TITLE PAGE

CATFISH FEED FORMULATION

Achieving quality feeds using cheap and available ingredients

Compiled By: S. Z YAU

FIRST EDITION
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S.Z Ya'u is a student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria department of
Biological Science, Faculty of life sciences, He is the CEO of Malam-Dare
Integrated Farm's fish and poultry farm and a member of the research crew of
Hydrobiology laboratory of the prestigious Department of Biological Sciences,
ABU Zaria.
Certificate of proficiency on Fish production and management BIODEC Katsina,
Certificate of proficiency on Animal Production and Research at the National
Animal Production Research Institute Zaria.
The Author is currently undertaking a research on how increase the survival rate
catfish and feed supplement to enhance more growth of catfish in four mount to
reach table size.
The Author conducted a research on Catfish Mortalities possible reasons and
recommended the possible solution.
 INTRODUCTION
The aquaculture is considered as one of the fastest growing sector in agriculture,
day in, day out people engaged in this lucrative industry, as such many gets in to
the business of fish farming with the sole aim of making profit, making profit or
increased profit margin is seriously affected with the increased in course of
production, how can we a farmers provide a way of reducing cost of production to
enable us make more profit at the end of the production cycle.
However, I always consider this book Titled: CATFISH FEED FORMULATION
to provide basic knowledge and step by step breakdown to fish farmers to enable
them formulated quality feed that will enhance fast growth as well as achieve 1kg
feed to 1kg fish in JUST 4-5 month of stocking period, considering the increase in
the price of fish feeds in the market and how it affects most farmers, making them
to step out of the business.
With this regard, I want to lay more emphasis on fish farmers that want to
formulate quality feeds to used our recommendations, formulas, calculations
provided to enable them achieved quality production.
 ABSTRACT
The digital world and the emerging sophisticated farming techniques has a
provided a way to reduce our stress in our today's farming system, new techniques
are always emerging to enable fish farmers maximize more profit with ease, the
writer of the book has tried so much to capture information on the challenges
farmers are facing and try to the extent of his ability to provide basic solutions to
such outstanding problems, using the solutions provided in this book will give
farmers guide and adequate training skills to increase the productivity and enable
them to provide absolute food security to their country of residence.
Venturing into fish farming business especially for beginners is always associated
with alot of challenges here and there, with time, patience, hardworking and with
the aid of this book such challenges will be overcome.
With the increasing feed cost which constitute about 80% of the cost of production
in fish farming business, various techniques are explained to ease the farmer's
stress producing his own quality feed at low cost with the nutritional requirement,
by giving the pictorial view on how to select quality ingredients producing feed by
the farmer himself is an added advantage to maximize more profit.
My clarion call to graduates, unemployed individuals, house wife and their likes
who have no job or have a mindset of waiting for government job to venture into
the lucrative fish farming business, but it has remained the outstanding fact that
before you venture into any business, you need to have basic knowledge and
adequate information on such business to enable you reduce risk of loss and
maximize profit, this has been a backbone reason why I choose to write this book.
 DEDICATION
This book titled: CATFISH FEED FORMULATION " is dedicated to Almighty
God who out of His infinite mercy guided me throughout this work.
 COPYRIGHT
Copyright C 2020 by Malam-Dare Integrated Farm's. All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying without any written
permission from the publisher.
Contact the Publisher @ whatsapp or call +2347041743038
Email: malamdareintergratedfarm@gmail.com
 MODULE ONE
INTRODUCTION
Clarias gariepinus commonly known as African Catfish is an indigenous species
of fish in Africa and other part of the world, it is known for its fast growth,
diseases resistant, and white flesh, added to it peculiarity the specie has the ability
to be induced for artificial spawning producing large number of eggs which are
hatched to thousands of fry if properly hatched using the right techniques.
Catfish hatchery is a sophisticated techniques that involves reproduction outside
the natural environment of the fish, reproduction involves an artificial way of
inducing spawning to the female catfish to produce more number of eggs, the
spawning is induced using a synthetic hormone or via a processed extract of the
male pituitary gland to inject the female fish to stimulate ovulation, the male is
sacrifice to remove the milt (sperm) and mix it with the eggs for hatching.
This technique of catfish hatchery enable production of thousands of catfish fry to
meet the demand of fish production, most farmers do hatch eggs and have
thousands of catfish fry but ended up having almost 80% mortalities, to have a
successful hatchery with a survival rate almost 90% it involves intensive
management and application of many techniques, this techniques will not be
thought anywhere in our various institution of learning, but through long term
experience from a consultant in fish farming.
The reason why most farmers failed in hatchery and have large number of catfish
mortalities after hatchery is lack of basic knowledge of the hatchery, farmers need
to know the basics and the secrets of a successful hatchery. This book reveals all
the secrets from the hatchery level to rearing fish to table size, it gives A-Z
information of all the farmers need. The information contain in this book if
properly used by the farmer will give him an amazing result and enable him
maximize profit by reducing the cost of production.
 FISH FEED FORMULATION
Feeding constitute the largest portion of the cost of production covering 60-70% ,
the amount of money spent by the farmers on feed will determine the profit margin
of the farmer and also the quality of product (fish) to get at the end of the
production cycle, the sophisticated farming techniques have come with an
improvement in the field of agriculture, that 1kg feed is equal to 1kg fish, this can
be achieved only if quality feed containing the right proportion of ingredients are
used and also if conditions such as water parameters (water pH, amount of
ammonia, carbon dioxide, dissolved oxygen ) are maintained to a normal level for
the fish growth.
Since commercial fish gets their feed or nutrition in just a very small amount
naturally, there is need for them to be provided with a well formulated diet to
enhance better growth by providing all the required nutrients in the proper
proportions necessary for rapid weight gain, high feed efficiency, and a desirable
composition of gain (high protein gain and low fat gain). Feed cost is about half of
variable production costs in catfish culture, so as a catfish producer, you should
carefully consider feed selection and use.
Factors to consider before formulating fish feed
Before a farmer should go into feed formulation there are certain factors that need
to be considered and they are considered to be a principle of feed formulation, if
the following factors are handle with negligence the farmer will not have the
expected result and this could have negative impact on the profit margin of the
farmer, hence a farmer should consider the following factors:
1 Acceptability by the fish: The ration being formulated has to be palatable
enough to stimulate intake by the fish. Any feed refused by the fish is worthless,
since the feed has to be consumed by the fish for the farmer to have good result.
2 Digestibility: The nutrients in the feed have to be digested and released into the
gastrointestinal tract to be utilized by the fish. The ability of the fish to convert the
feed to flesh is the expectancy of the farmer at the end of any production cycle.
For the farmer to be able to replace one ingredients with the other because of
economical reason or short fall in the availability of the feed ingredients, the
knowledge of digestibility coefficient is essential, feed is only useful when it can
be digested
3 Cost effective: The requirement of the fish can be met through several
combinations of feed ingredients, the cost could be cut by making use of locally
produced ingredients without compromising the quality However, when the costs
of these ingredients are considered, there can only be one least-cost formulation.
The least cost ration should ensure that the requirements of the animal are met and
the desired objectives are achieved.
The cost
4 Presence of Anti-nutritional Factors and Toxins: This affects the digestion of
some nutrients by making them unavailable to the fish. e.g. antitrypsin factor in
soybean meal. Some feed ingredients may also contain toxic substances which may
be detrimental to the fish when given in excessive amounts. The presence of anti-
nutrition element in certain plant protein if not well processed, could lead to
stunted growth or causes mortality in the stock.
5. Availability of ingredients: Certain factors are affects the availability of feed
ingredients in the market, and because of this short fall of ingredients farmers
should not deny the fish the necessary requirement, when the preferred ingredients
is not availbale the available ingredients becomes desirable.
6. Available processing technology or method: Some ingredients should not be
used during formulation due to crude processing method this may result to loss of
essential nutrients, Maize grain if not milled into powder form the fish finds it
difficult to digest maize grain.
Nutrients composition of some selected local feed ingredients and expected
conversion ratio of feed to fish flesh
Feed % % % % % % Conversio
ingrediets protei fat fibr Carbonhydrat Dry minera n Ratio
n e e matte l
r
Maize 9.3 5.0 2.4 70.9 88.0 1.8 5
(White)

Maize 10.8 3.6 3.5 71.2 88.0 1.9 5

(Yellow)

Guinea 11.2 2.5 2.3 74.1 88.0 1.8 5

Corn

Palm 19.1 7.6 43.2 17.9 - 5.5 8

Kernel
Cake

Cotton 40.1 8.3 31.9 12.4 91 5.1 5

Seed Cake

Rice Bran 9.9 4.4 40.2 8.7 91 21.8 5

Groundnut 48.0 13. 8.1 18.9 93 6.3 5

cake 2
(Industrial
)

Groundnut 40.6 23. 6.0 19.0 93 6.2 5

Cake 4
(Home
made)

Raw 40.7 22. 6.3 16.6 90 6.4 4

Soyabean 0

Soyabean 46.2 24. 4.7 17.2 90 7.9 4

meal 8
(toasted
slightly)

Soyabean 48.1 23. 4.1 20.7 90 7.9 4

meal 9
(toasted
severally)

Cow 86.0 0.7 2.1 6.5 92 5.0 2

Blood
meal

Millet 9.0 5.0 0.7 83.2 90 2.3 5

Cassava 5.3 1.2 21.0 66.6 88 6.0 18
peels

Compiled from various sources

Nutritional Requirement for Catfish Feed

A single ingredients cannot be a feed, for any entity to be called a feed, it has to be
a mixture of ingredients that can supply all of the nutrients and energy catfish need
for best growth. Commercial catfish feeds contain a mixture of feedstuffs and
vitamin and mineral premixes that provide the right essential nutrients as well as
the energy necessary to use the nutrients. The amount of each feed ingredient
depends on several factors, including nutrient requirements, ingredient cost,
availability of each ingredient, and processing characteristics There is a need to
understand nutritional contents of available feed ingredients so as to understand
and select appropriate ingredients that will meet the nutritional needs of your
catfish. Each class of nutrition is analyzed separately below: The known six classes
of food are the basics ingredients if when used in right proportion will give good
quality feed that will enhance fast growth of the catfish and have better result that
will boost the farmers profit margin at the end of the production cycle.
Protein Source: These are feed stuffs containing 20% crude protein or more, they
are made either of plant or animal materials. Protein of animal origin are higher in
quality than those made from plant protein.
Animal proteins
 Animal protein in the diet of fish are generally considered to be higher quality and
contain more protein supplement than plant proteins, it is recommended to use the
animal protein in the formulation of feed for your catfish fry and small fingerling.
when fishmeal is used it appears to contain more protein supplement, but fish meal
does not appear to be essential in the diet of catfish after they reach a size of 6 to 7
Inches. The available animals protein used in the diet of catfish feed are fishmeal,
meat meal, blood meal, feather meal, poultry meal.
The below table contain the nutritional level of the animal protein
Table 3. Nutritional Level of Animal Proteins

Energy Crude
Animal Fats Calcium/Phosphorus Methionine Lysine
Level Protein
Protein (%) (%) (%) (%)
(mj/kg) (%)

Meat
11.2 50 – 51 10 8 0.7 2.6
meal

Blood
15.2 88 – 90 1 0.4 0.6 7.1
meal

Feather
13.7 80 – 85 7 0.4 0.6 2.3
meal

Poultry
13.1 60 – 64 13 2.0 1 3.1
meal

Fishmeal 5 55 – 75 3 1.0 1.5 2

Plant Protein:
Using plant proteins in the formulation fish feed, involves carefully selection of the
plant protein ingredients to balance the amount of amino acids required by the fish,
example soya bean meals contain the required amount of the amino acid lysine but
other plant protein source are deficient in lysine unless if a supplemental lysine could
used to compensate the amount required.
The choice of soya bean meal in the diet of fish is very important, because of it is
predominance and high protein content of almost 48% and contain best amino acid
profile and it is also acceptable and digestible to catfish. But where soya bean meal is
not readily available, it can be replace with other plant proteins. Plants protein source
used in fish feed are soya bean meal, cotton seed meal, sunflower meal, groundnut
cake (GNC).
The table below gives the nutritional level of plant proteins
Table 4. Nutritional Level of Plant Proteins

Crude
Plant Energy Calcium Lysine Methionine
Protein
Protein (cal/kg) (%) (%) (%)
(%)

Soybeans
44 – 48 2557 0.20 3.2 1.4
meal

Cottonseed
40 – 41 2350 0.66 4.2 1.4
meal

Sunflower
46 – 47 2205 0.30 3.5 2.3
Meal
 45.6 –
GNC 3860 1.7 3.2 1.0
61.8
Energy source: Energy is very important in the dietary requirement of fish feed
and it is the least expensive one compared to protein, it contain less than 20%
crude protein they are essential of plant protein, successful fish feed depends on
the provision of diet containing adequate levels of energy and appropriate balance
ration to enable efficient growth and maintain health. Carbohydrate has a good
binding properties which makes them essential in making quality pelleting feed.
Example include: Cassave, wheat offal, rice bran, maize, guinea corn.

Table 5. Nutritional Level of Energy Base Ingredients

Energy Calcium
Ingredients Protein (%) Lysine (%)
(cal/kg) (%)

Wheat 13 3153 0.05 0.5

Sorghum 9.0 3263 0.02 0.3

Maize 8 – 11 3200 0.5 0.27

Cassava 2.5 1601 1.6 0.07

Fats and oils are essential feed ingredients comprising of fatty acid, and they also
help in energy delivery in catfish feed. Some energy ingredient contain high level
of fat and oil e.g. full-fat soya, Groundnut cake (GNC) etc. At times, oil is added to
feed to increase the energy in such feed. Some fats and oils that can be used in
feeds are;
 Palm oil
 Fish oil
 Groundnut cake
Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamins are organic compounds, animals require in
small amounts in their diets for normal growth, health, and reproduction. Some
vitamins may be made in the body and thus are not required in the diet. The
amounts and quality of vitamins catfish need have been fairly well determined in
lab and pond studies. Catfish feeds are generally supplemented with a vitamin
premix that contains enough of all essential vitamins to meet the requirement and
make up for losses from feed processing and storage. Growth, health, and body
processes are controlled by this class of nutrition. For example, organic and
inorganic chemicals are found in vitamin and minerals. Most of the minerals and
vitamins needed in catfish feed are available in Fish Premix. Therefore, the use of
Premix is vital in catfish feed formulation. To ensure adequate presence of mineral
and vitamin in feed, a kilogram of Premix is recommended for 200 kilograms of
feed. Minerals are needed in the feed catfish for metabolism and bone
development, lack of vitamin or mineral in catfish feed results and amount to many
diseases in the culture fish. Catfish also require minerals for a balance between
body fluids and their environment. They can absorb some of the minerals from the
water.
Phosphorus is particularly important in fish feeds because fish require a fairly large
amount of it. Feedstuffs, especially those from plants, are poor sources of
phosphorus, and fish do not get enough phosphorus from pond water. As a result,
catfish feeds are usually supplemented with phosphorus. Dicalcium and
defluorinated phosphates are commonly used as phosphorus supplements in catfish
feeds.
Catfish feeds especially those from plant sources, which are poor sources of those
minerals and vitamins, a supplemented fish premix can be used to balance the
amount of vitamin and mineral in the feeds.
Fiber in the diet of Catfish
Fiber is a non-nutritive component of catfish diets. Animals with a digestive
system consisting of only a single gastric stomach cannot derive any direct nutri-
tional benefit from the consumption of dietary fiber. Such is the case with catfish
and some land animals, such as chickens. In these cases, fiber provides bulk to In
these cases, fiber provides bulk to the ingesta and may alter transit time of ingested
material within the gut lumen. The usual approach to formulating diets for simple-
stomach animals is to use ingredients that will maintain dietary fiber levels below
acceptable maximum levels. These levels would be in the range of 3–6% crude
fiber for catfish diets.
Catfish feeds that contain levels of fiber above the desirable range will increase the
amount of waste material deposited in the pond. Accumulations of waste material
on the pond bottom may deteriorate water quality since their degradation depletes
dissolved oxy- gen. To minimize this effect, ingredients that contain high levels of
crude fiber should be restricted to lower levels of inclusion or should not be
included at all.
Antioxidants are compounds that retard the oxida- tion of certain nutrients. In some
cases, nutrients themselves function in the capacity of biological antioxidants;
examples of these include vitamins C and E. Nutrients protected by antioxidants
include polyun- saturated lipids and fat-soluble vitamins A and D. Destruction of
the fat-soluble vitamins and polyunsatu- rated fatty acids occurs as a result of the
lipid peroxidative process known as oxidative rancidity. During this process,
polyunsaturated lipids generate free radicals of oxygen, which are very reactive
and destroy nutrients. Prevention of peroxide formation can be accomplished by
including synthetic antioxidants in catfish feeds. The synthetic antioxidants used in
animal feeds are BHA (butylated hydroxianisole), BHT (buty- lated
hydroxytoluene), and ethoxyquin. These compounds may be added to fats or
directly to feeds at mixing. Usually, the antioxidants are incorporated in the
supplemental fat or oil that is sprayed on catfish feeds. FDA-permissible levels for
BHA and BHT are 0.02% of dietary fat content; for ethoxyquin, 150 ppm.
Feed Additives: These may be needed to replace certain nutrients that are not
available in sufficient quantity in other to balance the feed ingredients they
improve the efficiency of feed utilization , disease preventing and promote good
health. List of these additives are:
 Salt is used for taste to give more appetite to the fish, regulate osmotic pressure,
enhancing growth of the fish by increasing feed.
 Methionine is protein manufactured to complement it shortage in soya . 1 kg of
Methionine is recommended for a ton (1000kg) of fish feed.
 Lysine is protein needed in fish feed but not available in sufficient quantity in
feed ingredient. A kilogram of lysine is also recommended for a ton (1000kg)
of feed.
 Bone Meal or Dicalcium phosphate (DCP)
 is added to feed for strong bone formations,
 Toxin Binder: The major functions of this in fish feed is to restrain mold
growth (fungal growth), retain freshness and detoxified the effect of aflatoxin in
the feed also improves digestion, absorption and feed conversion
 Drugs: The use of drugs in fish feed is very important because it improves the
health of the fish, drugs such the known antibiotic named tetracycline is used as
an additive in the formulation of fish feed.
 Pellet binder: These are materials that are used to aid the binding of pellet
ingredients together, materials such as molasses, brewer's yeast, starch are
commonly used.
Dietary Protein Requirement of different stages of Catfish
S/N Stages of catfish % Crude Protein Requirement
1. Fingerlings 31-34
2. Juvenile 31-34
3. Adult 40
4. Broodstock 40

Method of feed formulation

There are several methods of formulating rations; all of them have the same
objectives of providing the required balanced nutrients at the least possible cost.
Some of these methods are:
Trial and error method: This is the most popular method of formulating rations
for fish. As the name implies, the formulation is manipulated until the nutrient
requirements of the fish is arrived at. Trial-and error method can be done and
takes more time before one will arrive at a fairly satisfactory result, this one of it
disadvantage.

Pearson's method: The Pearson square or box method of balancing rations is a

simple procedure that has been used for many years. It is of greatest value when
only two ingredients are to be mixed. In taking a close look at the square, several
numbers are in and around the square. Probably one of the more important
numbers is the number that appears in the middle of the square. This number
represents the nutritional requirement of an animal for a specific nutrient.
Substitution method: Another method of ration balancing may simply be termed
substitution method. In this method, a ration is estimated, and the nutrient content
calculated. These results are then compared to the nutrient needs of the animal for
which the ration is being balanced. Deficiencies are corrected by changing
proportions of feeds in the rations or by substituting or adding ingredients.
Calculation of crude protein using pearson's square method in feed
formulation
In this book we are going to use pearson's square method for our ration fomulation,
this method can be used to calculate the portion of two feeds needed to meet
protein or energy requirement of an animal, for this work to be effective one of the
feed ingredients must be higher in metabolizable energy (ME) or crude protein
(CP) than the desired level and the other one below the desired level. This method
could be used for two or more ingredients.
Example using two ingredients
For effective calculation of the crude protein using Pearson's square method it
involves careful following of the below steps
 Choose the ingredients each with the right proportion of its crude protein, in
this example we are going to use soya bean meal (because of its availability and
presence of essential amino acids which no plant has ) and wheat (because it is
used as a good energy source for catfish and also a good pellet binder), Soya
bean crude protein 46% , wheat meal crude protein 17% and we are formulation
a feed with 30% protein level
 Draw a square and place the desired protein level which is 30% at the centre of
the square
 Group the ingredients into energy sources (with a crude protein less than 20%)
and protein source greater than 20%
 Place the two ingredients on the left two corners of the square
Subtract
 Subtract the difference between the required protein level (30%) from both the
protein and energy supplement and place the answers diagonally avoiding any
negative sign.
 Add the difference and record the sum near the lower right corner
 The sum of the difference that was added above in the lower right corner, each of
this difference should be used and divide it by the sum of the difference and
multiply 100 to calculate the percentage of protein and energy supplement
required in the feed
Soyabean 42% 18

30%30%

Wheat meal 12% 12

= 30
To calculate the percentage ingredients of the two ingredient
percentage for wheat 18 x 100/30 = 60
Percentage for soya bean 12 x 100/30 = 40
Example with more than two ingredients using pearson's method
Protein supplement more than two: Fish meal 65% and soya bean 42%
Energy supplement more than two: Corn gluten meal 38% and wheat 12%
get the average of the two groups
Protein supplement average (65+42)/2 = 53.5
Energy supplement average (38 + 8.2) = 23.1, lets used 40% as a protein level in
this example
Fish meal + soyabean 53,5 16,9

40%

13,5
Corn gluten meal 23,1
30.4
To calculate the percentage of the ingredients required
Corn gluten meal and maize 16.9 x 100/30.4 = 56.3
Fish meal and soya bean meal 13.5 x 100/30.4 = 44.4
How to determine the quantity (kg) of ingredients in fish feed formulation
Determination of quantity of quantity of ingredients in feed formulation is very
important, most people always go online asking how to determine the quantity of
each ingredients in feed formulation but the answers they are getting everyday is
the formula that someone formulated, someone may just give the quantities used in
his formular and they may not bother on the authenticity of the information but go
straight and apply it and start to experience stunted growth or mortalities.
I once saw a feed formula on facebook, the writer is trying to fromulate 100kg feed
but in the formula the amount of salt to be added is 44.4 kg, could you imagine this
blunder? What will happen if someone apply this formular to his fish? this is a
question to be answered by you.
It is very easy, simple and effective to formulate your quality feed by determining
the amount of each ingredients to be added, let us used the above example, the
percentage of corn gluten and maize used above is 56.3 and that of fish meal and
soya bean is 44.4, from this example how do you determine the quantity of this two
ingredients to be added?
Here is a simple example on how to do it and have effective result that will give
you better result at the end of the production cycle, I decided to take each group of
feed ingredients and talk about how its quantity will be determine.
Formula for calculating protein and energy quantity (kg) in feed formulation
After using the pearson's square method to determine the percentage requirement
of the energy and protein supplement, the percentage requirement could be used to
determine the quantity (kg) of these ingredients to be added in the feed.
The quantity of the feed to be formulated depended on the farmers capability and
choice, for example a farmer decided to formulate a feed of 200kg, what is the
amount of protein and energy to be added, I have a simple formular which is
peculiar to only protein and energy supplement
Quantity of Ingredients (Protein and energy) = Percentage requirement of the
ingredients/100 x quantity of feed to be formulated
Percentage requirement of the ingredients: This is a value obtained from the result
of the calculations above using Pearson's square method.
Quantity of feed to be formulated: The quantity of feed to be formulated depends
on the farmers choice and capability, you may decided to formulate the feed of any
quantity if you have the capability and available means, e.g 200kg, 100kg, 70kg or
any quantity you wish to.
Application of the formula for protein and energy quantity determination in
feed formulation
Example: A farmer want to formulate a feed of 200kg, and after using pearson's
square method he obtained the percentage requirement of protein and energy as
44.4 and 56.3 respectively, what is the quantity of protein and energy to be added
in kilogramme (kg)
Using this formular
Quantity of Ingredients (Protein and energy) = Percentage requirement of the
ingredients/100 x quantity of feed to be formulated
For protein
Quantity of ingredients (Protein) = 44.4/100 x 200kg = 88.8 kg of soya bean and
fish meal to be added to 200kg feed
For Energy
Quantity of ingredients (Protein) = 56.3/100 x 200kg = 112.6 kg of Corn gluten
and maize to be added to 200kg feed
How to calculate the quantity (kg) of methionine and lysine in fish feed
Methionine is an amino acid that is found in protein supplement, when formulating
feed methionine is essential and required in fish feed for growth and also play an
important in maintaining the health and welfare of the fish, it is also a key
regulator of antioxidant defense. When it is deficient in the diet it can be
supplemented using the synthetic amino acids sold in the market to balance the
amino acid content of the feed. In every quantity of feed a farmer decided to
formulate there is a way of calculating the required amount of methionine in the
feed. Methionine is protein manufactured to complement it shortage in a natural
protein source.
To calculate the amount of methionine in any quantity of feed, this
recommendation is used:
1 kg of Methionine is recommended for a ton (1000kg) of fish feed, using this
recommendation, we have a formula for the calculation of methionine in any
quantity of feed.
Quantity of methionine to be addded = quantity of feed to be formulated /1000kg
Example: A farmer want to formulate a feed of 200kg, what is the quantity of
methionine to be added to this feed?
Solution
Using the above formula
Quantity of methionine to be added = quantity of feed to be formulated /1000kg
Quantity of methionine to be added = 200/1000 = 0.2kg
from the answer obtained in the above calculation 0.2kg of methionine is required
the 200kg quantity of feed.
Lysine Supplemented lysine is have been used for years commerciallyto improve
the amino acid balance and the nutritional profile of the diet, it is used to boost fish
growth and feed consumption effieciency
A kilogram of lysine is also recommended for a ton (1000kg) of feed, and hence
the same formula should be used with that of the methionine to calculate the
quantity of lysine to be added in the fish feed
How to calculate the quantity (kg) of fish premix in the feed
To ensure adequate presence of mineral and vitamin in feed, a kilogram of Premix
is recommended for 200 kilograms of feed.
Using this recommendation we have a formula to calculate the amount of premix
to be added to any quantity of feed decided to formulate by the farmer
Quantity of feed to be formulated
Quantity of premix in feed =
200kg

Example: A farmer want to formulate 20kg feed, how much premix is needed to be
added to the feed?
Solution
20kg
Quantity of premix in feed = =0.1kg of fish premix to be added to this feed
200kg

How calculate the quantity (kg) of phosphorus in feed formulation

Phosphorus is one of the limiting mineral in the fish diets and this must be supplied
in the right quantity and quality to avoid its deficiency. Phosphorus is also in low
concentration in the water, the quantity of soluble phosphorus that is available in
water to fish is less than 0.1ppm and such indicates that the soluble phosphorus in
water for fish is less than 1% .
Dicalcium phosphate (DCP) is a supplemented phosphorus which can be used to
balance the amount of phosphorus in the diet, the DCP is already in powder form
which can just be measured in a particular amount and add to the feed to provide
the phosphorus content of the feed.
The recommendation made for dicalcium phosphate in the feed is 10kg of DCP to
1000kg of feed
Using this recommendation, we have a formula to calculate the amount of DCP in
any quantity of feed to be formulated by the farmer.
10 x Quantity of feed to be formulated
Quantity of Dicalcium phosphate DCP in feed =
1000kg

Example: A fish Farmer want to formulate a feed of 200kg, what is the amount of
dicalcium phosphate to be added to the feed?
Solution
10 x 200
Quantity of Dicalcium phosphate DCP in feed = = 2kg of DCP in 200kg
1000kg

feed.
Note: In a situation where bone meal is available, DCP should not be used, and the
amount of bone meal to be used should be calculated using same formula above as
that of the calculation of DCP.
How to calculate the quantity (kg) of fat needed in fish diet
There are various sources of fat in the fish feed, which can be used to increase feed
intake, a small amount of fat is required in fish feed to avoid too much fat
deposited in the body which will affect the quality and taste of the feed at the end
of the production cycyle. Groundnut cake (GNC) can be used to provide the
essential fatty acid requirement of the fish.
The recommendation for the quantity of GNC to be added to fish feed is since it is
only required in small quantity is 2.5kg of GNC to 50kg of feed, hence this
formula will help you to calculate the amount of GNC to be added to any quantity
of feed to be formulated use this formula
2.25 x amount of feed to be formulated
Quantity of Groundnut cake in feed =
50kg

Example: A farmer decided to formulate feed for his fish and targeted to formulate
a feed of 200kg, what is the quantity of Ground nut cake to be added
Solution
2.25 x 200
Quantity of Groundnut cake in feed = = 9kg of groundnut cake is needed
50kg

in 200kg fish feed

How to determine the amount of salt, vitamin C, and drugs to be added in

fish feed formulation
Salt is a feed additive, that is added to a fish feed to increase appetite, enhance
growth and also regulating osmotic pressure. A recommendation on the amount of
salt is provided, for very 15kg add three (3) full table spoon .
Drug: This is an additive that is added to the fish feed to increase their heath and
improve their performance, Antibiotics are incorporated into feeds to be fed to
catfish diagnosed with specific diseases. The main antibiotics used in the catfish
feed is oxytetracycline . The recommendation for the addition of oxytetracycline is
for every 15kg of feed add one sachet (10 tablet) by opening the capsule and add
only the power content of it to the to the feed and mix.
Vitamin C
This very important for culture of fishes, if there is no Vitamin C in the feed, the
fish will develop broken head or curvature of the spine. Vitamin helps increase the
survival and growth rate for both fingerlings and adults.
The recommendation of vitamin C in catfish feed is 0.1 kg of vitamin C to 100kg
of feed
Using this recommendation we have a formula to calculate the required quantity of
vitamin C in the diet
0.1 x amount of feed to be formulated
Quantity of Vitamin C =
100kg

After a farmer calculated all these ingredients depending of the types of fish you
wish to formulated feed to, fingerlings, adult, broodstock etc, the required crude
protein of each class is provided above which farmer should take note of during
formulating feed, and each ingredient should calculated according to our
recommendation and mix thoroughly, with small amount of water and introduce it
to your machine to have either floating or sinking feed.
The feed formulated should be sun-dry and feed to the fish
Note: All ingredients should be grinded to powder form before mixing
Different types of fish feed
Since there are different stages of catfish growth, there are different stages of fish
feed; the fish feed is often denoted in mm, hence, you’ll see/hear about 1.5mm
feed, 1.8mm feed, 2mm feed, 4mm feed, 6mm feed etc. These are the mainly 4
types of catfishes:
 Fingerlings (3 to 4 grams)
 Post-fingerlings (4 – 6 grams)
 Juvenile (6 – 10 grams)
 Post-juvenile (10 grams and above)
Also, there are two types of Fish Feed, they are Extruded(Floating) and the non-
Extruded(sinking) feed.

Extruded Feed (Floating)

The Extruded feed is also referred to as a Floating feed. This type of feed is the
early fish feed given to fish in their early stage. This is the best feed for fishes for
7-8 weeks.
It is recommended giving Catfishes floating feed at the early stage because they are
more fragile at their early stage. Catfishes are mostly bottom feeder, so by their
very nature, they are designed to be eating non-extruded (or sinking) feed. With
floating feed, you can put the feed on the pond gradually and let them eat it; the
risk of overfeeding is significantly reduced, thereby ensuring there is no water
pollution that can lead to high mortality in the very fragile juveniles.
Furthermore, due to their fragile nature, giving the juveniles feed that isn’t rich and
not containing the right nutrients can affect their long-term growth.

Plate XXVII: Picture showing floating fish feed

Non-Extruded Feed (Sinking)
The Non- Extruded feed is also referred to as a Sinking Feed. This type of feed is
the employed feed after the 8 weeks of feeding your fishes with Floating
(Extruded) feed.

Plate XXVIII: Picture showing sinking fish feed

Examples of formulated catfish feed formula worksheet
The following ingredients listed in the below table, are basic ingredients that are
need in any formulation of quality feeds, the farmer is required to fill the column
provided for Quantity in (Kg) after using our formulas to calculate for each
quantity of ingredients required for any quantity of feed the farmer wish to
formulate.
Feed Formula sample worksheet sheet

Ingredients Quantity (kg)

Maize/Wheat/Cassava Flour (any of

the three)
Soya/Sunflower/Cotton seed (Soya
preferred)

GNC/Benseed (either of the two)

Fish (72%)

Fish Premix

Lysine

Methionine

Vitamin C

Salt

DCP

TOTAL

Ox tetracycline antibiotic if needed

Processing of Feed Ingredients and formulation processes
After making the calculations, the farmer may come up with the required quantity
of each ingredients in the feed he wanted to formulate, any ingredients that should
be used should be in a grounded form, e.g maize grain, millet, cassava peels,
guinea corn.
The feed ingredients that contain anti -nutritional factors that may be harmful to
the fish and alter the nutritional value of the ingredients should be treated with heat
to destroy such factor, e.g using raw soyabeans or groundnut cake that is not
heated, the soyabean and the groundnut should be roasted to remove the tripsin
inhibitor in raw soyabean or groundnut and gossypol in cotton seed.
Heating soybean meal must be done under carefully controlled conditions
underheating will allow sufficient trypsin inhibitor to remain, causing reduced feed
utilization. However, overheating soy- bean meal will reduce the availability of
some amino acids, such as lysine, due to formation of lysine-carbo- hydrate
complexes.
Combine the selected ingredients which are fully grounded and weighed in various
proportions, together with the supplements such as fish premix, lysine, methionine,
salt, drugs (Oxy tetracyline), DCP (Dicalcium phosphate) can be performed by
hand before adding warm/hot water to form dough, if cereals are not enough to
bind the particles together, cassava starch may be added as binder, or for large
scale production a mechanical binder can be used to mix the feed ingredients in
large quantity.
The pelleting machine should be used by the farmer, or the common kitchen Hand
Cranker can be used by small scale farmer.
Determine which pellets type to produce, floating or sinking types for surface or
bottom feeders, particles size for pellets for most fishes is 3.2mm in diameter
Floating feeds require at least 25% grain. Use grain byproducts for good expansion
and bonding. Crude fiber should be maintained below 7%.
After pelleting, the pellets should be sun dried or using oven, after successful
drying of the pellets, the product should be packed in water impermeable bags e.g
nylon bags to prevent fungal attack and other pest.
Feed storage techniques
Dry rations such as rice bran, ground maize, and so on can be stored in a cool, dry
place for several weeks and portion can be taken as need to feed the fish.
bagged feed should be kept out of direct sunlight , because vitamins, proteins, and
lipids are heat-sensitive and can be readily denatured by high storage temperatures.
Moist rations can be prepared daily to form a dough like mixture, this ration may
be stored in plastic bags for feeding daily.
High moisture stimulates mold growth and feed decomposition.
Avoid unnecessary handling and damage to the feed bags that break the pellets and
create fines (powder) that will not be consumed by the fish.
Feed should not be stored longer than 90 to 100 days and should checked regularly,
Bags should not be stacked morethan 10 high because excessive weight from the
upper bags will crush pellets in lower bags, creating excess fines (dust). Older feed
should be used first, and all feed should be regularly inspected for mold prior to
feeding. All moldy feed should be discard immediately.
Mice, rats, roaches and other pests should be strictly controlled in the feed storage.

Replacement of fish meal with chicken viscera to reduce cost

Fish meal is the most important component in fish feed formulation, it contains 60-
80% protein of excellent quality, because catfish are carnivorous feed formulated
with fish meal is highly palatable, it is highly rich in essential amino acid. Fish
meal covers almost 50% in catfish fry feeds, 12% in catfish fingerlings and from
0-8% in grow-out fish feeds. This quality protein source can be replace with
chicken viscera which is considered as a waste in poultry industry, the cost of fish
meal is very high so to reduce cost fish meal a perfect replacement need to be
found which is cheaper than the fish meal, for such reason the use of animal
protein which readily available and contain quality amino acid is chicken viscera
and that makes it necessary to be replaced with fish meal.
Processing Poultry Viscera (rumen content)
The following simple steps helps the farmer to arrive at the right destination in the
journey of processing poultry viscera as a replacement for fish meal.
 Collect the poultry viscera from the poultry industry
 Thaw (boil) it using pot or any available container
 Remove the water in the pot that was used to boiled the bye product, because it
contain fatty matter, decant the water completely
 Select an area exposed to direct sunlight
 Spread the viscera (rumen content) over mats, tarpaulin or any available
material
 Rake the rumen content from time to time to ensure fast drying
 Once it is dried, pound the material with pestle and mortar
 Use our formular for quantifying the protein content of the feed for feed
formulation to measure same quantity as that of the fish meal
 Mix it with other feed ingredients during feed formulation

Production of Odourless Maggot

Step by step to odourless maggot production
1st step get :
Get any plastic open container. Size should be according to quantity of maggots
you want to produce.
2nd step :
Get any substrate that are non-smelly like Rice bran, wheat offal, maize shaft from
akamu, cassava shaft .
These materials serves as bedding and substrate for the flies to lay their egg
3rd step :
Mix some quantity of water with sugar or molasses allow the mixture to stay for
24hours covering it in a cool dry place.
4th step:
Mix this water mixture with any substrate you have chosen till it forms a mesh
don't water logg the substrate...
And leave the plastic containing the substrate in an isolated place so no much
disturbance
5th step : after 3 days you will notice lots of flies around the plastic containing the
substrate, but before then make sure daily you wet the mixture by sprinkling
water to make the content so it remain in a mesh form
Note once the content is dry.. Flies will only eat from the substrate and not lay
eggs..
This will cause the system to produce very little or no maggots
Step 6:
After 5 days you will notice lots of white clutches of materials at different part
inside the mesh mixture these are flies eggs
So at begging of day 6 .close up the open part of the plastic with a mosquito net so
that nothing goes in OR out of the system.. But sprinkling of water daily is
important
Step7:
Remember that the plastic should be kept in a cool place some level of shade like
under a plantain or banana trees or any trees that form some level of shade.. To
avoid direct sunlight heating up the system, could crash it
Step 8: harvesting can start from day 7 till day 12 depending on the size of fish or
animal you want to feed them with
You can harvest by getting salt in warm water in a bucket
Usually maggot will stay under the layers of the substrate
So use a Parker to get out the first layer..
Then get the maggots with the substrate and pour them in a different container,
containing warm water and salt
From day 6, you will start to notice lots of maggot formation though small in
nature
To make them big you can sprinkle little bakers yeast ,it grows them faster
Though if you don't have the maggots will feed on the substrate
Step 9.:
Maggots will float up and the substrate will sink down you can use a sieve to
separate the maggots from the water.
Step 10: maggots can be fed live to animals like fish, poultry etc Or they can be
sun dried , grounded and mix with your feed formula replacing costly soya there by
reducing cost of your feed and steal having high quality feed at less cost live
maggots are about 38 percent crude protein and dry maggots are 40 to 45 percent
cost depending on which substrate you use.