Maung Sikha - How to raise various freshwater fish

Chapter (1)

Good to know about fish

Aquatic animals appeared on Earth before land animals. Based on the fossils of fish found in rock layers, it is estimated that fish began to appear about four hundred million years ago.

To date, about seventeen thousand species of fish have been identified in the world. It is estimated that there are about forty thousand species. Many unique hybrids of fish have been discovered. It is expected that there will be more.

Differences by fish

Every fish is different. They differ in color, behavior, and appearance. Just as there are flying fish that can fly in the air, there are also fish that move around in the depths of the water, glowing with electric colors in the dark.

They also differ in their diet. Some fish do not eat meat, but only algae. Some fish eat other aquatic animals. Carnivorous fish generally have larger mouths and are more agile than herbivorous fish.

Some fish have not only gills but also organs like lungs that can breathe air. These fish can survive for a long time even after reaching the land. These fish are called air-breathing fish, while the rest of the fish live in the water. They are the only fish that breathe oxygen.

Fish with air sacs can fill up with air and float on the surface. They can deflate and dive underwater. There are also fish without air sacs.

Some fish have scales. Some fish do not have scales. Some small fish live no more than a year. However, salmon fish that live in the ocean can live up to six years. Some large sea fish can live for more than fifty years. However, to date, no fish has been found that has lived more than a hundred years.

They also vary in size, from fish that are only a third of an inch long when fully grown to fish that are over 70 feet long.

The American hemiplegia reaches maturity at one inch in size. The Philippine methichus reproduces at half an inch in size. However, the "Rinkodon" shark can grow to over seventy feet long and weigh over twenty-five tons.

There are small fish that weigh as little as a pound, and large fish that weigh over twenty-five tons (over fifteen thousand pounds) have also been found.

Fish can swim quickly over short distances, but over long distances they can only swim about twenty miles per hour.

All fish live in water, but their habitats vary. There are three types of fish: saltwater fish, which can only live in saltwater; freshwater fish, which can only live in fresh water; and fish that can live in both fresh and saltwater.

For example, catfish are saltwater fish and will die if placed in fresh water. However, eels and catfish can live in saltwater at one time and fresh water at another.

Not all saltwater fish can live in very salty waters. The Dead Sea in Asia is so salty that only a few species of fish can live there.

Some people simply call saltwater fish "sea fish."

Fish eyes

Fish have eyes, but they don't have eyelids, so they can see far and wide. They can't sleep with their eyes closed. They can't see very far. They can't see more than thirty feet in very clear water.

Some fish that live in underwater caves have no eyes at all. Some fish don't even have eyes.

Fish in the very dark depths of the sea emit their own light, and use that light to navigate and find food.

The eyes of land vertebrates are convex like lenses. The eyes of fish are not convex but rather round.

Most fish have a pair of eyes, but some fish have four eyes. In South and Central America, the anaconda fish can see objects in the air with its upper eye and objects in the water with its lower eye.

The shape of the eyes of fish changes depending on the depth and light intensity of the water. Fish that feed at depths of more than three thousand feet have large pupils. Fish that live at depths of more than nine thousand feet have small eyes.

Natural body parts of fish

Fish have nostrils, but they are not used for breathing. They are used for smelling. However, they do not have a good sense of smell. They do not have a good sense of smell. Only sharks are very good at finding food by smelling.

Fish do not have a movable tongue. They only have a thick, rough tongue. They swallow food in one go without tasting it. Since they swallow food in one go, they do not seem to know the taste of the food. Fish may not choose food based on taste, but rather on touch and smell.

There are also fish that are very brave. The fish tested the sense of smell hanging from its chin. The fish also have 11 types of sense of smell.

Scientists believe that fish's ears are buried deep inside their heads, so they cannot hear sounds very well.

The color of fish is generally darker on the upper part of the body than on the lower part. If the upper part is lighter, fish-eating birds can easily distinguish it from the color of the water and catch it. If the lower part is darker, predatory fish in the water can easily distinguish it from the color of the sky and catch it. Nature has provided them with color to protect them from danger.

Not only that, but they also change color to match their surroundings. Fish in warm areas with bright seaweed tend to be brightly colored. Fish scales in the delta are bright silver, while fish scales in the lakes of Shan State, where algae grow thickly, turn black.

Even the same type of fish can change color depending on the location.

Fish migration

Both freshwater and saltwater fish migrate from their breeding grounds to their feeding grounds for the winter. This movement is called "migration." Tropical fish do not migrate. Only fish in temperate and cold regions migrate.

When they reach their wintering grounds, they remain quiet and do not eat. The dogfish usually hibernates at the bottom of deep water. This hibernation is to protect them from the weather and to rest in a quiet place away from predators.

Before hibernation, fish have a lot of fat. Only then can they rest for a long time without eating. When carp and carp species in cold regions hibernate, their entire bodies are as cold as ice. They can survive as long as their bodies do not freeze. Fish in tropical regions do not need to hibernate, but they need to hibernate. They protect themselves from the heat of summer and the drying of water. Therefore, hibernation is only done in very hot summers. In particular, fish such as carp, catfish, catfish, and tadpoles live in burrows and breathe through small holes during hibernation. This is also called “hiding”. When the summer is over, they come out of the burrow again.

Order

The author spent years studying and researching to write the book “How to Breed Various Freshwater Fish.” He also experimented with breeding as a hobby.

In addition to the practical knowledge acquired, I visited departmental and private fish farms in all accessible towns and villages throughout Myanmar to learn practical lessons from commercial fish farmers, meet with experts, and listen to their talks. I collected as many documents and notes as possible.

It is not possible to write and compile a book based on books published in foreign countries. One can only rely on it. This is because the nature and habits of fish in each country are different, and the types of fish found in one country may not be found in another. Only in some neighboring countries with the same climate, there are only a few types of fish that can be raised in both countries. Not only written knowledge, but also practical experience gained in raising fish is also of great help.

Some of the information contained in foreign books and documents is consistent with what the authors are seeing in practice in their country, so detailed studies are still needed.

For example, eels are born only in the Atlantic Ocean. After being born, the young eels cross the ocean and come to land. When the time comes for them to give birth, the adult eels | return to their birthplace across the sea. etc. These translators also translate this directly in Burmese books. In reality, we can easily see eels breeding in the Kanthinyobe and Kanpaung, so we have to doubt.

It seems that the translators simply translated the English word eel as eel. In fact, it is not these freshwater eels, but rather the fish platen and fish frog, which originated in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and then came to Asia, so it is unlikely that they would have noticed that there are also fish plates and fish frogs.

The author, in writing the book "How to Breed Various Freshwater Fish", focuses on practical commercial breeding rather than providing readers with knowledge to remember.

By reading and studying the book, those who can afford to dig and raise large commercial fish ponds, and ordinary farmers and workers can also raise fish for their families with as little as possible. It has been written with the aim of making it possible for them to raise fish for their families with as little as possible.

Raising fish such as carp, catfish, catfish, catfish, and red-eye catfish requires a large tank, which costs a lot of capital. It is only for those who can afford it.

For ordinary poor farmers and workers, we have also described methods for raising fish such as catfish, which are easy to grow in both fresh and brackish water, and eel, which can be raised in shallow and deep water, and tilapia, which is resistant to weather conditions and does not require much feeding, even in small ponds with limited land space.

To save on feed costs, we also present methods for raising fish in a river and breeding fish in a mixed manner every three months. In some sections, we provide detailed cost and benefit calculations.

However, this book is not a complete guide to raising various freshwater fish. Although the author has tried his best to write it, there may be some errors.

I would like to express my special gratitude to the departmental scholars, teachers, and friends who have helped me in every way to make this book possible.

Brother Sikha