By Dr. Todd Sink, Aquaculture and Fisheries Extension
Specialist
Texas
A&M Agrilife Extension Service Wildlife and Fisheries Extension Unit
Meagan Hooker, Fisheries Extension Communications
Intern
Texas
A&M Agrilife Extension Service Wildlife and Fisheries Extension Unit
The answer is definitely not! Catfish may die off if fed dog
food for an extended period of time due to dog food being formulated for dogs; it
lacks the extra minerals and vitamins required by fish. Small fish will eat
corn because large fish find it difficult to pick kernels off the earthen pond
bottoms.
Corn may OCCASIONALLY to lower
your costs, but it is also nutritionally incomplete and lacks protein, the
amino acid lysine, and minerals and vitamins that fish need to survive.
There are some other options to lower a feed bill:
1) Remove some of the large fish to lower the
biomass. Large channel catfish should be harvested from farm ponds by the time
they reach 2 pounds
2)
Stock 50 to 75 adult bluegill (aka perch and
they must be adults or they will quickly be eaten by the catfish) in the pond
(find some local kids to go fishing and bring you some or buy them from someone
that has a well-stocked pond) and the offspring of bluegill will serve as a
majority of larger fishes feed along with an occasional supplemental pellet feeding
(1-2 times a week)
3)
Reduce the feeding schedule to 3-4 times a week
from May-September, 2-3 times a week in spring and fall, don’t feed at all at
temperatures below 50F, and feed no more than the fish can eat in 10-15
minutes. They don’t need to eat much at a specific time or every day; they are
cold blooded and can go as long as 2 months without eating at all – this is not
a recommendation, because death may occur if fish are left unfed for too long
For more information on fish nutrition, and
options on feed for catfish or other fish – visit the Texas A&M AgriLife
Extension Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Pond Management website at http://fisheries.tamu.edu/aquaculture/fish-nutrition/.