Culturing Catfish "Hito"

Hito or locally called hitong tagalog "catfish, is kind of fish that can be raise in rice field, rivers and in muddy places it is indigenous in Philippins water,Filipinos are familiar of this fish and it taste excellent, it can be found in some restaurant and also along the road who sold barbeque. I remember when I am in High school Grades I used to catch hito in the rice field and even in the rivers, using fishnet. It grows and can be harvest after 4 months culturing, big as a size weighing 300-400 grams or three in a kilo.But before you can raised catfish be sure you have a fish pond and must have supply of water. Choose a shady area so that fish will have shade when the sun is intense and lumot or moss will grow easily. Be sure that your spillways allow 1-2 inches of water to run off at a time. Your pond depth should be 3 feet at the shallow end and 8 feet at the deep end and be sure to change the water twice a week, catfish is prone to infection if the water will not change frequently.Pond-raised catfish are usually attacked by bacterial diseases. Aeromonas spp. is characterized by distended abdomen filled with opaque or bloody fluid, red spots on the body, stomach filled with yellow mucus, swollen kidneys, eroded fins, inflamed mouth, pale or green liver and excess secret of mucus. When catfish lose their equilibrium, are pale, their abdominal area tight with a distended anterior, and their peritoneal cavity filled with bloody excretion , they are suffering from pseudomonas spp. The usual sources are diseased fishes and frogs. Therefore, preventive measure must be taken during transporting and before stocking the fish. One method is to add penicillin and streptomycin to the water at the rate of 10 to 50 milligrams of per liter.

This is just small fishpond of my friend in Located at Iloilo Philippines

In feeding, feed twice daily , and when they get to be about 5 inches long feeds daily
since catfish are carnivorous so their feed is 90 per cent meat or other protein sources. These can be ground fresh trash fish , worms, insects, slaughterhouse by-products, chicken entrails, dried or fresh water shrimp, fish of fall and by-products of canning factories, and you can also feed swine pellet.The gender of hito or catfish can be recognized. The male has a distinct sexual papilla, elongated and located just behind the anus. This sexual papilla is usually red at the tip for sexually ready males.A gentle press on the belly of the female fish towards the genital opening releases the ripe eggs indicating the readiness and viability of the female.A sexually ready female has a swollen, usually reddish genital opening.

Today the catfish was already harvest, it can be sold in the market

When I was in Philippines my father always prepare Adobong Hito with achuete , ihaw , ginataan, but what I love most is deep fry hito. Its really yummy and delicious.

This is for my blog about raising catfish hope you can get idea how to raise it. Happy new year.