Friday, March 29, 2024
Fishery

6 Mistakes to Avoid when using Tarpaulin Fish Ponds for Profitable Fish Farming

If you are thinking of buying or using mobile tarpaulin fish pond for your fishes, I would give you a go ahead but here are some advice for you. I have listed out 6 mistakes you should avoid.

Tarpaulin definition (Tarpaulin meaning): A tarpaulin can simply be described as a piece of material that is basically used for protecting exposed objects or areas. It can also be described as a sheet of heavy waterproof material that is used as a protective cover.

Now back to our topic of the day, below are the six (6) mistakes to avoid when using tarpaulin fish ponds for profitable fish farming.

1.  Insist on “reinforced tarpaulin”

 This is the most important factor that you must put into consideration before you decide to use mobile tarpaulin fish pond for your farm.

There are different types of tarpaulin that have been in the market. There are the normal ones used in making tents (like semi-permanent church/fellowship and other event centres), there are the ones used in making canopies (that people rent for traditional marriages) and there even other types used in making car parks.

They are all of different qualities and serve different purposes, and the one used for fish pond is the “reinforced tarpaulin”. Fish ponds that are made with the other type of tarpaulin usually break in two or three months, or even earlier.

Simply put, if it is not reinforced tarpaulin, don’t buy!

You can go online on Google and search for “reinforced tarpaulin fish pond”, and then find some sellers.
However, since it is still possible for desperate sellers to brandish their products as “reinforced tarpaulin”, I will endeavor to recommend my own trusted online seller at the end of this piece.

Read Also: Things to do to make your catfish grow faster within a short period of time

2.  Avoid Buying from Online Marketplaces

Online market places may be good for other products like clothing, electronics, furniture, etc., but definitely not for collapsible mobile tarpaulin fish pond because of the ease of buying substandard (the unreinforced quality).

Most of the complaints about fake tarpaulin ponds that I have received from members of various fish farming cooperatives that I have coached are from people who bought their tarpaulin fish ponds from online marketplaces.

It is usually easy to create account and join those marketplaces, so they can be crowded with every tom, dick and harry.

3. Buy the fish pond tarpaulin and set it up yourself (it is way cheaper this way)

6 Mistakes to Avoid when using Tarpaulin Fish Ponds for Profitable Fish Farming
Tarpaulin Fish Pond

Now this may sound a bit more stressful but what you get to save at the end is worth it.

I am a DIY (Do It Yourself) person and I have never bought tarpaulin fish pond from vendors who have to transport both themselves, the tarpaulins and the galvanized pipes (or wood, bamboo or other materials used that can be used for the tarpaulin fish pond framework) all the way down to my location to set everything up. There is no need for such unnecessary cost and logistics.

From the experience of a few persons I know that initially tried patronizing such vendors in the past, you get to save roughly N10,000 to N15,000 per pond if you buy the tarpaulins and set them up yourself.

What I would recommend is that you buy the tarpaulins and engage an average road-side welder (or carpenter) around you to set them up for you.

Read Also: The Best Source of Water for Fishes in Concrete Ponds

4.  Buy more and try to negotiate for discount if you are buying in bulk

When buying up to five or more fish pond tarpaulins, it is good practice to ask for a discount.

If you intend to really raise fishes, you will need more than one tarpaulin pond after all, so why not buy them at once and negotiate some cut. Even if it is 1 per cent discount, it is something.

5.  Smaller can be better

If for example, you wish to raise about 1000 catfish to maturity and need tarpaulin fish pond for that, you can go for a tarpaulin that has the capacity to house 1000 table-size fishes.

However, it is always advisable to have two or even three ponds when starting out in order to have the opportunity to sort (or separate) your fishes on the basis of their sizes.

Else the shoot outs (the fishes that quickly grow bigger than others) will begin to feed on the others.

So, instead of buying just one large 1000-capacity tarpaulin to house all your fishes from fingerlings/juvenile to table size (adult size), you should buy two or three smaller tarpaulins so that you can sort into the other tarpaulin ponds as the fingerlings/juveniles grow.

Mind you, the more space the fishes have to swim around, the better the results you will get in terms of size and weight of the fishes within a set period of time.

6. Buy from a trusted supplier

The thing is that, of recent (from around late 2016), lots of people have been flooding the market with fake tarpaulin ponds, and with that have come lots of complaints about mobile tarpaulin ponds (hence the disadvantage).

There are several people who have complained of how they bought tarpaulin ponds from several vendors only for the ponds to break up in about two months.

If you truly want to use mobile tarpaulin pond and enjoy it, do yourself some favor and avoid fakes.

Read Also: List of Problems Confronting Livestock Production

Agric4Profits

Benadine Nonye is an agricultural consultant and a writer with over 12 years of professional experience in the agriculture industry. - National Diploma in Agricultural Technology - Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Science - Master's Degree in Science Education... Visit My Websites On: 1. Agric4Profits.com - Your Comprehensive Practical Agricultural Knowledge and Farmer’s Guide Website! 2. WealthinWastes.com - For Effective Environmental Management through Proper Waste Management and Recycling Practices! Join Me On: Twitter: @benadinenonye - Instagram: benadinenonye - LinkedIn: benadinenonye - YouTube: Agric4Profits TV and WealthInWastes TV - Pinterest: BenadineNonye4u - Facebook: BenadineNonye

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