Natural food in the water or natural food base, is the compound of organisms present in the water in a natural way, necessary for the development and growth of fish in culture. These compounds can be formed by animals, plants or bacteria, between which diverse feeding, environmental or habitat relationships are maintained.
Summary
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- 1 Technologies applied to crops
- 2 What is natural food?
- 3 Components of natural food
- 1 Plankton
- 2 Bentos
- 3 Necton
- 4 Importance of natural food
- 5 Methods to promote your concentrations
- 6 Advantages of intensive cultivation
- 7 Sources
Technologies applied to crops
The great push existing in the improvement of the technologies applied in the freshwater fish culture, especially regarding food, has led to the preparation of artificial diets from flours, honeys and other products that supply The nutritional needs of these organisms, but at certain times they have been scarce and these crops have been affected.
The elaboration of the silages based on the use of the fishing residuals derived from industrial processing, which are mixed with the aforementioned products, greatly helps the substitution of the protein source (fish meal), an essential line in these diets and where the cost of this product is increasing worldwide and very difficult to acquire by underdeveloped countries.
All this problem leads us to depend heavily on natural food, that is, to take advantage of all the levels of the food chain that exist in the waters, mainly in the first stages of fish, where the necessary nutrients (protein, carbohydrates) are ensured. and fatty acids) for proper growth during development.
What is natural food?
In aquarium water , there is a food web or chain that is what we call natural food or natural food base and the development and growth of farmed fish depend entirely on the concentrations of this food in the semi-intensive and extensive systems, fundamentally .
It is made up of organisms naturally present in the waters, which can be animals, plants or bacteria and among which diverse feeding, environmental or habitat relationships are maintained.
Components of natural food
The aquatic populations depending on where they live in the aquarium are divided into:
Plankton
It is the fundamental group that inhabits the aquatic mass and is made up of microorganisms deprived of movement organs and if they have them they are very weak, which is why they cannot resist aquatic currents and therefore planktonic organisms are called wandering or wandering. They include fundamental groupings such as:
- It is the set of bacteria product of the decomposition of the organic matter that exists in an aquarium.
- They are microscopic algae that constitute the first link in the food chain in the waters; They are the primary producers, since from simple elements such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen, among others, they synthesize more complex organic substances. They serve as food to the second trophic level such as zooplankton and to some fish such as silver carp ( Hypophthalmychthis molitrix ), Tilapia, etc. The productivity of aquariums largely depends on phytoplankton organisms.
- They are microscopic crustaceans that feed on phytoplankton and bacteria. These organisms live in constant relationship with the environment, from which they extract dissolved oxygen for their respiration, salts and other soluble substances. They serve as food for various species of fish such as bighead carp ( Aristhytis nobilis ), carp ( Ciprinus carpio ), Tilapias, etc.
Bentos
It is the set of animal (zoobenthos) and plant (phytobenthos) origin that inhabit the bottom of the aquariums. Some live fixed to the substrate, others dig the bottom and there are some that move freely on it. They mainly feed on the phytoplankton that dies and sediments. It is considered of great importance in the feeding of some species of bottom-digging fish, such as the common carp ( C. carpio ), black-tailed ( Ctenopharyngodon piceus ), catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus ), etc.
Necton
Another group of organisms called nectonics lives in the water. They are exclusively animals that have active movements and can offer resistance to water circulation. Their rapid movements guarantee them food and also make them avoid their enemies, they can overcome long distances, both in search of new regions to feed and for different migrations; fish and aquatic reptiles are grouped here.
Importance of natural food
Due to their vitamin and protein content and their amino acid composition, plankton and benthic organisms have great nutritional value, which is extremely important for the growth of fish. This validity makes them irreplaceable in their nutrition, hence the natural food must be an integral part of the food diet throughout the life of the fish and to reduce susceptibility to diseases, the diet of most species Fish must contain 25 to 50% natural food.
Plankton is well used by the larvae and fry of many fish species, so its production in Aquaculture is a practice that has been carried out since ancient times, deepening through intensive cultivation with organic and mineral compounds to obtain large volumes. Both phytoplankton and zooplankton contain essential elements that adequately nourish aquaculture species, which with this type of diet achieve adequate weights and sizes in the required time. Planktonic species are very rich chemically from the nutritional point of view and respond positively to the culture media, obtaining high concentrations in a short time.
Methods to promote your concentrations
Productions of this type of food are achieved through traditionally used fertilizers (excreta, herbs, etc.) and mineral fertilizers (nitrogenous, phosphated and others). The use of organic residuals derived from the different industries and agricultural productions, also helps to promote the concentrations of these microorganisms. With these products, the waters are fertilized with fish farming and it is possible to raise the concentrations of natural food, especially planktonic and benthic organisms.
Another method would be through culture media made with different compounds and taken to receptacles with certain volumes, in which intensive production of an algae or zooplankton species is carried out, which will develop excessively and give rise to high densities. of food, which are supplied in a controlled way to larvae and fry.
Advantages of intensive cultivation
One of the advantages is that there is always availability and reserve of quantities of these foods and that the productions that are not used can be preserved for later use through freezing, without deterioration of their bromatological conditions, that is, without alter nutritional parameters.
These results lead us to value natural food from the waters as an effective, safe and low-cost feeding method, being very convenient in the first stage of the development of fish and crustaceans.
