Here all the information about pond design and construction in an aqua farm discuss.

1. Pond Design And Construction System
In An Aqua Farm.
MD. ASRAFUR RAHMAN
ASH1402072M
Noakhali Science & Technology University

2. Presentation outline
1) Introduction
2) Suitable fish breeds in pond culture
3) Criteria for selecting of suitable fish species
4) The breeds which are suitable for pond culture
5) Site selection
6) Fish pond design and construction
7) Different kinds of pond
8) Construction material of ponds
9) Pond construction
10) Conclusion

3. Introduction
• The fish culture has been an essential occupation in villages and rural areas.
• It is also a development project in rural areas suffering from the protein
deficiency.
• The farming of fish can be in natural ponds or in man-made ponds.
• The fishes can be farmed in fresh waters, marine waters, ponds and running
waters.
• The fishes like carp and oreachromis are easy for rearing and can be
profitable if there is a management plan of rearing the fishes.

4. Inputs and outputs of fish farming

5. Suitable fish breeds in pond culture
There are many species that are reared in ponds successfully, but there are some
restricted numbers of species which are only cultivated in commercial scale.
Criteria for selecting of suitable fish species
High market demand with high price.
The fishes which are pleasant to taste and which have high nutrient value.
These are easy to breed and easy to rear seeds.
The breeds which are adaptable to drained and undrained pond environment.
Fast growing breeds.
The breeds that can convert the artificial feed efficiently.
The breeds which are not easily susceptible to disease.

6. The breeds which are suitable for pond
culture
Catla
Rohu
Mrigal
Silver carp
Grass carp
Common carp
Tilapia etc.

7. Site selection
Soil
The soil quality influences the pond productivity and water quality and
determines the dyke construction.
The properties of soil texture and soil permeability are determined to decide
the suitability of a site.
Loamy, clay loamy and silt clay soil types are most suitable for pond
construction.
Rocky, sandy, gravel and limestone soil types are to be avoided.

8. Site selection(Contd..)
Evaluation of soil suitability
Soil suitability can be evaluated by three methods.
Squeeze method
Ground water test
Water permeability test

9. Site selection(Contd..)
• Water
Natural water bodies such as reservoir, river, and lakes have stable water
quality parameters (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, ph, alkalinity and
water hardness) when compared to bore well and well water.
The ideal water temperature is 20˚ – 300˚c for a fish farm.
Water salinity is the amount of salt dissolved in water. A few freshwater
fishes such as tilapia and catfishes grow even in salt water, but the carps can
withstand only in freshwater.

10. Site selection(Contd..)
• Topography
Type of pond construction is determined by the land topography.
Normally, flood prone areas and poor rainfall areas need to be avoided.
Areas such as
Industrial zones,
Fields with underground oil pipelines,
Irregular land area,
Fields with high electricity poles and
Radio masts and highly rooted vegetation area are also not recommended for pond
construction.

11. Site selection(Contd..)
Biological factors
Biological factors include the species to be cultured, seed source and culture type and they
need to be considered before site selection of farm.
Social and economic factors
It is important to get to know the social and economic background of the area and understand
the culture and traditions, particularly ideas and beliefs locally associated with aquaculture
practices.
The social fabric, market, and its structure, services directly or indirectly linked with
aquaculture sector such as transportation, storage, wholesale market aspects etc. Are to be
considered.
The land identified for farm should be without legal issues and fish farming should be
accepted by the local people.

12. Fish pond design and construction
Survey for fish pond construction:
The land should be surveyed before constructing the pond to find out its
topography.
The first step in the construction of fish pond is making the land which is
proposed for the pond.
The main wall should be constructed near the natural slope.
The mark on the wall should be near the lower end of the pond where the natural
slope is greatest.

13. Fish pond design and construction(Contd..)
Designing the fish pond:
The first step taken in designing the fish pond is soil immunity, soil type,
topography and water supply.
There should be a clarity maintained that how many nurseries, rearing and stocking
ponds are to be constructed.
If the fish farm is constructed only for the production of seed, then there is minimal
usage of the nursery and stocking a pond. In a small area the ponds can be
constructed.
In case of rearing and producing the seeds, then more stocking ponds will be
constructed to produce fishes and seeds and also to produce table size fish after
stocking fingerlings.

14. Fish pond design and construction(Contd..)
As we farm all fishes, then we need to construct all
types of ponds which are based on the intended
stocking density.
An acre of land is must for the fish pond. Less than an
acre is rarely satisfactory for fish population over
many years. In small areas the management required
is more, but the income is less.
For the designing and construction, we need to
consider some important things like exact size,
maximum depth, average depth, and water volume of
the pond.

15. Different kinds of pond
The ponds differ according to the sources of water. The water can be drained from the
pond. The different water sources of the pond are:
Ground-fed ponds:
The water is supplied from either a spring into the ponds or any other area close to
it. Supply of water may vary, but the quality will be constant.
The water is supplied into the ponds by seepage. The level of water in the pond
varies with the level of the water-table.
Rain-fed water:
The ponds are filled with rain water and the surface runoff, the water is not supplied
in dry season. The ponds are often in small depression in impermeable soil, with a
dike built at the lower side to maintain more soil.

16. Different kinds of pond(Contd..)
Water running-fed water:
The ponds can be filled with the nearby streams, a lake, a reservoir or an irrigation
canal. The water can be filled with running water, steam straight into the ponds. By
water entering a channel from which the controlled amounts can be filled to the
ponds.
Pump-fed ponds:
Water can be pumped from the well, spring, lake, reservoir and irrigation canal.

17. Different kinds of pond(Contd..)
Different drainage ponds:
Undrainable ponds:
These ponds can’t be drained by gravity. These are generally filled by groundwater or surface
runoff and their water level may vary seasonally. These ponds have two main origins.
Drainable ponds:
These ponds have set a level in draining the water. They can easily drain the water by gravity.
These can get filled by surface water from streams, spring and pump fed.
Pump-drainable ponds:
These ponds can be drained till particular level and the rest water should be pumped out.
These ponds are set and only used where ground water does not seep back in to any extent.

18. Construction material of ponds
The earthen ponds are most common and can be easily constructed. These ponds
are entirely constructed with soil.
The walled ponds are constructed with blocks, bricks and concrete walls. These
ponds are all sometimes constructed with wooden planks and corrugated metals.
The lined ponds are constructed with earthen ponds with plastic and rubber sheet.

19. Steps for constructing a pond
These are the steps which are followed while constructing the pond:
Step 1: the site should be prepared by removing unwanted things in site such as trees,
bushes, stones and rocks.
Step 2: the construction of seepage is free and the dyke should be secured by using the
clay core.
Step 3: the pond should be dug and construction of the dyke is done over clay core.
Step 4: the construction of the inlet and outlet should be done.
Step 5: the dyke should be covered with soil and implanted by the plants and grass
species like Rhodes grass and star grass.
Step 6: the pond should be fenced so that the animals or theft incidents can be avoided.

20. Site preparation
The site is cleaned of ropes, cables and
other items.
The obstacles like trees and bushes should
be removed around the site as they hinder
movement of heavy equipment.
These all are removed either manually, by
animal power or by using machinery.

21. Construction of dyke
The dyke is constructed compact, solid and leak free.
The dyke is constructed using a slit of 15 – 30%, the sand
percentage is 45-55%, and the clay percentage is 30 –
35%.
The embankment slope in horizontal to vertical should be
2:1 in good quality clay soil and 3:1 for the loamy soil or
sandy soil.
The dyke is raised by using the clay buddle which is
deposited in 10 – 15 cm thick layer and it is either formed
in the center or inside the waterside of the pond.
As for the safety measure extra outlet should be
constructed on the embankment to avoid the damage due
to excess level of the water raised in the pond.

23. Types of ponds
For specific life stage developments of fish specific kinds of ponds are required.
The different types of ponds are nursery, rearing, stocking, treatment and brood
stock pond.
The total farm area can be divided into
5 % of nursery,
20 % of rearing pond,
70 % of stocking pond and
5 % of treatment pond.

24. Nursery pond
Pond size is about 0.01 – 0.05 hectares
 Depth1.0 – 1.5 m.
The 3 days old spawn are stocked.
Reared for a maximum of 30 days, which
attain a length of 2-3 cm.
Rearing pond
A pond where the fries are reared which turn
into the fingerlings and attain the length of 10
– 15 cm as this size is marketable size. These
are cultured for 2 – 3 months. The rearing pond
size varies from the 0.05 – 0.1 hectares and
with water depth of 1.5 – 2.0 cm.

25. Stocking pond
The fingerlings are reared into the market size
that is 10 – 15 cm. The culture period is 8 –
10 months. The stocking pond is also used for
the brood stock pond and the breeding pond
as per the requirement. The pond area of the
stocking is 1-2 hectares with a greater depth
of 2.5 – 3.0 m.
Marketing pond
Which is small but quite deep, is used to keep
fish caught from a stocking pond for sale at
short notice when the demand and price are
high. These ponds can be 0.05-0.10 ha in size
with a water level of 3-4 m in summer.

26. Brood stock pond
(0.2-0.4 ha) are perennial and have a
water depth of 2m in the summer.
Treatment pond
The treatment tank is a large settling
tank. The water used in fish ponds is
purified biologically here. These are
also used as the stocking ponds. For
easy netting operation the flat bottom is
recommended.

27. The farmer should use the “altitude area” for constructing
the “nursery pond followed by rearing pond”.
The “lowest area” of the farm should be used in
construction of “stocking pond and treatment pond”.

28. Pond construction
The ponds are constructed with 2 types. They are
Dug out ponds
• The dug out pond is constructed by digging the soil, which is most suitable for the fish
farming and construction of ponds in plain areas. It should be constructed scientifically
and mathematically by using and maintaining the size, shape, depth, and other factors.
Embanking ponds
• These embanking ponds are mostly suitable for the hilly areas. The erection of dykes
may be on 1 or 2 sides depending on the need. This pond is economically available, but
it is not ideal for the fish culture because it doesn’t have any size, shape and depth fixed
as per the mathematical knowledge or scientific knowledge of the fish culture.

29. Inlet and outlet construction:
 The inlet is known as feeder canals; these are constructed
to provide the quality of water to the ponds.
 These are not constructed to the ponds which are filled by
rainwater.
 The inlets are constructed on the top of the pond and the
screens are used to filter the pumped water and avoid the
entry of unwanted particles into the pond system.
 The outlet is constructed in the bottom of the pond.
 The outlet is used to de-water the pond during the
harvesting and partially draining the pond.
 The outlet is constructed before the dyke construction.

30. Soil and vegetation coverage of the dyke
The soil erosion is reduced by growing the creeping grass on the top and sides of
the dyke.
For the embankment the banana and coconut trees can be grown. The
embankment slope is planted with grasses such as hybrid napier, gunny grass and
elephant grass to supply feed to the grass carps reared in the ponds.

31. Pond fencing
The ponds are fenced to protect the farm from the theft.
The live fences are sometimes broken because of the wind break and it increases
farm diversity.
There are many ways of constructing the fences.
The types of fences are live fence, piled fence, woven fence, post & rail fence,
wire fence, wire netting fence and stone wall.
There are both advantages and disadvantages of these fences. The wired net
fence is mostly used to protect the fish farm and also to stop the intruders.

32. Conclusion
When the construction site has been prepared, the fish pond and its water control
structures can be built.
Dikes are the most important part of a fish pond, as they keep the necessary
volume of water impounded and form the actual pond; their design and
construction is particularly important.

33. Thank you for your kind attention

34. Any question?