Feed management
Most feed is wasted before the fish refuse it.
Feed is the largest recurring cost in a pond, and three things decide how much of it turns into fish: the quantity you put in, the moment you put it in, and the condition the bag was in beforehand. None of the three is about which brand you bought.
How much: the daily ration
A ration is a share of the fish's own body weight, not a fixed number of bags. A fingerling eats a far larger proportion of itself than a grower does, which is why a fixed daily quantity starts out under-feeding and ends up over-feeding the same pond.
| Fish size | Daily ration |
|---|---|
| Under 5 gFry and early fingerling | 9% |
| 5–20 gFingerling | 7% |
| 20–50 gLate fingerling | 6% |
| 50–100 gEarly grower | 5% |
| 100–300 gGrower | 4% |
| 300–1,000 gGrow-out to table size | 3% |
Published FAO figures for carp, not our recommendation. Tilapia are published separately at 3–5% of body weight for fingerlings of 1–30 g and 1.5–2.5% approaching harvest. FAO also states plainly that feeding rates should be reduced as the animals grow, and that the more often the rate is adjusted the better the feed is used.
Two habits that make the table work
Sample-weigh every week or two. Net a small sample, weigh it, work out the average, and reset the ration against the table. Without this the table is a guess, because you are applying a percentage to a biomass you have not measured since stocking.
Then correct against what clears. Feed only what is taken in fifteen to twenty minutes. If pellets are still floating after that, the ration is ahead of the appetite and the rest is going into the water as a pollutant you paid for. If it clears in five minutes and the fish are still searching, you are under-feeding.
Appetite is also a warning system. A pond that suddenly slows down is usually telling you about temperature, dissolved oxygen or an early health problem before anything else shows. That reading is the practical argument for a floating pellet: you can see it.
- Fixed points, fixed timesFish learn where to come, and you can watch one place instead of the whole pond.
- Split the day's feedSmall fish are fed more often than large ones — several times a day at fry and fingerling stages.
- Feed the thermometerIntake falls as water cools. A ration left unchanged through a cold spell goes into the pond, not the fish.
- Watch, then adjustThe fifteen-minute rule beats any table, because it measures your pond rather than an average one.
Storing feed so it is still feed
Feed spoils, and spoiled feed is worse than no feed. Moulds grow in stored feed once it is warm and damp — published thresholds put the risk at around 27 °C and above, and at moisture over 14%. Aquaculture feed is normally produced at or below 10% moisture, and the job of storage is simply to keep it there.
This matters more than it sounds. Some moulds produce aflatoxins, which reduce growth rates, impair immunity and in some cases kill fish. You cannot taste or test for that on a farm, which is why the rule is to discard rather than risk it.
Keep stock moving. Published guidance is to treat storage beyond six months with real care, and not to leave feed in outdoor bins more than about two weeks. Use the oldest bag first — first in, first out — and buy to your feeding rate rather than to the discount.
- Cool, dry and off the floorOn pallets, and about a foot clear of the walls so air moves and damp does not wick in.
- Out of the sun and rainHeat and humidity are what start mould. A tarpaulin over bags in a yard is not storage.
- First in, first outOldest bag opened first. Date the stack when it arrives if there is any chance of confusion.
- Throw out anything mustyDiscoloured, clumped together or smelling musty — do not feed it, whatever it cost.
Common questions
What farmers ask about feeding.
How do I know if I am over-feeding?
Feed still floating after fifteen to twenty minutes is the simplest sign. Over a longer period, water that turns green and cloudy, and fish gasping at the surface early in the morning, both point at organic load from uneaten feed. The cost is double: you paid for the feed, and then you pay again in water quality.
How often should I feed?
More often for smaller fish. Fry and early fingerlings are fed several times a day — published tilapia practice is four to six times for fry — while grow-out fish are commonly fed two or three times. Splitting the same daily quantity across more feeds gets more of it eaten.
Can I buy six months of feed at once to get a better price?
We would not. Published guidance treats storage beyond six months as needing real care, and in a warm, humid climate the margin for error is smaller than that. Whatever you save per bag, you lose on the bags that spoil — and a mouldy bag is not a partial loss, it is a total one.
The fish have stopped eating. What should I check?
Water temperature first, then dissolved oxygen, then the feed itself — open a fresh bag and see whether intake changes. Reduce the ration while you work it out rather than leaving the usual amount going in; feed that is not being eaten is making the water worse, which makes the original problem worse.