No doubt, in recent years, there has been more focus on fisheries and aquaculture in Nigeria. Although it is not a new practice, recently government and even citizens (farmers) have increased investment in this aspect of agriculture. When the subject of fisheries and aquaculture is brought up, people just zero their minds to “catfish” and “tilapia”, this is funny because there are so many aspects of fishery and aquaculture that need to properly study and get involved with.
Ornamental fishery is one of these aspects, many don’t even know what it entails. Ornamental fisheries include the processing and commercialization of live, attractive, or fancy fishes for the main purpose of home and public places beautification; it is the fishery that is concerned with ornamental fishes; fish kept in aquariums at home or for aesthetic purposes are known to be ornamental fish. These fishes have a wide range of species, including many forms, sizes, and colors.
Okay, let assume people know this type of fisheries. But, do they know the basic set up for monetary values? Apart from its recreational benefits, ornamental fisheries have numerous benefits which include profit-making like its counterpart catfish and tilapia farming.
Nigeria is blessed with an abundance of species of ornamental fishes, some of which were exported over the years. Significant amounts of these fish and fishery products are exported in various forms from Nigeria and this has been a source of foreign exchange earnings for the country. There are over three thousand Ornamental Fish species in Nigeria.
Knowing about ornamental farming could as well amount to nothing if there is no medium to convert such knowledge for productivity, the goal of managing a fishery is to conserve the resource in such a way that it is renewable and thus sustainable, as such, this article will be discussing how to start ornamental fish for profit-making.
An aquarium
Everyone has an idea of what an aquarium is. Although, an aquarium seems to be only for recreational and beautification purposes to many. This is however a wrong notion as farmers or entrepreneurs can monetize this. The principal components of an aquarium are ornamental fish and aquatic plants. The aquarium is called beautiful to look at both, in color or form. These fishes’ lifestyle is swift, gentle, and simple. Before analyzing the various types of ornamental fishes, how do we go about constructing the aquarium? Well, there are several companies spread across the country that specializes in constructing and maintaining an aquarium, this especially is a huge way of making money from ornamental fisheries; construction, and maintenances of an aquarium.
Getting the aquarium set and ready for use, there are some factors to consider before stocking it. The selection of fish is the next step. The criteria for the selection of fish should be as follows;
What are the species of fishes that are usually found in an aquarium?
Aquarium fish species are usually small in size; not exceeding three (3) inches. They are colorful and attractive. Below are examples of ornamental fishes
There are endless varieties of these species that makes up ornamental fisheries and for a potential aquarist not to get overwhelmed with these varieties, it is important to develop a basic understanding of this aspect to be able to fully exploit its advantage.