How to breed trout: keeping conditions, feeding and profitability

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Today more and more people are interested in how to breed trout at home. It is quite expected - thanks to this you can earn a lot of money, because high-quality fish is in great demand. It is also nice that you do not need to spend a lot of time and effort to maintain a business. And the investment of funds is much less than required for most types of their cases. Therefore, it will be very useful to deal with this issue in more detail.

Natural habitat

Before you figure out how and where trout are farmed, it's worth finding out where they are found in the wild.

Many people believe that she lives exclusively in the United States. Actually it is not. In general, there are about twenty species of trout. Some of them are really found only in the United States - in lakes and mountain streams.

However, there are some species in Norway - in clean waters, it breeds well and feels fine. It is no coincidence that there is even a tourist and fishing industry based on the love of Norwegians for fishing for trout.

There isalso a species of trout that is found only in one place on Earth - in Lake Ohrid, located on the territory of Macedonia and Albania.

But there are reservoirs in Russia, where trout lives in the wild. Lake trout is often found in the reservoirs of the Kola Peninsula and Karelia - in Ladoga, Onega and others.

Benefits of trout

Now let's try to understand why many people prefer to breed trout for business, and not some other fish.

There are many reasons for this. First of all, trout is a red fish. At the same time, she is perhaps the only representative of this noble family that can be bred in captivity, where she will actively grow, develop, and gain weight.

Red fish is highly valued on the market, so it can be sold with much greater profit than, for example, crucian, tench, carp or even grass carp.

It is important that in Russia there are quite a few fish farms where you can freely buy trout fry, so there will be no special problems with finding juveniles.

In addition, already in two years it reaches a commercial weight - about two hundred grams, and with good nutrition and suitable conditions of detention - much more.

Finally, this fish is a valuable and desirable trophy for many fishermen. And this is also an important factor in the sale of grown fish.

Choosing the right breed

Most people are interested in how to breed trout in a pond. It is quite justified - to find a suitable pond or evencreating it with your own hands is much easier than solving the problem with a clean stream. Of course, modern equipment allows you to create a powerful enough current in the pond to make the fish feel comfortable. But this comes at a significant additional cost.

Therefore, it is better to give preference to the pond. So, it is necessary to choose the breed that can survive and grow actively in such conditions.

What kind of trout is farmed? The most common are two types - stream and rainbow. The first, as already figured out, is not suitable due to the complexity of the content. Therefore, it remains rainbow. Her homeland is the USA, where she lives in many lakes. However, it can live in water heated to such a point at which most other species of trout die.

So we stop at the rainbow trout.

Equip a comfortable pond

Before starting your own business, you need to calculate all expenses, draw up an estimate and approximate profit. If you are interested in how to breed trout, a business plan will allow you to understand whether the game is worth the candle. This should include the purchase of equipment, feed, the creation or rental of a pond and much more.

But in any case, it is the pond that is the most serious expense item. It is unlikely that there is a pond in a suitable place that can be rented - the state does not always meet the needs of small entrepreneurs in such endeavors, preferring to buy products abroad.

Therefore, calculate in advance the opportunity to createown pond. Still, renting or buying a piece of land without a reservoir is much easier.

It is better if it is in a lowland - it will be easier to dig a pit, which will be filled with cold spring water. But in this case, it is necessary to protect the reservoir from the ingress of melt and rain water. It often contains harmful substances or leaches them out of the soil, which may well lead to the death of fish, which are whimsical about water quality - we'll talk about this a little later. The task is perfectly handled by small sides in total with high-quality drainage.

So, it's best to dig a pit deep enough to draw cold water into it. In many regions, this is not too deep - from 2 to 4 meters. Yes, more expensive than digging a one and a half meter pit and filling it with water. But here the water will always be quite cold, and as it evaporates, the pond will be able to fill up on its own, without human intervention and the use of pumps that constantly consume electricity and can fail, requiring extra costs.

The size of the pit should match your goals - the more fish you plan to get, the larger it should be. Of course, if you are reading an article to learn how to breed trout in a pond in a plot near a summer house, you will have to forget about a large pond with an area of hundreds of square meters. Most often, no more than one or two acres can be allocated for a pond. Therefore, the number of fish will have to be seriously limited.

It is also important to choose the right bottom topography. It is not necessary that the entire pond has a depth of 3-4 meters. Bigits part can be no more than one and a half to two meters. The main thing is that water comes from underground springs, lowering the temperature and replacing the evaporated one.

It is important that in a sufficiently deep reservoir, even on cold winter days, the temperature will not fall below the critical one - about +1 … +3 degrees Celsius. If the water freezes to the bottom, the fish will die. But it is the keys that will prevent this from happening.

If you have a deep reservoir, you can grow trout almost anywhere in Russia. When the ice melts and the water heats up, the fish will be able to go to shallow water, and on hot summer days they will go down to the bottom, choosing the right temperature.

Water requirements

Trout is distinguished by its demanding environment. It does not tolerate pollution and quickly dies in a pond where carp or grass carp feel great. It is no coincidence that they are often used at water intake facilities as a living indicator - if a dangerous impurity appears in the water, the trout quickly dies.

The pH should be around 6.5-8.2, and 7.5 is best.

Also, water containing more than 0.5 mg of iron per liter is not suitable.

At the same time, the temperature should be stable - without sudden changes. Best of all, rainbow trout grows at +14 … +18 degrees Celsius. Even a short-term increase to +25 degrees can lead to death. But +20 … +22 degrees fish can easily endure. The main thing is that there is enough oxygen in the water. The optimal indicator is 7-8 milligrams per liter. So be sureadd a powerful multi-spray compressor to your must-buy list. On hot summer days, when the water will heat up, you need to provide good aeration. And this applies even to readers who are interested in how trout are bred in Karelia. Yes, hot days here do not fall too often. But it’s better not to risk hundreds of thousands of rubles with fish, deciding to save money on buying equipment that will cost several thousand or at most tens of thousands of rubles.

The purity of water has already been mentioned earlier. Alas, over time, dirt accumulates in stagnant water - uneaten food, dead fish, feces. There are two ways to solve the problem. First, put expensive filters and regularly clean the bottom. Or use a cheaper option - biofilters. It is enough to put several tens (or hundreds, depending on the volume) of toothless mollusks into the reservoir so that the water in it is always clean and transparent. Toothless pass through themselves tens of liters a day, eating waste products along with the simplest organisms. A dozen crayfish will solve the problem of dead fish. They feel great in cold clear water and will gladly eat dead fish - they do not pose a danger to the living because of their sluggishness.

What to feed them?

Another very important issue that every person who decides to learn how to breed rainbow trout should understand is the composition of a suitable diet. Improper diet can lead to slow growth and disease. Periodic underfeeding can have exactly the same consequences. Butafter all, an excess of food is even more dangerous - the fish eats without knowing the measure, as a result of which the metabolism is disturbed, and the trout die en masse - it has a tendency to become obese. In addition, uneaten food settles to the bottom and rots there, reducing water quality. Therefore, it is important to observe the measure here.

Of course, it is important to approach the preparation of a suitable diet. The easiest solution is to buy ready-made feed. Then you can be sure that the fish will receive all the necessary trace elements and a sufficient amount of easily digestible calories.

But there are a few problems here. Firstly, not in every large city, not to mention small ones, you can find compound feed designed specifically for trout. And food for carp and other fish in this case will not work - their composition is completely different. Even if you are lucky enough to find a suitable one, then its cost will unpleasantly surprise even a very we althy breeder - the price ranges from 100 to 200 rubles per kilogram. Of course, a successfully sold fish will make it possible to recoup the financial costs. But still, not every breeder will be able to invest that kind of money in the project - to feed a marketable amount of fish, tons of feed will be needed.

Therefore, many choose a different path - create food on their own. To do this, you need fish and meat and bone meal, yeast and meal. If it is possible to add earthworms to the mixture, the mixture will become even more nutritious. Alas, creating food without violating technology at home is quite difficult - you have to experiment a lot beforeto achieve the perfect ratio.

Reproduction

Now let's move on to the question of how to breed trout at home from scratch. Buying juveniles every year means spending serious money, which will reduce profitability.

Fortunately, it is possible to breed fry yourself. To do this, in early to mid-spring, you will have to catch a large female (aged 3 years or older) with a clearly swollen belly. Gently massaging the stomach with a sponge, you need to express the caviar into a sterile container. After that, it is filled with clean water - here milk is expressed from the male. The resulting mass is gently mixed - it is best to use a goose feather brush for this. Then you need to leave the container in a warm place (about +8 … +10 degrees) and ensure good aeration. If everything went well, then in a few weeks fry will hatch from the eggs. They need to provide abundant food - brine shrimp or plankton are best. Over time, you can switch to compound feed or bloodworms and chopped earthworms.

At first, the juveniles should be kept in sufficiently large containers, and then released into a separate pond - otherwise the trout may well feast on their own fry.

The full cycle of cultivation allows you to become more autonomous and significantly reduce the cost of maintaining the project.

How to sell products?

One of the most urgent questions of farmers who decide to breed trout is what to do with the grown fish. The question is very serious. It is unpleasant that in almost any scenario (except for consumption by the owner himself), you will have to register a legal entity and collect a lot of certificates that the fish meets environmental standards. But even after that, it is not easy to sell the fish.

Let's list some of the most popular options.

The most obvious thing is to conclude an agreement with a large store for the supply of fish. It can be live or fresh frozen - depending on the distance of the store and the requirements of its representatives. Of course, the presence of an aquarium with live fish will raise the prestige of any outlet to a new level. True, you will have to increase the cost - frozen fish does not need care.

In addition, you can negotiate with a serious restaurant to supply a certain amount of fish. Here, the aquarium is more justified - many visitors will be pleased to be able to see that the fish they are served for dinner is really fresh - they can even choose which individual to cook for them. Minus - not all places where trout are bred in Russia can boast of the proximity of chic restaurants.

Finally, you can just open a fishing base. Fishing enthusiasts themselves will come to your pond and catch trout for a set fee - a very convenient and easy way that saves you from having to look for a wholesaler and conclude a contract. The main thing is to give good advertising so that all potential customers are notified.

Profitability

Is this a profitable business? And this is one of the most difficult questions. Alas, it is impossible to give an answer to it. Alldepends on many factors: the cost of feed, the availability of a pond and the cost of its equipment, volumes, and sales costs. But one thing is for sure - there is no need to fear significant competition in this market. There are not enough trout farms in Russia to oversaturate the market with quality products.

Therefore, before embarking on such an unusual business, it will be useful not only to calculate all the costs, but also to check the sales market - to find out whether restaurants and shops will be able to buy products in a couple of years, when the fish reaches marketable weight.

Conclusion

This concludes our article. In it, we tried to fully cover all aspects of breeding and keeping trout - from digging a pond and spawning, ending with feeding and methods of sale. We hope that the article will help the reader find answers to his questions and allow him to decide on a responsible step.