REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
PUBLIC TECHNICAL -VOCATIONAL
HIGH SCHOOLS

COMPETENCY-BASED LEARNING MATERIAL

FOURTH YEAR

Unit of Competency: OPERATE FISH NURSERY

Module No.: 1 Module Title: OPERATING FISH NURSERY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

0
MODULE I

LESSON 3. ....................................................................................................................................
Performing Feeding And Monitoring Water Quality......................................................................
What Is This Lesson About?........................................................................................................
What Will You Learn?.................................................................................................................
What Do You Already Know?.....................................................................................................
Let Us Study................................................................................................................................
Let Us Remember......................................................................................................................
How Much Have You Learned?................................................................................................
Let Us Apply What You Have Learned.....................................................................................
Resources...................................................................................................................................
References.................................................................................................................................
LESSON 4. ..................................................................................................................................
Performing Awareness On Monitoring Disease And Implementing Treatment.............................
What Is This Lesson About?......................................................................................................
What Will You Learn?...............................................................................................................
What Do You Already Know?...................................................................................................
Let Us Study..............................................................................................................................
Let Us Remember......................................................................................................................
How Much Have You Learned?................................................................................................
Let Us Apply What You Have Learned.....................................................................................
Resources....................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
References..................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

1
LESSON 3.

PERFORMING FEEDING AND MONITORING WATER QUALITY

WHAT IS THIS LESSON ABOUT?

The lesson deals with feeding and monitoring water quality. This include ways of sustaining the
growth of natural food, ways of sampling and analyzing formulated feed for feed ration, methods
of computing daily feed ration and procedures of changing water regularly to maintain the good
water quality.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1.process and store feeds properly;

2.sample and analyze formulated feed for feed ration;
3.compute the daily feed ration based on fish biomass;
4. observe proper feeding based on their feeding requirement; and
5. conduct changing of water regularly based on water condition.

WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW?

Before you go through this lesson, try to answer this pre-test. This will enable you to find out
what you already know and what you still need to know about “Performing Feeding and
Monitoring Water Quality. Answer this in your test notebook.

Pre-Test

Write T on the blank if the statement is correct. If false, write F, then underline the word/words
that makes the statement wrong then change to make it correct.

1. Storage condition should be optimal to avoid deterioration of feed ingredients.

2. Relative humidity of less than 65% promotes fungal growth and insect infestation.
3. Low temperature destroys or reduces the availability of feed nutrients.
4. Biomass is the total weight of fish per unit area at a particular time.
5. Frequent feeding is recommended when fish are small, when natural food is inadequate.
6. Good water quality enhances fish growth and minimizes mortality.
7. Low tide is the ideal time of changing pond water.
8. Soil sealing the pond gate prevents leakages.
9. Proper storage sanitation is not necessary.
10. Increase feeding rate when natural food production is high.

LET US STUDY

Feeds for fish intensively cultured in ponds must be nutritionally complete and should be
nutritionally balanced. Although some omnivorous fish, such as nile tilapia, may obtain some
essential nutrients by filtering plankton from nutrient rich waters. They still need a complete diet
as if they are being cultured in food-free waters.

The objective of feeding fish is to provide the nutritional requirements for good health,
optimum growth, optimum yield, and minimum waste and at reasonable cost for maximum profit.

Let Us Define

2
Biomass - the total weight of fish per unit area at a particular time and is expressed as kg/ha,
kg/sq.m., or g/sq.m.
Feeds - foods given to animal.
Feeding frequency - the number of times fish are fed in a day.
Feeding rate - the amount of feeds given daily to culture stock expressed as percentage of stock
biomass.
Rancidity - something smells off flavors.
Plankton - microscopic organisms that serve as food for the fishes. Lablab - a complex
association of minute plants and animals.

Processing and Preparation of Feedstuff

Processing and preparation refers to all the operations necessary to obtain the highest nutritional
value of a feedstuff and the best economic returns from their use. The processing of feedstuffs
accomplishes several purposes:

1. It removes anti-nutritional factors and toxins.

2. It lowers the moisture content of feedstuff to 10% less.
3. It adjusts feed particles size to suit a given species and size, and reduce waste of
feed
4. It increases palatability and nutrient availability.
5. It maximizes profit through optimum processing of feeds.

Excessive heat treatment or extraction under alkaline conditions may lead to the
destruction or alternation of amino acids. In effect, the protein becomes biologically unavailable.
The effects of soaking, dehulling and solvent extraction on the nutritive value of protein have yet
to be clarified.

● Soaking

Soaking facilitates cooking or removes some toxins especially from plant sources. Feedstuffs are
usually soaked in water for 6-24 h at room temperature. For example, ipil-ipil leaves are soaked
for 24 h to remove mimosine and leguminouse seeds for 30mins to remove tannins.

● Heating and cooking

It moist heat treatment, the sample is either boiled for 30min at 100° C, pressure-cooked for
10min at 120° C, or steamed for 30 min.

In dry heat treatment, the sample is either sun-dried for 6-12 h, oven-dried for 12 h at 60° C, or
roasted for 2-5 min at 250° C.

Moist heat is more effective than the dry heat for legume seeds. Cooking improves the
digestibility and nutritional value of grains. Heat destroys the trypsin inhibitor in soybean meal.
Heat is also used to extract oil from oilseeds. Dry heat treatment facilitates handling and pelleting
and increases the nutritional value of feedstuff. But boiling, cooking steaming and autoclaving
can lower the nutritional value if processing conditions such as temperature, pressure and time are
not optimum.

K;GGG0;KG0G0KG0G0G0G0G0G0G0GJLF;

● Extraction with organic solvent

3
Different organic solvent are used to remove the non-nutritive components of various feedstuffs.
For example, extraction of lipid from leguminous seeds with alcohol and water eliminates the
beany flavor. Extraction of oil from cottonseed meal with hexane decreases the toxin gossypol.

● Chemical treatment

Chemical can reduce if not eliminate the non-nutrive component of seedstuffs. Treatment of
cottonseed meal with phytase ( an enzyme that acts on phytate ) makes phosphorous and proteins
more available and reduces gossypol toxicity. Cottonseed meal can also be treated with iron salt
but this method produces a darker meal unacceptable to the feed industry.

● Dehulling

Dehulling removes most of the tannins (located mostly in the seed coat or hulls) from colored
beans. Dehulling can be done by soaking the seeds in three volumes of water for 4-6 followed by
sun drying for 12 h or oven drying at 80°C for 12 h and then splitting using an ordinary‟ corn
mill. Another way is by soaking the seeds in the water for 12-48 h and allowing them to
germinate. The germinated seeds are then dehulled and sundried.

Feed Preparation (Pellet Form)

Feeds for fishes and shrimps must be designed to meet the requirements of each species. Feeds
must be:

• attractive and nutritious

• of suitable particle size and texture
• of uniform length
• free of cracks or „fines‟
• stable in water for a few hours (at least 6 h in the case of shrimp feeds)
• durable enough to withstand handling

To achieve these characteristics, feed preparation must follow stringent procedures.

● Grinding

Ingredients are ground to increase the surface area. Grinding improves mixing, digestibility,
palatability and water stability of feedstuffs. The grinding equipment varies with the nature and
texture of materials with the desired particle size.

● Sieving

Ground feedstuffs are sieved to obtain the desired particle size. A sieve of no. 40 mesh size (425
um) is usually used.

● Weighing

The feed components must be weighed as possible. A good and accurate balance with taring
device is best as it can be adjusted to zero and allows weighing with container.

4
● Mixing

Feed components are sequentially added a little at a time or by batch. There are two mixing
operations, namely: premixing of micronutrients and blending of the diet components.

● Pelleting and extrusion

Pelleting transforms the soft feed mixture into hard pellets by forcing it through holes in a metal
die plate and cutting the noodles down to desired sizes. Pellets before they sink to the bottom of
the pond or tank.

● Steaming

Steaming improves the water stability and digestibility of the feed and kills most harmful
bacteria. Steamed pellets are stable in water for 4-12 h depending on binder efficiency.
Unsteamed pellet break up within 30 min. shrimps are slow eaters, so pellets for them must be
steamed.

● Drying and cooling

Pellets are hot and moist after steaming and can not be handled and stored as they easily break
up. Steamed pellets have to be oven-dried at 60°C. a draft oven with recirculating warm air allows
equal distribution of heat. Slow and insufficient drying encourages the growth of molds. The
pellets must be cooled before storage.

● Packaging and storage

Feeds usually have a limited shelf life, which can be shortened further if wrong packing material
is used. Pellets are packed and stored in covered plastic buckets and jars or in bags usually in 5,
10 or 25kg amounts. Essential components of feeds may be adversely affected by prolonged
exposure to strong light, excessive moisture, poor ventilation, or high temperature.

Factors Affecting Nutrients Stability in Feeds During Storage

1. Moisture content of the feed. Moisture content of more than 10% encourages fungal
growth and insect infestation.

2. Relative Humidity. Relative humidity of more than 65% promotes fungal growth and
insect infestation.

3. Temperature. High temperature destroys or reduces the availability of nutrients.

4. Oxygen supply. Oxygen promotes oxidative rancidity and growth of fungi and insects.

5. Lipid peroxidation. Lipids in feeds and feedstuffs can form peroxides that cause
rancidity and off flavors. Peroxides may bind with proteins or vitamins and reduces their
availability.

6. Insect infestation. Insect grows best at 26-37 °C. They consume the feed and introduce
bacteria through their feces.

5
 7. Fungal proliferation. Fungi grow best at relative humidity >65% and moisture content
>10% and temperature that are specific to fungal species. Fungi damage the feeds, cause
weight loss, discoloration and rancidity and produce mycotoxins such as aflatoxin.

8. Bacterial contamination Salmonella destroys proteins and lipids and releases toxin.
Proper storage sanitation is necessary to avoid contamination.

Proper Storage Practices

1. For dry feeds and ingredients

• Provide a clean, dry, secure and well ventilated storage area. Avoid direct exposure to
sunlight.
• Label feed and feed ingredients properly. Arrange feeds by kind and date.
• Pile feed bags not more than a bag high on a platform 12-15 cm of the floor.
• Store dry feeds not longer than 3 months. Use old feeds before the new deliveries.
First in, first out.
• Do not walk on the sacks of feed.

2. For moist or wet feed ingredients

• Use fresh trash fishes immediately to keep them frozen until use. Use moist
compounded feeds fresh.
• Keep oils and fats in sealed amber or dark colored containers inside the cold store or
refrigerator. Maintain the temperature of the cold store below 10°C. Avoid
overloading and unnecessary opening of the cold storage.

Ensuring the high quality of feeds

1. During acquisition of feeds

• Obtain raw ingredients or prepared feeds from reputable sources. Choose bags that
are clean intact, and with proper label.
• Obtain feeds for up to two weeks supply. Prepared feeds are good only up to 2
months from the date of production.

2. Feed evaluation – practical methods

• Sensory evaluation (smell and taste)
• Spoiled feeds have characteristic smell – stale and musty or putrid; taste bitter or sour.

Reliable brands of commercial feeds

• B-Meg – San Miguel

• URC – Universal Robina Corp.
• Julu feeds
• Vitarich

Forms of Feeds

1. Mash or Powder form. It is made up of tiny particles of feeds usually less than 1 mm in
size. Fry and small fingerlings are given with this form of feeds.

6
 2. Crumble. This is also given to younger/smaller fish and usually contain higher amount of
protein.

3. Pellets. These are compacted mash or powder feeds formed into large particles. This form
of feed is usually given as soon as the amount of the fish is big enough to swallow the
smallest size of pellets. These pellets can be given in moist form.

4. Dough form or ball form. This is prepared by adding water to the feed while mixing
sticky mash is formed. In the absence of pelleting machine, feed maybe prepared in this
manner.

Mash or powder Floating pellets Dough form Crumbles

form
Figure 1. Forms of feeds

Computation of Daily Feed Allowance

Formula:
Daily Feed Allowance = W x N x S x R

Where: W (g) = average body weight of the stock after a given period.
N = the original number of stocked
S (%) = estimated survival during a given period
R (%) = Feeding rate

Example:

Given: No. of stock in a 1 ha. Pond = 50,000

Weight after 30 days = 5g
Estimated survival = 90%
Feeding rate = 8%

Daily Feed Allowance (DFA) = WxNxSxR

= 5g x 50,000 x 0.90 x .08/day
= 18,000 g/day or 18 kg/day

Total Feed requirement for 15 days = 18 kg/day x 15 days

= 270 kg for 15 days

Note: To get the average individual weight of fish, perform/do sampling by weighing the stock
individually or in bulk divided by the number of fish sampled.

Feeding rates

7
 Feeding rate is the basis for determining the amount of feed to be given to the fish and usually
expressed in percentage fish biomass.
Recommended Feeding Rates:

Fry 50 – 20%
05 – 5 g 20 – 10%
5 – 50 g 10 – 7%
50 – 500 g 7 – 5%
500 g and above 5 – 3%

Feeding rate is lowered as the fish grow bigger because of lower metabolic rate.

Methods of Feeding

1. Hand Feeding. This is the most

economical and practical way of feeding
fish. It is the most applicable in
developing countries where labor
is considered cheap. The advantage
of hand feeding is that the farmer can
observe the feeding behavior and demands
of the fish.

2. Automatic Feeders. This method is

applicable in large ponds where large Figure 2. Hand feeding method
quantities of feeds have to be given in a
short period. Automatic feeders allow
better distribution of feed at regular
intervals.

Figure 3. Automatic feeder

3. Demand Feeders or Self- Feeder.
Using this method, fish can obtain food on demand generally by dressing a trigger.
The advantage of this method is that the fish can obtain as much food as they
require as often as they want. Figure 4. Demand feeders

Feeds can also be placed in other feeding devices such as feeding rings and feeding
trays. Feeding trays are usually placed at the bottom of the pond to prevent the feed
from being buried and can also be served to check if the feeds are eaten by the fish.
Feeding rings on the other hand are placed at the surface to prevent scattering of feeds all over the
pond and likewise allow the feeds to sink gradually.

Feeding Tips

• Feed the fish not the pond.

• Feeding frequency should be modified according to the size of fish and natural food
productivity.
• Increase feeding rate when natural food production is low.
• Adjust feed size with the size of the fish. Use bigger feeds as fish grow.
• Broadcast the feed over a wide area. It allows for more fish to avail of given feed
minimizing size variation in fish population and feed wastage.

8
Steps in Changing Pond Water

1. Check pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, water temperature, and transparency. Any
deficiency arising from these parameters could be a factor for changing water
periodically. This could be as often as once every two days. For tide-controlled pond,
water should be change as frequent as the water could enter into the pond.

2. Remove soil seal. If the gate is soil sealed, remove the soil by using digging blade or
shovel.

3. Detach flush boards from top to bottom. In some instances, especially during rainy
season, surface water needs to be removed. To do this, detach only two or three flush
boards enough to drain surface water.

4. Flood in tidal water into the pond. Watch the incoming water brought by high tide and be
sure to control water flow. Remember that excessive water flow will cause strong current
that might destroy nylon screen or bamboo slats. The installation of nylon screen prevents
the entrance of wild species and debris into the pond.

5. Close and soil seal the gate. Upon completion of water change, the gate should be soil
sealed to minimize leakages.

LET US REMEMBER

• Fertilization is important to sustain the growth of natural food in the fish pond.
• Frequent feeding is recommended when the fish are small, natural food is inadequate and
when the feeds are less stable.
• The maintenance of good water quality is essential for positive results in rearing fish.

HOW MUCH HAVE YOU LEARNED?

Now that you have finished the lesson, let‟s find out how much you have learned by answering
the post-test. Answer this in your test notebook.

Post Test

Write T on the blank if the statement is correct. If false, write F, then underline the
word/words that makes the statement wrong then change to make it correct.

1. Storage condition should be optimal to avoid deterioration of feed ingredients.

2. Relative humidity of less than 65% promotes fungal growth and insect infestation.

3. Low temperature destroys or reduces the availability of feed nutrients.

4. Biomass is the total weight of fish per unit area at a particular time.

5. Frequent feeding is recommended when fish are small and when natural food is
inadequate.

6. Good water quality enhances fish growth and minimizes mortality.

9
 7. Low tide is the ideal time of changing pond water.

8. Soil sealing the pond gate prevents leakages.

9. Proper storage sanitation is not necessary.

10. Increase feeding rate when natural food production is high.

LET US APPLY WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

• Store feeds in a well-ventilated, clean and dry area.

• Observe proper sanitation inside the storage room.
• Compute daily feed ration based on actual sampling of fish.
• Demonstrate feeding methods.
• Observe and demonstrate changing of water in the pond.

RESOURCES

Tools
Water parameter kit
Weighing scale or balance

Materials Fertilizer
Formulated feeds

REFERENCES

Operate Fish Nursery Module. Junior Agriculture Technician. Cagauan, A. G. Tilapia

Grow Out System and Operaton
Toledo, C. F. Aquaculture Manual. Pangasinan State University.

LESSON 4.

PERFORMING AWARENESS ON MONITORING DISEASE AND IMPLEMENTING

TREATMENT

WHAT IS THIS LESSON ABOUT?

The lesson deals with water management standard monitoring procedures, procedure in
observing, preventing, safeguarding disease and parasite occurrence and ways of determining
appropriate treatment.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. monitor symptoms of disease manifested periodically.

2. observe and apply prevention of disease and parasite occurrence based on accepted
practices.
3. determine appropriate treatment of disease per species cultured fish.
10
 4. internalize the value of disease prevention and treatment.

WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW?

Before going through this lesson, try to answer this pre-test. This will enable you to find
out what you already know and what you still need to know about “Performing Awareness on
Monitoring Diseases and Implementing Treatment”. Answer this in your test notebook.

Pre-Test

Identify the following by choosing the correct answer from the choices below:

1. Immersion in a static chemical treatment for a period of time greater than 5 minutes.

2. A short bath of less than 5 minutes is known as _______.

3. One dose of chemical is added to inflowing water.

4. Use of external treatment would be the most common method in aquaculture.

5. The drugs to be used are added to the fish feeds.

6. A constant volume of chemical is added to the inflow water over a fixed period of time to
give a constant concentration in the pond.

7. This method applies high concentration of chemical to individual fish without exposing the
gills to the chemical.

8. It is not often used, but could be useful in fry or small aquarium fish.

9. It is used for giving antibacterial agents, hormones or vaccines.

10. _________ are bath of no time limits.

a. Immersion f. Injection
b. Bath g. Systemic treatment
c. Dip h. Combination of immersion and systemic treatment

d. Flush i. Permanent bath

e. Swabbing j. Flow

LET US STUDY

A fish natural environment is water. When fishes are removed from water they are
subjected to stress. Low oxygen, pollution, sudden pH or temperature changes also cause stress to
fish. Fishery workers try to handle fishes properly so that the least possible stress occurs. Proper
handling of fish must be observed so that least possible stress will occur.

Fishes that have undergone stress are more likely to have disease. In some cases, as in large
volume of water, it is not economical to treat the fish for disease. Seedling transfer is a situation
11
that will allow for easy and economical disease treatment. All seedling should be transferred in
combiotic solution of 15 parts per million. If loses is still occur, one or more other treatments
should be tried.

Let Us Define

Bacteria – single-celled organisms which are small (0.3 to 0.5 micros) and found everywhere in
nature.
Viruses – the smallest microorganisms. They range in sizes from 25 nm to approximately 300 nm.
They can be visualized only through an electronic microscope.
Disease – a particular destructive process in the body with a specific cause and characteristic
symptoms.
Parasites – organisms that attack or cling to other organism that has harmful effect on the
attacked organisms.
Diagnose – to identify diseases by examination.

Early Signs of Diseases

1. Sluggish behavior. The fishes may become very inactive and often cease feeding. Some
lies listlessly on the bottom of the tank while other just float below the surface of the
water.

2. Twirling, spiral or erratic movement. This is indicative neurological damage.

3. Faded pigment. Attributed to the reduction of melanin content.

4. Darkened pigment. An enhancement of pigment results from infection.

5. Exophthalmia (pop-eye). The presence of bulging eyes occurs with infections.

6. Hemorrhage in the eyes. This is characterized by the presence of blood spots in the eyes.

7. Hemorrhage in the mouth. Blood spot becomes apparent in the roof of the mouth.

8. Erosion of the jaws/mouth. Occurs with infection by Flexibacter maritimus.

9. Hemorrhage in the opercula region by Pseudomonas anguilliseptica.

10. Gill damages. This includes the presence of swollen gill lamellae, clubbing and gill
diseases.

11. White nodules on the gills. Characteristics of infection by Edwardsiella tarda.

12. Fin rot. Presence of badly damage (rotted) firms may be a sign of infection by Aeromonas
hydrophila.

13. Hemorrhage at the base of the fins.

14. Protruded anus/vent.

15. Hemorrhage on the vent.

12
General Causes of Fish Diseases

1. Nutritional disorder – nutritional deficiency syndrome.

2. Environmental factor – (e.i. temperature, salinity, oxygen availability, light and

pollutants). These influence disease agent affects the hosts‟ responses in numerous ways.

3. Co-existing organisms –act as causative agents of disease. The known major agent to
cause disease includes virus, bacteria, protozoan, fungi, trematodes, cestodes, anthropods,
acanthorcephalans.

Fish

Disease
Parasite

Environment

Figure 1. Relationship among fishes, parasites and environment

4. Genetics – these are diseases presumed to be genetics in origin.

5. Stress factor – stress can be arbitrary divided into -

a. Chemical stresses. These include low oxygen levels, high carbon dioxide, ammonia,
and nitrite lead, sub lethal levels of insecticides and heavy metals.
b. Environmental stresses. These include extremes in temperatures and excessive
sunlight.
c. Biological stresses. These include infestation with external or internal parasites or a
lack of balance diet.

6. Physical injuries. Include stab, bite and scrape lesions, usually result from attack by a
predator in the wild. These are usually cured by graduation unless there is secondary
infection.

Treatment Methods

A. Immersion. This method is used for external treatment and would be the most common method
used in aquaculture.
• Bath. Immersion in a static chemical treatment for a period of time greater than 5
minutes. Permanent (or continuous) baths of no time limit. The chemicals are left in the
water to be degraded or diluted out naturally. This is the most common method of
treatment in excessive pond culture.

Disadvantages:
13
 a. Because of the static water, the fish may become stressed with a poor environment.
b. Some labour input is needed.
c. In ponds, the concentration of the chemicals vary unless it has been mixed well.

• Dip. A dip is a short bath of less than 5 minutes. The chemical concentration uses are
much higher.

Disadvantages:
a. It is very labour intensive.
b. It can be harmful to the gills because of high concentrations of chemical used.

• Flush. One dose of chemical is added to the inflowing water. The chemical is then carried
through the pond and diluted by the water flow.

Disadvantages:
a. The concentration of the chemical is not even throughout the pond.
b. Large amount of chemicals are needed if compared to bath and dip methods.
Advantages:
a. It is easy
b. It has low labor input

• Flow. A constant volume of chemical is added to the inflow water over a fixed period of
time to give a constant concentration in the pond/tank/raceway.

Disadvantages:
a. There must be quite a good glow rate of water.
b. High chemical costs because more chemicals are needed.
c. The dimension of the pond/tank raceway and the flow rate need to be known
accurately.
d. An accurate delivery system is needed.

Advantages:
a. An accurate dose can be calculated.
b. It is safe, no stress on the fish.
c. It has low labour input.

B. Systemic Treatment. This method is used in systemic bacterial diseases and for “gut parasite
infection”. The drug to be used is added to the fish feeds.

Disadvantages:
a. Some production system does not eat artificial diet and so they will not eat medicated
food.
b. Fish with disease do not eat much so they will not receive the correct dose of the
drugs.
c. Some drugs are not stable in wet or moist diet.

Advantages:
a. It is cheap
b. It has low labor input.

14
C. Combination of Immersion and Systematic Method. This is not used often, but could be useful
in fry of small aquarium fishes.

D. Swabbing. This method applies high concentration of chemicals to individual fish without
exposing gills to the chemicals. Small amount of chemicals is used. Anesthetics may need to
be used so the chemicals can be applied. This method is labor intensive.

E. Injection. This is used for giving antibacterial agents, hormones or vaccines.

Diagnosis of Fish Diseases

A. Surveillance of diseases.
• Signs of diseases – loss of appetite, abnormal changes in color, physical deformities,
abnormal behavior, retarded growth, lethargy, erosion of skin, fin rot and mortalities.
• Pattern of mortalities
a. Sudden, mass mortalities – associated with acute environmental problems.
b. Gradual mortalities – this may be due to infections disease agents or nutritional
disorders.

B. Basic Procedures in Diagnosis of Diseases

1. Recognize early or consistent signs of diseases.
2. Check and record water condition.
3. Note nature of stock and monitor stock regularly.
4. Evaluate sanitation and management practices.
5. Perform diagnostic test.

Basic Management Approaches to the Prevention and Control of Diseases

1. Stock healthy fish. Use disease-free fish, egg, or fry for stocking. All new fish introduced
of the farm should not be mixed with the fish already on the farm straight away.
Quarantine of the newly purchased fish is a good practice especially if the disease status
of the fish is not known.

2. Monitor fish health. Fishes should be checked daily by noting feeding activity and
general behavior.

3. Control wild fishes, vectors, pests and other animals in culture ponds. Wild fishes and
other animals act as intermediate host for fish parasites. They are also the greatest source
of disease- producing organisms. They should be -  screened out.
 poisoned especially during pond preparation.
 shot or scared away especially the birds, nests and trees near the ponds should be
removed to prevent fecal contamination of the water.

4. Sanitation and hygiene. Avoid the build-up of faces, detritus, uneaten food and dead fish.
At least once a year or preferably after every production cycle, ponds should be drained.

5. Population regulation and stock age grouping. Overstocking should be avoided at all
times. In situations where overstocking has occurred competition between the individual
fish increases and stress will result. High stocking levels also facilitates parasites spread.
Overstocking may affect water quality resulting in increased B O D, (biological oxygen
demand), reduced D O (dissolved oxygen), increases in ammonia nitrogen and increased
bacterial counts.
15
 6. Immunization (or vaccination). This techniques has not become commonly used in fishes
as it has done in other animals and man.

7. Use of disease-resistant strains of fish. Resistance to disease can be selected in any

population over a period of time, species that have been cultured for a great number of
years, usually “naturally” select themselves so that the population becomes more adapted
to the artificial environment. This results to fishes that are less susceptible to stress and
thus less likely to overcome diseases.

8. Avoidance of stress. This is the most important way to avoid diseases.

 Do not overstock.
 Maintain water quality parameters within the suggested guidelines.
 Maintain water flow.
 Recognize the climatic changes and other stressors (e.g. handling, transport).
 Provide a fresh well-balanced diet in sufficient quantities.

9. Pollution and control. Increases in organic load can lead to an increase in potentially
pathogenic protozoans. Under pond conditions, excessive feeding results in an increased
demand for oxygen by the decomposition process as well as increases in ammonia levels.
This accumulative factors stress the fishes.

10. Prevention by chemical prophylaxis. Treatment of fishes should be based on

accurate diagnosis of the problem.

11. Water source. The water should be tested, that is, check pH, pollution levels,
salinity, suspended solids, D O, temperature, etc.

Prevention and Control Measures:

1. Virus
- Disinfect all equipment and facilities
- Destruction of the entire infected population
- Restocking with eggs/fry from virus free broodstock
- Install adequate filtration/sanitizing system
- Report any viral outbreak

2. Bacteria
- Routine application of disinfectant
- Maintenance of optimal growth of conditions
- Eliminate causes/sources of stress e.g. chronic exposure to industrial or
agricultural pollutants handling and crowding.

3. Fungal disease
- Avoid or minimize physical injuries associated with handling, particularly during
stocking, transporting, transplanting and harvesting.
- Handle eggs with care
- Keep the fish in the best possible conditions and shield them from stress.

4. Parasites and Pests

- Clean source of water supply
16
 - Provision of pathogens free food
- Maintain hygienic practices in the culture area, e.g. disinfections of habitat,
equipment and fish.
- Eliminate vectors, intermediate hosts (snails), and the definite host (small
mammals or piscivorous birds)
- Control of wild fish
- Fish should be quarantined prophylactically treated before stocking.
- Strict segregation of age groups
- Avoid overcrowding and other causes of stress
- Provide a good filtering system for water intake

LET US REMEMBER

• Poor fish health are due to slow growth, poor feeding, low yields, increased disease
incidence and mortality and low profitability.
• Handle fishes with special care when collecting, holding, transporting, stocking and
sampling to avoid stress, diseases and possibly death of fish stock.

HOW MUCH HAVE YOU LEARNED?

Now that you have finished the lesson, let‟s find out how much you have learned from it by the
answering the post- test. Answer this in your test notebook.

Post Test

Identify the following by choosing the correct answer from the choices below:

1. This method applies high concentration of chemical to individual fish without exposing the
gills to the chemical.

2. One dose of chemical is added to inflowing water.

3. Immersion in a static chemical treatment for a period of time greater than 5 minutes.

4. It is used for giving antibacterial agents, hormones or vaccines.

5. It is not often used, but could be useful in fry or small aquarium fish.

6. The drugs to be used are added to the fish feeds.

7. A constant volume of chemical is added to the inflow water over a fixed period of time to
give a constant concentration in the pond.

8. __________ are bath of no time limits.

9. A short bath of less than 5 minutes is known as _________.

10. Use of external treatment would be the most common method in aquaculture.

a. Immersion f. Injection
17
 b. Bath g. Systemic treatment
c. Dip h. Combination of immersion and systemic treatment
d. Flush i. Permanent bath
e. Swabbing j. Flow

LET US APPLY WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

1. Demonstrate method of treatment.

2. Follow basic procedures in the diagnosis of diseases
3. Identify signs and symptoms of diseases.
4. Demonstrate proper procedures in monitoring and observing diseases.
5. Observe personal safety.

18