The success of the fish farm depends on several factors such as the appropriate site selection, pond design, pond construction, dike construction, environment, and other economic factors. So, you have to take care of these factors before fish farming. Today we shall discuss here the construction of earthen fish pond for carp fish farming.
Table of Contents
Earthen Fish Pond:
First of all, you need to find out a very good site or location to construct a pond for fish farming business though you can start your fish farm business. But it should be suitable for fish farming. If you don’t have any pond then you must flow the following necessary information to construct a pond.
1. Clearer Empty Land
You should select relatively level clearer empty land for earthen fish pond, ensure that there are no big trees around it and sloped lands should be avoided totally. Separate land for an earthen fish pond enhances the productivity of fish farming, especially for Rui fish farming.
2. Soil Quality
The soil quality regulates the productivity of pond and water quality and determines the dike construction for water in the pond. Pond bottom should have the ability to hold the water. Loamy, clay loamy and silt clay soil types are most suitable for earthen fish pond construction. Good quality crushed rock should be less than 10 percent.
3. Large Piece of Land
It will be better if you can select a large piece of land but it would many small plots, where one can perform all types of necessary farm activities. Small earthen fish pond is easy to maintain.
4. Pollution Free
Forth, you should avoid flooding, polluted, and congested areas because flooding areas can harm your business seriously. Polluted and congested areas will hamper to grow up the fish.
5. Separate Land
Fifth, don’t select fish farming land near the crop fields and poultry farm even dairy farm. Farmers usually use a lot of fertilizers and pesticides in their field for better output and consequences are well known to us. These chemicals get mixed with water and the polluted water can affect your fish farm.
6. Topography
Sixth, the type of pond construction is determined by the land topography. Normally, you have to avoid selecting flood-prone areas and poor rainfall areas. You should also avoid:
- Industrial zones,
- Fields with underground oil pipelines,
- An irregular land area or rough land
- Fields with high electricity poles and radio masts, and
- Highly rooted vegetation areas.
7. Water Supply
Seventh, for fish, farming water is a must and an adequate amount of water is needed to construct the fish pond, as water depth needs to be adjusted at regular intervals in the pond. Natural water bodies such as a reservoir, river, and lakes have good water quality parameters like water temperature, oxygen, pH, and water hardness comparing to bore-well and well water.
8. Free From Flood
Eighth, it will be better if one’s selected land becomes slightly lower than the main water source but the bank of the pond should be higher than the usual plane land. It will help to decrease the cost of filling your farmland with water. Natural gravity will fill the land without any cost but after filling with water bank will be made stronger because flood’s water may enter the pond.
9. Pond Construction
Normally, the pond construction includes the following steps.
- Prepare the site by removing unwanted things such as the trees, bushes, and rock
- The construction of seepage-free and secure dike by using the clay core
- Digging the pond and construction of dike over the clay core
- Construct inlet and outlet
- Cover pond dike with soil and plant grass species
- Fence the pond to avoid theft and entry of predatory animals
10. Communication System
Tenth, ensure a good transportation system and infrastructural development, such as electricity supply, medicine, and agricultural adviser are available in your selected area. All these are very important for marketing your products and gaining more profit.
So, The Pond Construction A-Z at a Glance
Location: Select land must be sunny, clearer, and with a gentle slope for perfect earthen fish pond.
Construction: Ponds must be dug into the ground, they may be partly above or below the original ground level. Slopes and bottom of the earthen fish pond must be well packed during construction to prevent erosion and seepage. Soil should contain at least 25% clay. Rocks, grass, branches, and other undesirable objects must be eliminated from the dikes to flow water smoothly.
Pond Depth: Depth of the earthen fish pond should be up to 1.0 m at the shallow end, sloping not more than 2.0 m at the drain end.
Configuration: The popular shape for ponds is rectangular or square naturally.
Side Slopes: Construct ponds with 2:1 or 3:1 slopes on all sides to make it more durable earthen fish pond.
Drain: Gate controllers, baffle boards, or tilt-over pipings should be provided. Draining should take no more than 3 days.
Inflow Lines: Inflow lines should be of enough capacity to fill each pond within 3 days, but if surface water is used then the incoming water must be strained to remove unsuitable plants or animals.
Total Water Volume: Sufficient water must be used to fill all ponds on the farm within a few weeks and to keep them full throughout the growing season.
Dikes: Dikes should be sufficiently wide enough to allow mowing. Dike roads should be made of gravel. You also may plant grass on dikes to make it stronger.
Orientation: Locate ponds carefully to take advantage of water mixing by the natural wind. In areas where wind causes extensive wave erosion of dikes, place long sides of the pond at right angles to the prevailing wind. Use hedge or tree wind-breaks where necessary.
