Bighead carp in aquaculture

 

 

The bighead carp is a Far Eastern fish that has perfectly mastered the waters of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and Belarus. Bighead carp, along with other fish from the Far East (silver carp, white and black carp), are well known to any amateur fisherman.

Content

• How does the bighead carp differ from the white carp?
• Where does the bighead carp live?
• Silver carp spawning in Ukraine
• What does the bighead carp eat?
• What to feed bighead carp
• How fast does bighead carp grow?
• Lifestyle of bighead carp
• Stocking density of bighead carp
• Benefits of growing bighead carp

 

 

How does the bighead carp differ from the white carp?

What do bighead carp look like, what are the differences between white and bighead carp? The bighead carp differs from its fellow carp in the longer head and pectoral fins, the fleshier lower lip and the spotted color of the body. In the caught fish, after a short time, extensive bruises appear throughout the body, changing the overall color to dark gray-red. The dorsal fin is short, usually has 3 hard and 10 branched (soft) rays. The bigheaded silver carp has an elongated, convex on top and laterally compressed thick body with a wide, pointed head. The size of the head in large specimens can be up to 30% of the body length. The mouth is upper, directed obliquely upward. Bighead carp have small, low-set eyes (below the lateral line). The keel is faintly visible on the abdomen between the ventral and anal fins. The scales are small.

All fins of the fish are usually bright crimson, with the exception of the brown caudal fin.

Where does the bighead carp live?

The bighead carp lives in the rivers of Central China, but came into the Amur River basin, and then was acclimatized in Central Asia, the North Caucasus and the south of Ukraine and Moldova. In Uzbekistan, bighead carp is inhabited in many reservoirs in the flat part of the country, where it is actively grown in lake commercial farms. Silver carp also lives in lakes and reservoirs of Kazakhstan. Bighead carp is a heat-loving fish, so in Central Asia it is not found in mountain rivers.

In Russia, bighead carp lives not only in the southern regions, but is also found in water bodies in the middle zone and Siberia. In many regions of Belarus, bigheaded silver carp is found in reservoirs where it was stocked. In Moldova and Ukraine, bighead carp is found everywhere, except in mountain and small rivers. He completely mastered the Dnieper reservoirs and many ponds throughout its territory.

 

Silver carp spawning in Ukraine

 

How does the tovstolob spawn in Ukraine? None of the silver carp spawn in the reservoirs of Ukraine, since the natural conditions here do not coincide with the life cycle of fish that has been established over thousands of years. By the way, the eggs of sexually mature individuals still ripen in the spring, but after a while they dissolve. According to scientists, silver carp also have the possibility of natural spawning in the reservoirs of Ukraine. There have been cases of its spawning in natural conditions in the Kuban and Kazakhstan. Therefore, if the trend towards climate change continues, then silver carp spawning in Ukraine will be possible in the southern regions.

What does the bighead carp eat?

Bighead carp is not a purely herbivorous fish. Juveniles and adult silver carp use both zoo- and phytoplankton as food, although they feed more on zooplankton: in the bighead carp, the gill rakers are not fused together in the form of a fishing net, which does not allow the fish to use smaller phytoplankton in their diet. With a significant increase in the stocking density of bighead carp, it can compete with carp fingerlings when feeding on zooplankton.

What to feed bighead carp

In pond farms, bigheaded carp can feed on mixed feed and also fatten up on detritus. Evidence of its feeding on worms, insects, mollusks and even fish fry at water temperatures up to +15°C has been noted.

It is believed that food for bighead carp is sufficient if the zooplankton biomass is above 3-5 mg/l. If the biomass of zooplankton decreases below normal, bighead carp sharply slows down in development and growth. To increase the food supply, mineral fertilizers are added to the pond depending on the required need for nutrient elements, in particular, the concentration of nitrogen increases to a level of 2 mg/l, phosphorus increases to 0.5 mg/l. Organic fertilizers are also added to the pond. If the gas regime worsens, a flow is created in the pond, aerators are installed, and lime is added if necessary.

When growing bighead carp in a pond, the hydrochemical parameters of the water are monitored 1-2 times a month and the sufficiency of the natural food supply is determined.

How fast does bighead carp grow?

Bighead carp is a fast-growing fish. Under favorable growing conditions in ponds, the weight of fingerlings is 40-50 g, two-year-olds already weigh 400-500 g, and by three years the weight of silver carp increases to 1300 g.

In reservoirs and ponds of Ukraine, adult bighead carp fish reach a weight of more than 50 kg. In Russia, there are known cases of the capture of huge bigheaded silver carp weighing more than 70 kg and up to 2 meters long.

Lifestyle of bighead carp

Bighead carp is a schooling pelagic fish that is quite demanding on environmental temperature conditions. A local herd can number up to 100-140 individuals.

In terms of lifestyle, the bighead carp is less timid than the silver carp. When there is a sudden noise, it does not jump out of the water, but moves away from the suspicious place.

Bighead carp are most active in the early morning and evening hours, often entering shallow areas of rivers and reservoirs at night in search of food.

In winter, bighead carp gather in huge schools and at the beginning of winter practically do not migrate, but do not fall into torpor, like many carp relatives.

Stocking density of bighead carp

 

The approximate norms for planting replacement young herbivorous fish in ponds when growing breeding material are as follows: bighead carp up to 300 pieces/ha in the south and up to 200 pieces/ha in the middle zone with an average annual gain of about 2.0 kg.

The motley silver carp in central Russia grows faster than the white silver carp.

Benefits of growing bighead carp

Bighead carp is confidently among the top five fish in terms of production volumes in freshwater aquaculture, which means that it has great advantages in cultivation over other fish.

The advantages of growing bighead carp in aquaculture are as follows:

• Very fast growth of bighead carp in a pond
• Bighead carp competes for food with a small number of fish and is therefore suitable for a wide range of polycultures. Bighead carp are often raised in ponds together with grass carp, grass carp and carp.
• Bighead carp is well suited for pasture aquaculture in reservoirs and lakes, allowing for high fish productivity in the reservoir, and it can be grown without using expensive feed using the food supply of the reservoir.
• Bighead carp can consume artificial food, which makes it possible to feed it in intensive aquaculture.
• Bighead carp is suitable for growing in cages.
• Bighead carp is excellent for growing in warm waters, in cooling ponds at energy facilities, in which bighead carp grows at 5-6 kg per year.
• When creating a pond farm, it is necessary to create a broodstock that will allow you to stock your reservoirs with juveniles and sell fish seeding material to smaller farms. At the same time, bighead carp breeders can be kept together with carp breeders without reducing the stocking density of the latter.

The disadvantages of growing bighead carp include the following:

• Bighead carp feeds on zooplankton, so it competes with carp and paddlefish in the reservoir for food, which requires maintaining the density of the fish and, if necessary, feeding it with food.
• Bighead carp cannot reproduce in more northern regions, which requires costs for the annual stocking of the reservoir.