Populating my ponds with fishes

I have wanted to do this for a while but without priority it only stays in the mind. Once I was with my neighbor P'Wah to the neighboring town of Tha Yang, he mentioned of a fishery research center nearby. Why not check it out? I would take opportunity to get some fishes for my ponds.

The center was preparing its stock for its annual release to the lakes and rivers. So we were directed to a commercial hatchery to buy some.













I bought 500 Tilapias costing only Bth 0.60 each! What a price - Bth 300 (US$10) for all!














Counting the fishes and filled oxygen to the bag later.














P'Wah had the honor to release them into the pond. He added water to equalize the water temperature in the bag prior to letting them go.














On another occasion my brother came for a visit, I took him to the hatchery again and got 200 catfishes - ones commonly seen on river cruises, abundant especially near temples. They can grow pretty large!













This time my brother's honor to release.



















I have added another 100 Gouramis since. I was told they grow by about 1Kg per year.
All together 800 now.. still seem very little in comparison to the pond size of ~4,950 square metre! They all disappeared and I don't see them around or have they been food to larger occupants? Well, leave it to laws of nature in there.

Then one fine day, I notice the small pond by the side of the rest house was beaming with aquatic plants and small fishes - some Pearl Gouramis I could recognize. These are natural inhabitants as I haven't put any fishes in there. Why not add some ornamental fishes in there?













Back to the hatchery I went. This time I bought 7 kois and 40 Silver Barbs.













I prefer those with white body with orange spots to be more visible. The smaller barbs were there too if you can spot them. They adopt the new environment readily judging the ease they swam around.













Looking down I see my fishes...













Looking up I see my birds - isn't that nice?













November 19th, 2010 - Some catches with my DIY fish traps!
Creeks like this in my area have lots of small fishes. I am always curious to see what fishes are in there.













I used to take my son, Chris, to trap barbs and shrimps in Desaru, Malaysian streams long time ago. Bring back an old trick and made traps with 5L plastic water bottles. Simply cut off the top section.













Invert the top section and insert back into bottle. Add some holes at the rim to tie them together. (OOps .. photo was rotated anti-clockwise somehow?)



















Put some bread in and immerse it in water. Come back an hour or 2 later. I don't know a better way and see the results!













More than 30 fishes caught in this trap!













This one has less but look - a fighting fish!













Obviously they find a new home in my ponds.