful not to overfeed. I am currently experiment on a feeding technique if it works and reduces feeding cost I will let people know.
I really appreciate your effort for putting me through on how to grow cart fish faster
Thanks
Thanks
Thank you for the helpful knowledge that you have offered sir. I’m an interested individual who wants to start up a fish farm with atleast 1000 juveniles for the start. Am in an urban area and would like to adopt the plastic pond but my question is; after how long is one supposed to change the water in the pond so as to ensure adequate freshness.
Change the water once a day. If you observe that the water is clean then it does not require changing.
Thanks tony. Pls do dey feed catfish blood frm animals.
Some people prepare blood meal from slaughterhouses. What they do is get the blood and boil till it coagulates, then they dry and cut into pieces. I have witnessed the technique, however I don’t recommend the practice. Instead feed them boiled organ meat for better protein intake
Please i will indeed appreciate if you can link me up with where to get good Hybrid.
This guy on YouTube claims to supply quality hybrid ( Nigeria) https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCji2iY9lHJTvPsgFBGzK2Qw lf you eventually buy from him tell him we recommended him and tell us if his stock is good
For 4000 fingerlings, please how many bags of feed can they consume for a month.
That is a lot of fish, initial consumption as fingerlings is small however growing them to adulthood will consume copious amount of food
Hello Tony
Tanks for the guidelines so far, but I was advised to feed them 5time daily when I went to buy the feeds for the fingerlings. What do you have to say on this pls.
Feeding 5 times a day is wasteful, it takes about 8 to 10 hours for catfish to digest food. You can feed them twice a day once very early in the morning and around 4 oclock