Easy ways to build your fish pond

Farmers are advised to maintain clean water in the pond

What you need to know:

  • Before the construction of the fish pond for fish farming, the water retention capacity of the soil and the soil fertility has to be taken care of because all these factors influence the response to the organic and inorganic fertilisation in the farm pond.

Fish farming is an old method of agriculture that produces a steady source of protein. The main requisite of fish culture is the availability of land for a fish pond and quality fish seeds. A fish pond is a confined body of water where fish is raised under controlled conditions. You can assume this information for Tilapia pond design and Catfish pond construction. One must understand the fact the cost of construction of a fish pond depends on pond size, area, type of pond, and material used.

Fish pond set up for beginners

The important component of the fish farming business is to prepare a pond properly. Without the construction of a well-prepared pond, it is not possible to start any fish farming business.

Private ponds and lakes can be used for recreation, fishing, hunting, boating, swimming and another type of activities.

They can be used as a water source for livestock, fire protection, irrigation, and production of fish for food or sale. A pond that provides benefits and consistently produces good catches of fish is a result of proper planning, construction, and management.

Properly constructed fish ponds benefit from even a minimal level of management.

Site selection for fish pond setup

Appropriate site selection is one of the important factors that determine the success of the fish farm. Before the construction of the fish pond for fish farming, the water retention capacity of the soil and the soil fertility has to be taken care of because these all factors influence the response to the organic and inorganic fertilisation in the farm pond. The selected site must have adequate water supply round the year for pond filling and other uses. The site must be free from pollution, industrial waste, domestic waste, and any other harmful activities.

Pond design

Ponds must be built as large as space allows but should be a manageable size. A good size fish pond to start with is 6 m by 4 m. You can build a bigger fish pond later once you have had a good experience with a smaller one. When building your fish pond, be sure you do the following;

The fish pond walls are sloped and the bottom has one deep end for draining.

Slopes and the bottom of the pond must be well packed by beating down the soil with timber during construction. And this is to avoid erosion and seepage.

Pond depth must be 0.5-1.0 m at the shallow end, sloping to 1.5-2.0 m at the drainage end.

At the deeper drainage end, construct a collection pit where water collects before flowing out. A collection pit is useful when you drain the pond to harvest the fish.

You should think about how high to build the walls of the pond. The walls of your pond must be high enough to stop water from overflowing over the edges. If the pond overflows, fish can escape. So the walls must be high enough to stop fish from escaping. But, the walls should not be too high. If the walls are too high they will slowly get eroded (washed away) and will fall into the pond.

Digging the pond

Avoid digging at the top of the hole on a downward slope and this can cause your machinery to tip forward with the weight.

When digging the hole in the pond, dig at depths of 16 inches at a time on the outer edges and place the dirt in a pile out of the way at the back or side of the pond.

A fish farmer is advised to use a strong plastic sheet to act as a pond liner. This liner prevents water from escaping from the pond. Photos |  Abubaker Lubowa

When you have reached the centre, start to dig deeper as this will help to make an even slope in the fish pond if you ever need to walk in it for some reason. It will help you drive the excavator in and out of the pond easier.

Continue to stop and measure the depth of the pond to make sure it’s the right level of deepness that you are hoping to achieve.

Take care when digging the pond. If you rush the digging process you may find that your pond won’t be even. To make the pond edges look more defined when complete, dig around the outer edge with a shovel to level it better.

Placing the pond liner

Once you have dug a hole in the pond, fill it up with mason’s sand and rake it smooth.

Then cover the sand with a geotextile fabric. And this will protect the rubber liner which you will place on top of the fabric. Your fabric must be big enough to cover the hole you made for your pump.

Fold your rubber liner lengthwise. Unfold your rubber liner starting from the center of the fish pond. Press the liner firmly with hand and feet over the center pit, and fill it with water to hold your liner in place.

Filling the pond with water

To ensure the liner stays in place when the fish pond is being filled you can place a decent-sized stone in the centre. This could help to prevent the tarp from lifting and floating while minimal water is in the pond.

Filling up ponds may take a while depending on the size. It is a good idea to let the water run into it from the side as this will help the tarp to conform slowly to the weight of the water.

You should place some stones around the outer edge of the tarp to help prevent it from falling in as the weight of the water increases.

Once the pond is full, the weight of the water will help to keep it in place and you can set up your pump system.

Introducing fish to the pond

When introducing fish to the fish pond it is a good idea to first let the water and any dirt residue to settle.

Once ready, slowly begin to mix the pond water into the bucket water that you have fish in for 10 minutes; this will help them acclimatise to the new water pH levels.

If you are not planning to use a pump system, then you can work on introducing your fish. However, do not forget that fish do need to have some oxygenated water to live and produce healthily. You can provide them with oxygen by placing a running hose in the pond 2 to 3 times a week for 15 to 30-minute intervals.

Conditioning and manuring

Before the culturing of fish, the pond must be conditioned.

A farmer must harvest their fish after eight months.

Conditioning – A layer of lime (calcium hydroxide) is spread over the bottom, for two weeks. Then it removes the acidity of the soil, facilitates desirable geochemical cycles and kills unwanted soil organisms.

Water can be let in slowly after two weeks and then filled to the desired depth.

The quality parameters such as temperature, oxygen content, pH, turbidity, hardness, alkalinity, and plankton growth must be checked for their optimal levels, before stocking the fish.

Nursery pond

These types of ponds are larger ponds for newly hatched fry. Usually, it is about 15 x 15 x 1.2 m and is seasonal which dries up during summer.

Spawning pond

This pond is small in which brood fish are placed for spawning. Brood fish may be placed in hapas for spawning.

Rearing pond

These are larger ponds, usually 30 x 10 x 1.25 m, and used for rearing advanced fry till they grow into fingerlings. They can be seasonal or perennial and have a gentle slope to facilitate the netting of fingerlings.

Stocking  pond

This pond is a large perennial pond, more than two metres deep, and is used for the growth of fish to marketable size. The size of the pond mainly depends upon the fish species to be cultured.

In addition to the above ponds, two to three marketing ponds are also constructed on a fish farm. These ponds are used for stocking fish ready for the market. These marketing ponds are arranged in two or more parallel rows, with 1.25 m space separating them.

Fish pond fencing

The fish ponds are fenced to protect from the fish from theft. Live fences serve as a windbreak, increase fish farm diversity, provide privacy to the farm, and improve the appearance of the farm.

There are some ways to make fences. These contain live fences, piled fences, woven fences, post and rail fences, wire fences, wire netting fences and stone walls.

The wired net fence is mainly used in fish farms to stop intruders and protect the fish stock.

Leaking ponds

One of the most common fish farm pond problems is heavy water loss through leakage. The ability of the pond to retain water depends largely on the characteristics of the soil at the fish pond site.

Most leaky pond problems can and prevented by cautious site selection. Before building a fish pond, be sure to test the capacity of the soil to hold water. Soils with a high clay content will minimise seepage as clay particles tend to swell when wet and, provide a good bottom seal. If the soil has more clay in it, no special sealing is required.