Cork Fish Cultivation (Channa striata) in Indonesia

Cultivation of snakehead fish is arguably not as popular as other freshwater fish. However, it has the potential to generate a promising turnover. Cork fish farming is still less popular than catfish, milkfish and tilapia. Even though this fish actually has a very high nutritional value.

Snakehead fish has essential and non-essential amino acids. This fish is believed to be able to help the healing process of burns, lung infections, hepatitis and is able to meet the nutritional needs of the body, so it is good for pregnant women, infants and children. It's just a shame, its popularity is not as famous as other freshwater fish. That's why it's still very rare to try cork fish farming.

There are three types of snakehead fish that are most often cultivated;

1. Great Snackhead (1 meter)
2. Forest Snackhead (40 cm)
3. Channa Gacua, the smallest and most commonly cultivated type of snakehead fish. Shaped like a snake, slippery and agile like a catfish. So be careful when trying to cultivate this fish because the fish can jump to other areas. Similar to catfish.

Cultivators are lazy to try snakehead fish farming because the harvest period is very long, which is 6-7 months. Especially for those who are still starting a business, snakehead fish is not the main choice because they have to be willing to spend energy caring for fish until they are big.

Also read: Harvest Fast! Here Are 9 Natural Catfish Foods To Get Big Fast

Not to mention if the fish died. It can be stressful if you expect quick profits. If you are one of those people, then the snakehead fish business is not suitable.

The price of cork fish is pegged between Rp. 30,000 – Rp. 40,000. Much more expensive when compared to tilapia and other freshwater fish. If the management of fish management is good, it is certain that an entrepreneur can become a millionaire quickly. Diligent and painstaking.

Cultivation of Cork Fish in Tarpaulin, Soil, or Concrete Pond

You can choose a cork fish farming place that best suits the situation in your place. The options are tarpaulin, earth, or concrete pools.

Adjust the place of fish cultivation according to ability. Do not force yourself to use a place that requires large capital because it will burden you later.

Choosing Male and Female Cork Parent

To run a snakehead fish farming business, you must choose male and female cork fish breeders that have good quality. This will greatly affect the yields that will be obtained later.

To distinguish male and female snakehead fish, we can see them from the markings on their bodies. The male snakehead fish tends to have an oval head shape and darker body, there is a red genital hole on the underside of his body.

The female snakehead fish is usually lighter in color with a head that tends to be round. Choose a male cork fish breeder that weighs at least 1 kg.

Also read: How Easy, These Are 6 Ways To Raise Guppies For Beginners

Cork Fish Spawning Process

After finding the cork broodstock, then you enter the spawning process. Spawning is the process of releasing fish sperm eggs to produce fertilization.

In the spawning process, we put about 30 male and 30 female brooders into the same tub so that spawning occurs. This spawning tub can be made of concrete measuring 7x4x2 meters.

In the concrete tub, we can add water as high as 50 cm and let the water flow. In addition, the concrete tub can also be added with water hyacinth plants to make the fish more comfortable in the spawning process.

The spawning process will make female snakehead fish lay eggs. The eggs can be carried with a soft sekupnet and let the eggs hatch naturally.

In this process, we must be diligent in controlling the pool. The reason is, one female parent turns out to be able to lay more than 10 thousand eggs in the pond.

Also read: How to Raise Catfish with the Biofloc System

Cork Fish Egg Hatching Process

To make it easier for us to control the condition of the eggs, it would be better if the egg hatching process was carried out in an aquarium. You need to prepare an aquarium measuring 65x45x45 cm. Fill the aquarium with water as high as 40 cm, and keep the temperature in the water at 20 degrees Celsius.

Enter the snakehead fish eggs into the aquarium as much as 4-6 eggs per square centimeter. Snakehead fish eggs will hatch about 24 hours after being put into the aquarium.

After hatching, snakehead fish larvae do not need to be directly fed for two days. The reason is that these small fish still have food reserves in their bodies after hatching.

After the snakehead larvae are 2 days old, we can give them food such as Artemia nauplii, with 3 meals a day. You also need to maintain the density of the aquarium, which is 5 larvae per 1 liter of water.

After 5 days old, we can give good fish larvae additional food, such as daphnia 3 times a day. Pay attention to the quality of the water in the aquarium so that the larvae can survive.

Spreading Snakehead Fish Seeds and Feeding

If the snakehead fish seeds are 2 weeks old, then it is time to spread them into the pond. One thing we must remember, a week before fish fry are put into the pond, make sure that the water in the pond is not drained for a week.

The morning is the most ideal time to enter the snakehead fish fry into the pond. After the snakehead fish are in the pond, do not provide food for 2 days. After two days, we can give the snakehead fish food in the form of pellets of about 2 kg.

While in the pond, pay attention to the snakehead fish feed. In addition to pellets, we can also provide feed in the form of termite chicks, anchovies, and kitchen dregs. Snakehead fish usually eat small fish too.

In addition, make sure not to be late in feeding the snakehead fish. The reason, cork fish including cannibal fish. So, these fish can eat each other when they are hungry and there are no other food ingredients.

Also read: How to cultivate betta fish with a tarpaulin pond

The Main Constraints Of Cork Fish Cultivation

This snakehead fish is wilder than catfish. Because it's good for a higher edge of the pool. This fish also includes cannibal fish. So be careful, separate the fry immediately so that they are not eaten by the adult fish. Not to mention the complicated spawning process, this certainly makes it difficult for farmers to separate small fish from adult fish.

Fortunately, snakehead fish are not fussy about water. Wanting to be drained once a month is okay because these fish use bimodal respiration (using gills and breathing oxygen in the air directly). The important thing is that there is running water even if it is small and that there is not too much feed or dirt in the water.

So that the children of the cork fish are not eaten by adult fish

If you make a pond, just provide a tilted barrel at the bottom of the pond, or just make a small hole pond so that the chicks can hide and not become prey. In addition, also put water hyacinth to stimulate fish spawning to breed faster.

There is another way to separate the fry by using a fine skupnet to pick up the fish eggs. Transfer these fish eggs to the aquarium for hatching. These eggs will then hatch well if left in an aquarium with a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. Within 24 hours these eggs will hatch.

When it hatches, do not feed it first for two days. And separate the chicks that are 3-15 days old in separate locations. Ideally in 1 liter only 5-7 larvae can be inhabited. Give these larvae feed such as baupli artemia 3 times a day so that the nursery develops quickly. After that, the process of rearing the snakehead fish began in a separate pond.

Cork Fish Raising Pond

Making a pond for fish enlargement is very influential. It is recommended to add 5-7 sacks of quail, cow or chicken manure (which is already in the ring) in a 200 m2 pond.

This aims to create the original habitat of the fish and establish a pH that is suitable for the life of snakehead fish in nature. After that, give water with a height of 40cm and let the dirt settle for 5 days. Only after that, fish seeds with a size of 50-100 fish per m2 are given.

Feeding snakehead fish is also not complicated. Just give pellets or other animals such as catfish seeds. Usually when snakehead fish are stressed they don't want to eat, so giving this seed is very useful to stimulate them to eat again.

So about the cultivation of cork fish. High commitment, patience, tenacity and never give up must be possessed if you really want to be successful. The price of snakehead fish is indeed high, but the cultivation process is not easy.