Due to their low running costs and low maintenance, breeding catfishes have grown increasingly popular overtime. Catfishes do not generally need extra care, but some breeders would like to give vitamin supplements to boost their overall health. For a low cost alternative, breeders would mix in salt water into their catfishes’ ponds for an extra boost of nutrients.
As catfish breeders, its only natural that you’d want to provide the best for your fishes. However, sometimes other external factors outside your control might hinder you in getting a professional prescription to high end supplements and medication. So, if you’re raising catfishes of your own at a friendly investment, be sure to read through this article to find out the benefits of salt for breeding catfishes!
1. Stabilises Their Sexual Drive
In order to breed healthy catfishes, breeders should be able to monitor their sexual drives and maintain that they do not resist to reproduce nor overpopulate. One tactic they’ve adopted would be mixing in salted water in their living spaces.
The rule of thumb requires breeders to mix in salted water twice a week during the two ends of extreme heat (summer and winter) to maintain the right immune system to reproduce and survive.
2. Increases Their Stamina
Mixing in salted water into their ponds would help increase the stamina of these catfishes. Catfishes require the energy to move around and exercise in order to maintain an overall good health. A small amount should be enough, as a pinch of salt is packed with the right nutrients they’d need on a daily basis. Be sure to consult professionals and do your prior research to know the right dose of salt you’d need for your catfishes.
3. Maintains Overall Health
Though it may be different for different catfishes, a healthy group of catfishes usually has sharp eyes, a good appetite, and an overall good strength. These characteristics are easy to achieve by feeding and exposing them to the natural supplement – salt. Simply mix salt water with their pond water in order to fuse in vitamins and minerals into their living spaces.
4. Necessary Salt Intake
Like humans, salt is an essential mineral catfishes should take in their diets. This natural mineral is packed with the necessary vitamins catfishes would need to go through the day. However, just like humans, the dose should be regulated – as there are multiple health drawbacks that could be cause by an overexposure of salt.
5. Rejuvenates Their Physical Looks
As the common notion goes, inside health is often reflected to outside health. When a catfishes’ body is healthy, they are reflected in their vibrant colours and sturdy shape. If you are a breeder that is driven by the market value and sales of your fishes, this is an especially important plus point you’d have to consider. Your potential customers are visually driven to have a judgement with the quality of their fishes.
To fulfill your potential customer’s standards, you could resort to exposing your fishes to salt as a natural supplement packed with vitamins.
6. Encourages Vocalisation
Other than their physique, one of the most prominent indication to a catfish’s health is their vocal frequencies. Healthier catfishes tend to be more vocal than their unfit counterparts, so a good dose of supplements is necessary to be maintained. One way to speed up their vocalisation is to expose them to a good amount of salt into their living spaces. This could be done by mixing a good dose of salted water into their pond water for a seamless absorption to the vitamins and minerals.
7. Supports Their Immune System
A catfishes’ immune system can be maintain once they’ve received the right nutrients; in salt, they should receive good doses of sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) to combat any potential illnesses. Catfishes, as how any living creatures do, are prone to catching diseases and illnesses if kept in a poorly-kept environment. If you’re a breeder who’s goal is to sell your farm to markets, then quality control should be a necessary practice to maintain. This is because good quality catfishes can be sold at a much higher price in the market.
8. Prevents Fungal Infection
During rainy seasons, catfishes are at risk of catching fungal infections due to the humid environment, bacterias, and mating seasons. These environment, when unkept, are prone to be infested with dangerous bacteria. By mixing in salted water into their ponds, you should be able to sanitise the environment from harmful bacterias.
Alternatively, salted water could also be used for other forms of prevention. To warm up their bodies and maintain a good immune system, breeders should mix in salted water into their ponds to stabilise and prevent them from catching skin infections such as fungi.
9. Combats Dehydration
Mixing salted water into their ponds could help combat dehydration. The science to this lies in stabilising the toxics in and out of the catfishes’ digestive system and replacing them with good water. This leaves catfishes hydrated and full of stamina, which would result in a higher market value when sold.
So there you have it, the benefit of salt for breeding catfishes. Although salt is considered a natural supplement, there could be health drawbacks if breeders do not control the doses that have used for their farm. Generally, breeders would only mix in salted water twice a week to avoid overdose. After all, too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily good for you.
Nevertheless, it is still heavily advised that you do more prior research and consult with professionals for more information. Your farm would require different needs from other farms, especially if different breeders have different end goals. The intensity of commitment and need for supplies might vary and goal driven, so uniforming their needs may not be necessarily wise.