Feeding fish in cages

146. You have already been told that there may be very little natural food in a cage. So, you must be sure to give your fish plenty of very rich food.

147. Here are some rich foods that fish like to eat. You can give them

· termites
· grain mill sweepings
· rice bran
· beer wastes
· cottonseed or groundnut cake.

Food for fish

148. Prepare all of the food for one day's feeding at the same time and give the fish part of the food at two or three different times during the day.

149. Always try to feed your fish at the same time each day.

Feed the fish at the same time

150. The bigger your fish grow the more food they will need. For each cubic foot of cage feed them

· 150 to 200 grams of food every day during the first month
· 200 to 350 grams of food every day during the second and third months
· 350 to 450 grams of food every day from the fourth month until the time you are ready to harvest.

Note 100 grams of rice bran is about one handful. Use a small tin to measure this amount.

Measure the rice bran

51. It is not easy to know exactly how much to feed your fish. You must watch them carefully to learn how much food they need.

152. Put the food for your fish near the centre of the cage so that they can eat it before it floats away through the holes in the sides.

Put the food in centre of cage

153. Put in the food little by little so that you can watch the fish and see that they are eating.

154. If you see that the fish do not eat all of their food, give them a little less.

155. If you see that the fish eat all of their food quickly, give them a little more.

156. Remember, that if you give your fish too much food to eat it will collect on the bottom and make the water around the cage bad.

157. So, check the cage often. If you see too much uneaten food on the bottom, you will know that you are feeding too much. When this happens, move the cage to a clean place.

Move the cage in clean place