TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Attention: whenever you are given choices, check only the good answers with an X.

LOCATING YOUR FISH FARM

(a) The best location for a pond is:

• on a steep hill
• far from home
• on clayey soil
• close to home
• on sandy soil
• in low flooded areas
• on a gentle slope
• where water can flow in by itself

(b) Briefly describe how to check if the soil is good for building a pond.

BRINGING WATER TO YOUR FARM

(a) How can you raise the level of the water in a small stream?

(b) The supply ditch should be

• at least 1 m deep
• sloping very little
• near the shallow ends of the ponds
• less than 50 cm deep

(c) How do you control the water flow in the supply ditch? Where?

BUILDING FISH PONDS

(a) Which size of pond should you prefer? Why?

(b) You plan to build a shallow 25 x 25 m pond. Make a sketch showing all the lines you will mark on the ground before and after removing the topsoil. Clearly indicate the dimensions.

(c) How much higher than the pond water level should the banks be?

BRINGING WATER TO EACH POND

(a) How much slope should you give to an inlet ditch?

(b) How do you best control the water level in the inlet ditch?

(c) At which level should the bottom of an inlet be?

DRAINING WATER FROM THE POND

(a) Where in the pond should the outlet preferably be placed?

(b) How can you ensure that water will not seep out along the outlet pipe?

(c) How high should a monk be?

(d) Should the lower end of a siphon be higher or lower than its upper end?

(e) You need to build an overflow if you use

• a siphon
• a pipe outlet
• an L-pipe
• a monk

(f) Where should you use screens?

• at the inlet:

  - inside the pond

  - outside the pond

• at the outlet:

  - inside the pond

  - outside the pond

PREPARING THE POND TO RECEIVE FISH

(a) What should you check before filling a pond with water?

(b) Briefly describe how to make compost from plants and manure.

(c) Where should you place a fertilizing crib, in shallow or deep water?

(d) How do you check if the pond is ready to receive baby fish?

PUTTING BABY FISH IN

(a) Where can you produce baby fish yourselves?

(b) For this you will need mature fishes. How many per 100 square metres? Circle the best answer.

(c) How often should you take all these fish out, to start again?

(d) When is the best time of the day to transport baby fish?

(e) What should you do when baby fish stay at the water surface, gasping for air?

TAKING CARE OF PONDS AND FISH

(a) It is good to keep the grass short on the pond banks. For this you can use grazing animals such as

• sheep
• oxen
• cows

(b) Someone who wants to wash clothes may do it only

• in the stream above the supply ditch
• in the supply ditch
• in the stream below the supply ditch
• in a pond, near the outlet

(c) To keep the water green you should fertilize a pond once a week. Circle below how many kilograms of material you should use per 100 square metres.

(d) Name four different local feeds good for pond fish.

(e) Briefly tell how to decide how much food to give each day.

(f) One day, you come to your pond and see that fish are gasping for air at the water surface. What should you do for the next days, concerning:

water supply

• increase
• decrease
• stop

fertilizing

• increase
• decrease
• stop

feeding

• increase
• decrease
• stop

HARVESTING FISH

(a) Give two reasons why you might prefer not to drain all the water from a pond.

(b) If you have so many fish, in your pond that you will not be able to use them all within one day, give two good ways to solve the problem.

(c) If you harvest too many baby fish, what can you do with them?

IMPROVING MANAGEMENT

(a) Describe what you need to do to harvest fish throughout the year.

(b) With tilapia, some fish grow faster than others. Which ones?

• males
• females

PRODUCING FISH IN PENS

(a) The best location for fish pens is where

water depth is

• 0.5-1 m
• 1-1.5 m
• 2-3 m

water flow is

• slow
• fast
• nil

bottom is

• muddy
• firm
• very hard

(b) Briefly describe how to build a fish pen with bamboo and netting.

(c) How many tilapia should you put in per 100 square metres?

(d) How do you harvest fish from a pen? Give at least two methods.

PRODUCING FISH IN CAGES

(a) The best location for fish cages is where

water depth is

• less than 1 m
• at least 2 m 

 water flow is

• gentle
• strong
• very strong

winds are

• gentle
• strong
• very strong

(b) Which mesh size should you use for netting material?

(c) Give three ways to keep the wooden frame of a cage floating.

(d) Check below how many tilapias to put in a cage, per cubic metre of water.

• 5-10
• 50-100
• 150-200
• 400-500

(e) The food should be rich. Name three kinds of good feeds.

BRINGING FARM AND PONDS CLOSER TOGETHER

(a) Give three reasons why a pond can be useful to other farm crops.

(b) To fertilize a pond you can use fresh manure from farm animals. But you must be careful not to use too much of it. For each 100 square metres of pond area, it is safe to use the fresh manure of how many

ducks

• 1-2
• 4-5
• 10-15

chickens

• 5-8
• 15-20
• 30-40

pigs

• 1-2
• 4-5
• 10-15

AVOIDING DISEASES IN YOUR FAMILY

(a) To control mosquitoes and snails, it is best to

• let the grass grow high on the pond banks
• keep the grass cut short
• remove from the pond weeds that grow above the water surface
• never remove these aquatic plants
• keep fish in the pond
• from time to time, keep the pond without fish

(b) To avoid you and your family getting sick, it is best to

• at least once a day, use a pond or pen as a toilet
• build a latrine on the bank at the upper end of a pond
• relieve yourselves 10 m away but close to the compost pile
• never use a pond or a pen as a toilet
• build a latrine at least 10 m away from any water or compost