Biofloc fish farming has become a popular and lucrative technique of fish culture due to its low investment cost and high return ensuring a good profit in a single harvest.
Note:- Biofloc is just like Aquarium bigger in size with more number of fishes.
The word Biofloc is has two parts i.e Bio and Floc. Bio means “Probiotics” or “Bacteria” and “Floc” means “Colony”. Thus, Biofloc fish farming consists of Fishes and Bacteria.
The world’s population is increasing at rapid pace and people are now understanding the importance of fish health benefitsfish health benefits. The demand of sea-food is becoming high. In year, 2016-The demand of sea-food was all-time high.
Among all, Fish occupies a major portion in sea-food. People are fond of eating fish. To fulfill this growing requirement, Traditional method of fish farming techniques is not sufficient.
To overcome this problem, Different ideas has been discovered. Among them, One of the best technique of fish farming is Biofloc.
One of the major advantage of Biofloc fish farming is, It can be started in small area. We can start it in one corner of our farming field such as Banana farming and Mushroom farming, Mushroom farming.
But, To make it at commercial level, We can start with 20 tanks. If the production becomes good, then we can add 10 more tanks in successive harvesting. This help to ensure our Biofloc fish farming profit.
Generally, what we see is people made large pits on ground, fill water and start fish farming.
This is a traditional way of fish culture in which the growth and development of fish remains at natural rate. Due this, Farmer had to wait for long duration to earn little profit from fish farming.
However, In biofloc fish farming, There is creation of such a ecosystem inside tanks which help the fish to grow faster and more healthier. Moreover, We can grow large number of fishes in small area conserving a good amount of water.
Biofloc Fish Farming
Biofloc fish farming is defined as the process of culturing fishes with high density inside tanks along with Bacterias which helps in management of waste and feed.
During fish farming, Major portion of investment cost is used up in feeding material, Land space and Water.
However, In Biofloc Farming, We can reduce all of these cost to greater extent as some amount fish feed is produced within the ecosystem of biofloc and it requires less land with little or no water exchange. This way, we can call Biofloc as Profitable Biofloc Fish Farming.
The main concept of Biofloc is Low Investment, Less land and High Profit.
We should establish this farming in a such area where there is easy availability of:-
✓ Water
✓ Electricity
✓ Market
✓ Roads
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Materials Needed For Biofloc Farming
There is need of different materials. Some are easily available in market while some materials are available in specific or some related areas.
The necessary materials to start Biofloc Fish Farming are:-
1.Tanks
The first thing we need when we start biofloc fish farming are tanks.
We can start fish farming by using only 1 tank also. If the production becomes good, then we can add more tanks and start commercial fish farming.
Tanks are the primary requirement. The base or floor of Biofloc tank is made up of bricks, sand, cement and sometimes mud with the proper provision of outlet.
The outer surrounding frame of tanks can be made of up cement or there is availability of tarpaulin.
If we use Tarpaulin tank, Then, we need outer metal frame to support the Tarpaulin.The final inner lining should of tarpaulin. This helps in the collection and preservation of water inside the tank.
The tarpaulin is specially made for Biofloc Fish Farming. It is strong and can work for (5-7) years.
We can get Tarpaulin of different diameters like 4m, 6m, 8m. This diameter determines the amount of water that can be accumulated inside the tanks.
We can also made tank with cement. But, There can be some problem at initial days. When we made tanks with cement, there is use of Calcium hydroxide to make cement properly attached with bricks. The Ca(OH)2 increase the pH of the water in tank. This can cause stress to fishes
The solution to this problem is, We can make cement tanks (2-3) months prior to putting the seed fish in tank.
Thus, We can use any kind of tanks i.e Tarpaulin Tanks and Cement Tanks for Biofloc Culture
2. Outlet
Outlet helps in managing the water level inside the tank. It made from the base of tanks with the help of pipes. If there is too much water or during the fish harvesting, we can let the water out of our tanks.
3. Oxygen Supplier(Tank)
This is the most important thing we need during Biofloc fish farming. In Biofloc, we culture high number of fishes in small area of tanks. That’s why, there is deficit of oxygen for fishes. Only dissolved oxygen cannot fulfill the nees of all the fishes inside the tank.
If the fishes don’t get enough oxygen, they die within (4-5) hrs. Therefore, there must be regular supply of oxygen inside tanks.
We can buy some machines which takes oxygen from atmosphere and sends with good pressure in pipes. The pipes are laid all round the fish Cultured area. Now, Near every tank, small pipes are connected with main oxygen pipe. This small pipe is then dissolved inside the water of tank. This supply oxygen inside tanks.
The oxygen machine is operated with electric power. That’s why, Electricity is also very important in Biofloc farming. We should also create backup power with the help of Inverter or Battery.
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4.Probiotics Or Bacteria
Bacterias are what makes the Biofloc fish farming different from traditional fish farming.
We have to put millions of bacteria inside every tanks. We can bought these bacteria in market. The cost of Bacterias is about 20$ per kg.
The bacteria used in Biofloc are heterotrophic in nature. They feeds on waste product of fishes including feed waste. The consumption of fish waste maintains the level of toxic Ammonia inside the tank. If the level of ammonia goes high, Then- It can cause death of fish.
Moreover, Bacteria also converts some waste into protein cell. This protein cell works as feed for fish. This reduces our Investment cost.
Actually, “Floc” in Biofloc farming means Clone or group of bacteria. They play very important role in maintaining proper condition inside the tanks.
The number of bacteria are maintained by adding carbohydrates and mollases inside tanks. This acts as a food for bacteria and they keep their work of cleaning water continue at rapid pace.
How Biofloc System Works
Biofloc fish farming works on the principle of balanced C:N Ratio. First of all, we fill the tank with water. Then, We put probiotics (Heterotrophic Bacterias) inside the tank at the number of 10^6 to 10^9 bacterias per tank of 10,000 litres. Now, We put fishes inside the tank. The number of fishes is (1000-1500) per tank of 10,000 litres.
The fishes and probiotics both needs feed. We provide molasses as probiotics feed and protein grains, carbohydrates for fish. Some of the given feed is consumed by fishes and some feed is wasted. From the feed eaten by fish, 75% is excreted as nitrogenous waste.
Now – What happens inside biofloc tank is:- The wasted feed and molasses is consumed by probiotics. But, Here is a concept. Probiotics can’t consume waste feed and molasses i.e Carbohydrate alone because the carbon: Nitrogen (C:N) ratio of probiotics we use in biofloc is 10:1. That means, For every 10 part of carbohydrate (C) eaten, they need one part nitrogen (N). If you want to know everything about C:N ratio in detail, You can read from :- Carbon To Nitrogen Ratio
So, Probiotics gets carbohydrate from waste feed and molasses. The nitrogen required is fulfilled from the nitrogenous waste produced by fishes. Thus – Probiotics consume both waste feed and nitrogenous waste product and produces new probiotic called protein cell.
The new probiotics or bacteria thus formed i.e Protein cell is again consumed by fishes as feed source. Thus, There is a sustainable food chain or eco-system inside biofloc tanks.
This mechanism or working or principle of biofloc fish farming system is summarised in the picture below:-
Fish Breeds For Biofloc Farming
Selection Of good breeds in crucial step in fish farming because it will ultimately determines our production and income.
Mainly small sized fishes(300-400gm) are farmed in biofloc fish farming. But, we can also raise large(700-800gm) fishes.
We have provided some good varieties which can be reared in bio-floc tanks:-
- Pangasius
- Shrimp
- Tilapia
- Carps
Among these all, Pangasius and Tilapia is widely cultured fish inside Biofloc tanks.
Pangasius is naturally made in such a way that it can be farmed at high density. It has ability to take oxygen from atmosphere. This reduces risk factor. That’s why, Farmers are much more attracted towards it.
If we look at the problem of Pangasius, It dies in cold season. So, Proper temperature should be maintained.
But, If we look at Common Carp, It doesn’t have as much mortality as Pangasius. However, This fish cannot be cultured at very high density. The number of common carp fishes that can be cultured will be half in comparison to Pangasius taking the size of tank constant.
Tilapia is another great fish which is cultured by many farmers inside the Biofloc tanks. But, we should keep in mind that Tilapia reproduce very fast. That’s why, we should use monosex tilapia inside tanks.
Investment In Biofloc Fish Farming
There are certain things that makes Investment low and certain things that are costly in Biofloc farming.
The first investment is on land. We need certain area of land according to the number of tanks. We need an area of (15×15)ft for 1 tank. We can setup 8 tanks in an area of 1 kattha.
If we talk about the price of tanks, one tarpaulin tank with metal frame and outlet costs about 500$. Cement tanks may cost a bit higher. But, These tanks works for many years, That’s why- This investment seems reasonable in long term.
The other things which needs investment are:- Oxygen Machine, Pipes, 24hrs Electricity, Water, Terrace and Buying Bacterias.
Other investment is on buying baby fish(Seed) and feeds for them.
The feeding cost is low by 30% in comparison to muddy pond. This is because bacteria helps to convert the waste materials into fish feed.
If we look at the production cost of 1 fish, It touches around 1.5$. The price of that fish will be much higher than this in market. So, Biofloc farming can be a great deal.
Biofloc Fish Farming Profit
We can get a good amount of profit from Biofloc fish farming, if done with proper knowledge. Fish farming needs patience. If everything goes smoothly, Then, We can get ROI within a period of one year.
We can get 2 harvest in a year from Biofloc farming. The weight of fishes are around (500-800)gms.
As mentioned earlier, The investment cost of a fish is around 1.5$. This same fish cost around 4$ in market. That’s the profit of 2.5$ per fish and this can go higher depending upon the fish breed along with market demand.
Thus, This data clears that, Biofloc is profitable business. However, It may cause huge loss if done without any Research, Training and Technical Knowledge.
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Advantages Of Biofloc Over Pond Farming
1.Large density of fishes can be reared in less volume of water.
2.Large area is required to make ponds but in biofloc method, we can start from small area.
3.The control of diseases becomes super easy as it can be made limited in only one tank.
4.The shining of fish in biofloc is good than pond fish. So, we can get market easily with good price.
5.The growth rate is 15 days faster in comparison to normal pond.
6.There is no problem of waste management as it is converted into fish food by different bacteria. This also reduce our investment cost that otherwise we need to use to buy fish food.
7. Feeding cost is reduced by 30% in comparison to other methods.
8. Moreover, Management works will be super easy.
Cons Of Biofloc Farming
1. Needs a very good technical knowledge on pH, Temperature, Water Parameters, TDH and Manymore.
2. Biofloc needs 24 hrs electricity to supply oxygen to fishes.
3. Any small blockade in oxygen pipe can cause the death of fishes.
4. Temperature maintainence will be difficult during winter season.
Precautions In Biofloc Fish Farming
1.The seed fish(Baby) which is transported from distance to put inside the tanks need to be cared more as they are in stress. Proper feeding should be done. Too much feeding should be avoided otherwise those baby fish may die.
2.Fish doesn’t get ready overnight. Farmer should have patience to earn good amount of money.
3. The temperature of water should be (20-35)°c. Best temperature for Biofloc Fish Farming is 28°c.
4. pH shouldn’t be too high or too low. PH around 7.5 is good.
5. There should be constant supply of oxygen in fish tank.
6. The level of Ammonia and Bacteria should be controlled.
7.It is better to take training on biofloc fish farming and should start at small scale at initial phase.
FAQs On Biofloc
1.What Is Biofloc Fish Farming?
Biofloc fish farming is defined as the process of culturing fishes with high density inside tanks along with Bacterias which helps in management of waste and feed.
2.Is Biofloc Fish Farming Profitable?
Yes! Biofloc is very profitable business. The investment cost for production of a fish in biofloc is around 1.5$. This same fish cost around 4$ in market. That’s the profit of 2.5$ per fish and this can go higher depending upon the fish breed along with market demand.
3.Which Fish Is Best In Biofloc?
Mostly four types of fishes, i.e Pangasius, Shrimp, Tilapia and Common Carp are best to be cultured in biofloc.
4.How Do You Start Biofloc Fish Farming?
To start a Biofloc Fish Farming, First of all – You need to make an estimate of the number of tanks you gonna use. Based on that number, You have to select a land. Then – You should decide to make floor whether you gonna set up the farm over concrete or on soil. Now – You made all the setup, Its time to fill tanks with water and finally with fishes. Then – Management of pond and finally harvesting.
5.How Much Land Is Needed For Biofloc Farming?
In general, We need 1 kattha of land to setup 8 tanks of 10,000 litres each. Though, the ara of land also depends on different other factors like how much boundary you wanna make and Manymore.
6.How many fish can be in a Biofloc tank?
The number of fishes are 1000-1500 per biofloc tank of 10,000 litres.
Final Verdict
Thus, We can say- Biofloc fish farming has immense possibility of producing large amount of fish ensuring a handsome profit.
We can start it in small area for trial after doing proper research. If the trial get success, We can do it at commercial level.
This is whole information on Biofloc Fish Farming-Investment And Profit.
Great. ।