Katla
Katla eat at the surface. Floating feed goes there.
Of every species in a carp pond, katla is the one a floating pellet suits best. Published culture accounts describe adult katla as feeding only in surface and mid-waters, which is exactly the layer an extruded pellet occupies. Nothing has to sink to reach them.
A surface feeder, and a plankton eater
Katla is planktophagous for its whole life. Fry take zooplankton — rotifers and cladocerans. Fingerlings and adults keep that preference for crustaceans, rotifers, insects and protozoa, alongside a considerable share of algal and plant material. This is the species that occupies the upper feeding niche of the pond, which is why a stocking plan puts it there and stocks a bottom feeder underneath it.
Two practical consequences follow. The first is that pellet feed supplements the pond's own plankton rather than replacing it, so a pond that has gone unproductive costs you more feed for the same growth. The second is that because katla feed where you can see them, a floating pellet gives you an honest reading of appetite every single day.
Stocking and yield figures- Upper nicheAdults feed in surface and mid-waters, so feed never has to pass through a layer they ignore.
- Feed at fixed pointsSame spots, same times. Fish learn them, and you can watch one place instead of the whole pond.
- Clear in 15–20 minutesIf feed is still floating after that, the ration is ahead of the appetite. Cut it.
- Plankton still countsKatla is a plankton feeder first. Pellets are a supplement to a productive pond, not a substitute for one.
Feeding stage guide
Which grade, at which stage.
Katla run the full range. They pass through every grade we make and keep growing, which is the opposite of the small-mouth species that finish inside the 2 mm band.
- Hatchery / fry Aqua Mash Mash
- Nursery Aqua Plus 0.5–0.6 mm · 10 kg
- Early fingerling Aqua Shakti 1 mm · 10 kg
- Fingerling Aqua Shakti 1 mm · 20 kg
- Grower Aqua Pro 2 mm · 35 kg
- Large fish / table size Aqua Grow 3 mm · 35 kg
Katla is a fast grower and passes 250 g early in the grow-out year. Commercial carp feed runs 1.5–4 mm and 3 mm is taken readily by a large katla, but published charts move to 4 mm above 250 g and that grade is in development. We would rather say so than let the range look as though it carries the crop all the way to harvest.
What the crop actually does
Under normal conditions katla reaches 1–1.2 kg in its first year, against 700–800 g for rohu and 600–700 g for mrigal over the same period. It is the fastest grower of the three Indian major carps, and the usual grow-out period is one year.
Before that, nursery-raised fry of 20–25 mm are reared for two to three months to reach 80–100 mm fingerlings of 6–10 g. Published survival is 30–40% through the nursery phase and 60–70% through fingerling rearing — lower at the nursery stage than rohu or mrigal, which is worth planning your stocking numbers around.
Grow-out is stocked at 4,000–10,000 fingerlings per hectare across the species mix, with katla taking the surface-feeder share. Where farmers stock stunted juveniles of 150–300 g instead of ordinary fingerlings and run for 18 months, harvest averages climb to 1.5–2 kg.
- 1–1.2 kg in year onePublished figure under normal conditions, and faster than rohu or mrigal.
- 6–10 g fingerlingsReached in 2–3 months from 20–25 mm nursery fry.
- 30–40% nursery survivalLower than the other major carps. Stock for it rather than be surprised by it.
- Ration falls as fish growA 100–300 g fish eats about 4% of its body weight a day; by 300–1,000 g that is 3%.
Common questions
What katla farmers ask us.
Is floating feed better for katla than sinking feed?
For katla the argument is stronger than for most species, because published culture accounts put adult katla in surface and mid-waters. A floating pellet sits in the layer they already feed in, and it lets you see what is taken. A sinking pellet passes below that layer and you are feeding blind.
How much should I feed a katla pond each day?
As a share of the fish's own body weight, not a fixed quantity. The FAO carp table gives 9% a day under 5 g, falling through 7%, 6% and 5% to 4% at 100–300 g and 3% at 300–1,000 g. Re-weigh a sample every couple of weeks and reset the ration, because a fixed daily amount over-feeds badly by the end of a crop.
Does the 3 mm grade take a katla crop to harvest?
It is eaten and used — commercial carp feed spans 1.5–4 mm, and 3 mm is inside that. But published charts move to 4 mm above 250 g, and katla passes 250 g early. Our 4 mm grade is in development; until it exists we are not going to claim the range covers a full-size katla as well as a 4 mm would.
Do you guarantee a growth rate?
No, and we would not trust anyone who did. Pond conditions, stocking density, water quality and management all move the result. What we hold to is the specification: every batch is checked against it before release.