How Much Does It Cost To Start A Fish Farm (Ultimate Guide)

What is fish farming? How much does it cost to start a fish farm in Nigeria? If you’re interested in finding out all about fish farming, continue reading this post.

Agriculture is one of the trending lucrative business in Nigeria due to the high demand for food. Agriculture is basically a practice of farming to provide food, so, in essence, the solution Agriculture is providing to the society is providing food for the daily consumption of everyone.

READ ALSO: BEST MONEY-MAKING AGRICULTURE BUSINESS IDEAS LIST.

Since no one can survive without food, this is the reason Agriculture is one of the top lucrative businesses all over the world. The fish farm business is one of the topmost lucrative aspects of agriculture.

Apart from agriculture business ideas like grasscutter farming, another branch of Agriculture where there’s a lot of focus is Aqua-farming. Aqua-farming is one of the best business opportunities around that one can go into.

In this post, we will be discussing fish farming in Nigeria and how to start fish farming in Nigeria and how much does it cost to start a fish farm in Nigeria. We will also be using catfish farming in Nigeria as a case study.

FISH FARMING BASICS

There are more than a hundred species of fishes in the whole world some of which are Nile tilapia, goldfish, trouts, Atlantic mackerel, common carp, swordfish, Atlantic salmon, greasy grouper, pangas catfish and so many more.

Irrespective of this, it is impossible to grow the majority of the species of these fishes in Nigeria as a result of lack of profitability of some, low market demands or the nature of the fish species.

However, the most common fish species that are grown in Nigeria are Catfish, Salmon, Carp, and Tilapia

WAYS OF GROWING FISHES FASTER

• Ensure your fishes are well fed so as to get adequate nutrition for growth
• Ensure that you change the water in the fish tank regularly to maintain a good quality of the water in the tank
• Keep fishes in a large tank with a large volume of water as small tanks restrict fish growth and can lead to stunted growth. If you didn’t know before, water is greatly needed for them to grow well.
• Try as much as possible to regulate the temperature of the tanks as some fishes require higher temperatures while others require a lower temperature. So try as much as possible to find out which is best for your fishes.
• If you are struggling with how to reduce the water temperature in fish tanks during the heat period or sunny weather, you can try to cool the water by trying to reduce the sunlight getting to the fish tank or float some ice packs in the water and monitor the fish tank from time to time. Note the emphasis on “float the ice packs” as rapid water changes can be harmful to fishes.

To find out in detail about other ways to speed up fish growth, read this article on 7 ways to make your fish grow faster.

READ ALSO: PROFITABILITY OF POULTRY FARMING IN NIGERIA

HOW TO START FISH FARMING IN NIGERIA

Fish farming business is arguably one of the most lucrative Agricultural businesses in Nigeria now or I can confidently say all over the world because it’s in high demand.

One of the importance of fish farming to the world is the fact that it is a great source of protein which the body system needs for growth and maintenance of tissue.

Furthermore, it is rich in Omega 3 fatty acid which is important for the heart and brain aside from vitamins and minerals.

Fish Farming business is not for the rich class alone to venture into, you can start the business with low capital and also with huge capital.

Depending on individual capacity, it could be done on a large scale where you need to acquire plots of land or at your house on a small scale.

Fish Farming basically entails rearing of fish from fingerlings or Juvenile to big fish for commercial purpose.

There are different breeds of fish, we have Catfish, Tilapia Fish, Mackerel(Titus) but Catfish and Tilapia Fish are the basic once reared in this part of the world and are in high demand.

READ ALSO: HOW TO START GRASSCUTTER FARMING BUSINESS (COMPLETE GUIDE)

FISH FARMING TOOLS

Fish farming tools are important for being successful in your business no matter the kind of fish you want to grow. The fish farming tools you’ll be needing are:

• Pumps for filling water in or draining water out of the tank
• Fish Tank, container or drum or barrel to put fishes in.
• Net or Seine Reels for fish collection from the pond or tank
• Aeration Devises to provide fishes with adequate oxygen
• Handling and Grading Equipment for grading the sizes of the fishes. Not so necessary if you’re starting in a small scale.
• Water testing equipment such as a thermometer (important) or aquarium test kits (if you can get it).

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO START A FISH FARM

Though Fish Farming requires you to go for training before starting it or visit other farms to know how it’s done because it has so many things to consider before going into the business to avoid loss of investment, this is part of the fear of going into the business.

You want to know how to become one of the top fish farmers in Nigeria or how profitable Fish Farming business is in Nigeria?

Let us discuss how to start fish farming in Nigeria, the steps to take in starting a Fish farming business, the cost to start and profit to expect on investment;

SPACE TO USE

This is one part we can’t really talk much about because the space to use depends on how big or small you want to start.

If you want to start small with like 50 Juveniles, you just need a fish farming tank at your backyard or anywhere comfortable in your compound where you will have access to water and if you want to start big like 10,000 juveniles, you will need to acquire plots of Land and do necessary pond construction to take the 10,000 juveniles.

We cannot really discuss the cost of the space to use as this will basically depend on how big or small you want to go, the cost to acquire land vary on location and also cost to construct pond vary on location.

I will advise that you get an expert on the construction of ponds for inspection of your site, get a quotation for the construction of the ponds, and negotiate well.

Mini Fish Farming Tanks

For those who can’t afford a big fish farming tank, here’s a video showing one a mini tank made with 1000 litres plastic water tank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTbdcRxhwP0

GETTING READY TO BUY YOUR JUVENILE

After construction of ponds for large scale or you have already gotten your tank at the back of your house, there are various things you need to put in place before you buy your juveniles, I will be discussing them below

• DIG A BOREHOLE – This is actually for a large scale, water is what fish lives on, they are aquatic i.e animals that live in water, so they cannot survive without water, your farm needs an adequate source of water and availability of water all the time. Government water, rainwater, or any kind of treated water is not suitable for fish as it may contain chemicals harmful to them. Water needs to be changed at intervals for the fish to be healthy.
• GET AN OVERHEAD TANK AND A RESERVOIR – You will need an overhead tank for proper distribution of water to your fish ponds and also a reservoir to store water for an emergency, the numbers of overhead tanks you will get will be determined by your farm size, you can visit other farms to see how many you need.
• PLUMBING WORK- This is another part that you sure need an expert to handle, Plumbing work includes running of pipework from the overhead tank to the ponds for proper distribution of water to the ponds, if not done well. it will affect the business so I will advise you to get an expert that has done it before.

Please note that the cost of the above was not discussed as its a lifetime investment that would be used continuously for a long period of time and the prices to get them done vary on location and individual negotiation power, So I advise you get an expert to help you in that.

BUYING YOUR JUVENILE

First, you need to know the species of fish you want to focus on, I will advise as a starter you focus on one type first then go into others as experience comes in.

The basic fish reared in Nigeria are Catfish and Tilapia Fish, Catfish is the most common with the highest demand rate, so I advise you to start with Catfish.

In buying your juvenile for your catfish farming in Nigeria, you must look for the best farm that has healthy fishes. This is for you to have the best fishes with a high surviving rate and for them to grow well.

Please make your findings in your location for the best Farm with good Juvenile.

You can start this business at any time of the year as the market is a daily thing and not a seasonal thing.

READ ALSO: COMPLETE GUIDE ON HOW TO START SNAIL FARMING IN NIGERIA

FEEDING AND MEDICATION

For the growth of any animal, feeding is basically the most important part, they grow well when they are fed well.

Even though there are different feeds for fishes, we will advise you to use foreign feeds (but you can make your findings on good local feeds, there are definitely good local feeds too) as the business is mainly for commercial purpose and you want the fish to grow well in the shortest period for you to get your profit on investment.

On medication, I will advise you to get a consultant that is an expert in Fish Farming business to visit your farm at intervals and inspect your fishes and if you notice any abnormalities you call him to check.

Now that you already know all it takes to start a Fish Farming business, and you are still wondering if this is really profitable? Does it really worth my time, money, and effort? Can I afford to start one?

So, let us see how profitable it could be and how much does it cost to start a fish farm.

FISH FARMING BUSINESS: INVESTMENT AND PROFIT

Here, we will only be looking at the cost of buying the fish, feeding, maintaining till its sellable, we will not discuss the purchase of Land, Pond construction and other things needed to start the business as they will be used many times later.

You can likewise use this guide to write your business plan for fish farming in Nigeria.

We will analyze the cost and profit of Catfish Farming alone and our focus will be on 1000 juvenile fish ;

• Juvenile price is around ₦30
• Purchase of 1000 Juvenile at ₦30 = ₦30,000
• Feeding is a bit technical, but let us assume we want the Fish at 1 kg, then you must have feed each Fish 1 kg of foreign floating feed, this means you will need 1000 kg of feed
• 1000 kg of feeds * ₦280/kg = ₦280,000
• Medical and Miscellaneous is always low when you do everything right, but let us say around ₦10,000
• Total spent till 1 kg = ₦320,000 for 1000 fishes

These fishes are sold for ₦600 least, this will yield ₦600,000

Profit = ₦600,000 – ₦320,000 = ₦380,000

This is an over-budgeted estimate, just to be on the safe side, 1000 kg budgeted for feeding will definitely give you more than the 1 kg weight of the fish and you will be able to sell it at a higher price.

You can also get the feeds at a lower price, but all in all Fish Farming is a very profitable business when it is done rightly, but I always advise before you go into this business, visit other Fish Farms and see how it is being done, get yourself educated, get the training and it will be a successful one for you.

I hope you now know the answer to the question “How much does it cost to start a fish farm in Nigeria”? What are you still waiting for? Start a Fish Farm and thank me later.