latest development

hi there, miss me?

just really busy with my business ventures, but with the help of Almighty God, I managed to negotiate a piece of land nearly 20 acres, hope will start work on the infra by new year

udanggalah.com

Hi friends, glad to inform all of you that my new website is currently under construction...name udanggalah.com

it will be pack with the followings:

• freshwater prawn news
• business links
• advertisements
• community portal
• list and contact of farmers, hatcheries, and suppliers
• links to related blogs, website, government bodies
• seminars update and trainings for newbee
• how to fish the udang galah, in pond and river (as suggested)
  
• delicious recipes (as suggested)
• events
  

I'm hoping this website can provide so much needed help on freshwater prawn industry as an INFORMATION HUB and community linkage to upgrade the business standard and quality of our beloved udang galah..please support me...

My 1st freshwater prawn harvest

hi..I'm very tired and very excited when i have done my 1st harvest on Monday and Tuesday...

Conclusions:

1. duration of stocks - 4 month 3 weeks
2. size average - 60gm
3. total weight - 100kg @ 15% mortality

lesson learn:

1. holding tanks should be wide and high supply of Dissolve Oxigen
2. one day harvesting operations, not 2 preventing the prawn from molting
3. bed of pond should be treated so harder surfaces at bottom
   
4. plan and prepare earlier
5. outlet pipe should be 2 or more
6. 4 people to make sure smooth harvest
7. nylon nets is more suitable
8. grading the prawn to sizes when still in nets
9. do not feed your stock 2 days prior harvest

very exciting event but no cameraman lah, I harvest myself. but got some low quality handphone vga pictures to be add up soon.

Wow .. hope those who interested in farming the udang galah should experience the joy soonest, catch the big blue claw with your own hand and palms! lots of scrath marks on my palm cause by their claw and knife like horn.

Thank you God.

dead end but not fail

mmm.. still no luck on getting a suitable land..the NS land scrap..johor land still not confirm..but thats life..I will push forward to get my 3rd batch PL stocks before october...

Treats and Treatments to our prawn

After attending the seminar, here is my conclusions:

• Always aware of your pond health eg. pH, alkalinity, salinity, dissolved oxigen...
• Treat the pond longer before stock for better survival rate of your PL
• Treat the ponds with antivirus and antibacteria
• Make sure the water source is clean and maintain the cleanliness and hygiene throughout your activities
• Prepare for the worst
• Treat the water periodically and systematically
• Learn from the experts and do not shy to ask any question
• Learn and identify your enemy
  

Happy farming of your udang galah / freshwater prawns!

FREE SEMINAR (PERCUMA)

Free Seminar to all the Growers by Bayer Co., below are the details, datang beramai-ramai, knowledge is important to stay competitive:

Speaker & Topics:

1. Dr. Pornlerd Chanratchakool- Shrimp Pond Management How to Maintain Good Water and Soil
2. Dr.Jirasak Tangtrongpiros- Shrimp Disease How We Can Prevent This?
3. Tavatchai Chidchomsrichantra-The Dream Team for Shrimp Pond & Disease Management

• Seminar #1
• Date: 20th July 2009
• Seminar Location: Sg. Petani ,Kedah
• Venue: Emerald Puteri Hotel, Sg. Petani
• Time:9.00 am - 12.00pm (Registration opens at 8.30 am)
• 
  
• Seminar #2
• Date: 22nd July 2009
• Seminar Location: Setiawan, Perak
• Venue: Orient Star Hotel, Lumut, Perak
• Time: 9.00-12.00pm (Registration opens at 8.30 am)
• 
  
• Seminar # 3
• Date: 24th July 2009
• Seminar Location: Johor Bahru, Johor
• Venue: Ponderosa Golf & Country Club, Johor Bahru
• Time: 9.00 am-12.00 pm (Registration opens at 8.30 am)
• 
  
• To RSVP and for more info, please contact :-
• Sugania Vijayan 012-3276737
• Erin Tan 0173388816
• Kok Onn 0162125160
• Chiow Yen 012-3655308

Update on my prawn

here couple of pictures of my son and daughter holding 20-30gram of healthy freshwater prawn, fish from our pond in Mersing, enjoy..

Pond Sizes

It been a while since I wrote here..its been very busy with the kids holidays and trying to make all my business plan a reality..

By the way, here some tips especially for the wannabe freshwater prawn grower :

1. Pond size - medium 50m x 50m or 30m x 60m, easier for harvesting
   
2. dept - water depth 2-4ft
3. bund - please allow 2-4ft above the water level
4. bund sides - 25 to 45 degree angle, easier when harvesting and cleaning
5. water outlet - 8 inch diameter UPVC pipes at the lowest point
6. water inlet - 6 inch diameter UPVC pipes with some filters
7. Main water channel/drain must provide enough volume for rainy season
8. Allow 5-10 ft wide of common shared bunds - when the pond is side by side - for failsafe design and easy for you to manuver around your ponds
9. lastly, please think of how you can channel your inlet water, either using pumps or gravity flow using dam/(empangan).

Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any question/soalan related to this topics...

I might change some of my udang galah business plan due to time factors and other business opportunity coming my way..but I will proceed with my existing ventures and will always write here in my blog..

Venture Capital for start up farm

the second most FAQ is venture capital, how we could come up with sufficient money to develop our udang galah business/ponds..

main source of venture capital would be from:

1. own savings
2. partnership
3. bank loans
4. selling your properties

my point of view are we should derive all the venture capital from our own source eg. savings, personal loan, because banks would not finance a start up, especially agriculture/aquaculture business (tried and simply rejected) even you have a good paperwork and some collateral.

please start small and record everything you spent/earn from the business by doing all your transaction by cheque, let the records show good income and profits/surplus, then, go apply for micro credit scheme!.

please check out my earlier post on locations and major points to consider when you decided to start up a freshwater prawn grow out business ..

Update on our new start up farm

its been awhile since i update progress on my udang galah business ventures...for a month now i have tried to secure a land in Negeri Sembilan for my mid term goal and its was tiring but INTERESTING...the deal is advancing as plan and hopefully i will secure the land before August....start-up capital partly from my savings and most of it from bank loan...

i am very grateful to God...the land got great water source, a bit far but still have a good access (potholes also got lah) no electricity but very near to last TNB pole...10 minutes to highway and 20 minutes to the nearest town...last 2 weeks i was at the land doing some clearing of scrubs and making good of the access....

what more to say, we will be having 8 of 50m x 50m freshwater prawn ponds, and hopefully we will first harvest lots of big fat prawn/shrimp by early next year....wish me luck

location selection for udang galah farm

As I promised, here are some tips of how to select a good location to start a freshwater prawn pond

1. near to your most demanding customer/market
2. clean clear sustainable water source
3. electricity
4. access road
5. type of soil
6. surroundings community
7. lease or buy?

i would elaborate more on each points soonest...think about you are changing to a new job place, at a new location...its somehow just a common sense..

here the link to the major topics that we are going to discuss of this mini series

Kolam Memancing Udang Galah Trueaqua

Newly open paypond park of freshwater prawn - baru dibuka hari sabtu dan saya antara pelanggan terawal (resit no 009) kolam memancing udang galah trueaqua di ulu bendul, seremban, negeri sembilan.

Hanya 2 jam dah dapat 13 ekor berat hampir 1 kg, power tu.. kepada tuan2 yang biasa memancing udang galah di sungai, kini tak risau kalau tak dapat sewa bot, cuaca tak baik ke, air sejuk ke, sila lah anda datang dan anda pasti dapat udang galah untuk dibawa pulang, sila klik link trueaqua ini

Organic fertilizer for aquaculture

in recent years, we have been reminded of bio-chemical hazards that comes with our food, thats why the farmers and growers worldwide has wisely adapt to the consumer demand for healthier food products...

aquaculture and freshwater prawns culture must act and adapt to this new trends now...my udang galah pond only used organic product that are safe for our stomach

i met a visionary organic fertiliser bumiputra manufacturer that produce high quality product matching the renown import brands in the market, backed by local university research paper (UTM), selling it cheaper so the local farmers can benefits from the bull market trends..I have used few product to treat my pond's water quality and it works brilliantly...i recommending this product to all freshwater prawn grower and i will promote these products here at my blog... the brand is MAS HITAM and it proves to benefit my farming technique..

will post a banner here soon with some details and price...these organic fertiliser not only suitable for aquaculture but could easily increase the production of palm oil trees, fertigation and vegetables...

major point to consider in start up a udang galah farm

as promised in my earlier post, i would like to start giving an article how to start / setting up a profitable small freshwater prawn farm ( 2 to 10 acres ). i would only discuss major vital factors that could lead to a successful farm including management of sustainable farming practice..

1. location of farm
   
2. capital
3. ponds
   
4. prawn larvae supply
5. water quality
6. feed
7. farm management
   
8. harvest
9. market your freshwater prawn
10. commercial factors / cash inflow outflow
    
11. long term GOAL of business

i will elaborate more on the importance of choosing the best location of your pond in the next post...how you can benefit in a long run than just temporary luck...please refer my earlier post for some of the subject

udang galah enemy

its been 2 weeks since the baby udang galah was release into our pond, but immediately after the event, we notice lot of small fish (seluang) are swimming inside the pond, this could be a disaster.

we call our friend at trueaqua and searching from others for how to remove or kill those fish, finally we agreed to try the tea seed powder, but the outcome are not very good ( used exactly as instructed by the manufacturer ).

the tea seed was not suppose to have effect to the prawn, instead they should bring damaged to the fish gills and make them suffocate lah, but our findings are : our bigger prawn died! almost 200 of them..sigh

so please do not use the tea seed powder when you still culturing / ternak the udang galah inside the pond, i think we should use it before releasing the baby freshwater prawn, if you prefer using organic products.

will update pictures soon

new batch of udang galah

its been very excited for me to release new batch of 30000 baby freshwater prawn into our pond last night, we really hope of great outcome from the production of this batch, and will uplift our morale and pave our way to become one of the leading commercial grower of udang galah in johor. i will upload some pictures soon..

4.30am releasing the prawn larvae

china made 1 HP paddle wheel

day view of our freshwater pond

how to set up a small scale freshwater prawn farm series

dear reader, i will try to post step by step technique of how to set up a profitable small scale freshwater prawn farm or we called here udang galah, in series starting soon. So if any queries further from my post,please email me or type it on the cbox at the right hand side of this blog. please also note that the guides are meant for tropical climate, but i will compare from time to time with temperate climate grower technique.

the guides will be base on the following data contributor:

• present grower/farmer
• books
• online published reports
• department of fisheries
  
• my own experience
• related blogs
• government websites
• private aquaculture consultants
• supplier of related products
  

special thanks to all the people who dedicate their lives for the developments of culturing freshwater prawn since 1950s in Malaysia and now the whole world can benefit from these research and development process... i will also add new links to some of the online publication so all of us will be an educated farmers and growers of giant freshwater prawns / udang galah...

frozen freshwater prawn export to european countries

here some good news from today newspaper for our fellow freshwater prawn shrimp grower...

Wednesday March 18, 2009, The Star

Frozen seafood products cleared for export to EU

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian frozen seafood products have been cleared for export to the EU, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

The EU’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) has approved frozen seafood products from five Malay­sian companies and four farms after a visit which ended on March 12.

The FVO will next check on live sea catches.

The decision comes some 10 months after the Government suspended exports of seafood products to the EU, which had threatened a total ban after random checks on nine Malaysian companies exporting fishery products revealed poor health standards and practices.

“I am happy the FVO has cleared all the doubts and has readmitted Malaysia into the EU import list,” Liow told a press conference at Wisma MCA yesterday.

Liow said the approval process would normally take six weeks, but his ministry would expedite the process.

“We will get it done as soon as possible,” he said.

It is learnt that the nine companies accounted for about RM100mil worth of exports to the EU annually.

The whole frozen seafood industry to the EU, comprising some 15 exporters, is believed to be worth about RM600mil annually.

how to transport LIVE freshwater prawn

our friend at trueaqua has post an interesting subject of how to transport live freshwater prawn or udang galah... for us in johor it would help us transport safely these precious cargo..please click links below:

LINKS to blog post

database of active farmers

i am collecting and documenting data for records and contact purposes of active farmers and hatcheries, hopefully this database will be valuable for investing the udang galah freshwater prawn farming community in Malaysia.

Data should include

1. location
   
2. contact person
3. contact no
   
4. size of farm
5. how many ponds
   
6. production capacity
   
7. no. of workers
8. which hatchery supply their PL
9. etc.
   

please help me making this database workable and accurate by email me your details, or details of any farmers near you

Tank Freshwater Prawn Culture

original ideas: culture baby freshwater prawn udang galah inside simple tanks either poly, concrete or fibre material.

duration: 1 month

setting up: 2 nos x 100 gallon poly tank, 3 nos bubble blower, 2 nos simple pumps and change water every 3 days, 8 nos of pipe shelter using green nets

findings:

• high content of sludge building up at the bottom of the tanks
• high ammonia content at tank bottom
• simple pump do not have enough suction power to filter the sludge
• 100 gallon of water is not sufficient to cater large numbers of freshwater prawn udang galah

solution:

1. larger tank with efficient suction power but gentle enough for the baby prawn
2. Water should be change at least 20% every 2 days
3. bio filter system should be consider as used in koi pond
4. bottom of tanks should be able or have drain outlet
5. high pressure blower with aero-tube should be use
6. tank should be place higher to make draining bottom sludge more easily
7. department of fisheries should have the technology as used in the hatchery complex

pro & cons:

• saving valuable lands and could monitor growth of baby freshwater prawn
• reduce risk of natural predator
• to increase survival rates up to 90%
• high cost on start-up and electricity
• baby-sit the whole time

please comment if my findings was not accurate....

aero tube vs paddle wheel report

here are my findings comparing the aero-tube and paddle wheel usage for large pond either for udang galah or fish, with the help from internet archives and the aero-tube supplier report.

Water movement and mixing capabilities

Equipment used :

1. 1 Hp 3-Grid Aero-Tube™ Air Lift

2. 1 Hp Paddle Wheel

Pond dimensions :

Area : 0.4 hectare (4,000 m2)

Depth : 6 feet (1.83 meters)

Method :

1. Both the 1Hp Aero-Tube™ Air Lift and 1Hp Paddle wheel were started 5 minutes before the dark purple dye was released into the ponds at the exact same time.

2. The coverage of the dye in the pond was then compared at certain time intervals - 18 mins, 30 mins and 55 mins

Outcome :

Status : 18 minutes after dye release in both ponds

Observation : Both the 1 Hp Aero-Tube™ Air Lift and the 1 Hp paddle wheel are able to move the water well in the pond.

The colour of dye coverage in both ponds are dark purple.

Status : 30 minutes after dye release in both ponds

Observation : Both the 1 Hp Aero-Tube™ Air Lift and the 1 Hp paddle wheel are still moving the water at the same rate with similar coverage of dye in the pond. The colour of dye coverage in both ponds are still dark purple.

Status : 55 minutes after dye release in both ponds

Observation : Both ponds are completely covered with dye.

However, there is a noticeable colour change in the
pond using the 1 Hp paddle wheel.

For Paddle wheel : the dye had sunk to the bottom of the pond. For Aero-Tube™ Air Lift : the dye is continually brought to
the surface of the water.

Conclusion :

1) Both Aero-Tube™ Air Lift and Paddle wheel were able to circulate the water at similar rate.

2) However, the Aero-Tube™ Air Lift was able to provide better vertical mixing, bringing the water and aeration from the bottom of the pond to the surface.

Hence, that would mean more aeration for our aquaculture species across the entire pond.

i am going to investing a modified air-lift type using 1HP blower that will cost some fortune but it is worth a try if can resulting long term saving to my business

Fatality of my udang galah

2 days ago, the moment of truth hit us when 20% of our baby freshwater prawn udang galah cannot be save, 3pm and suddenly they all came to the surface of the tank and start dancing like a drunk man, we quickly pump more water into the tank but eventually they died,oooh

our findings, remains of food starter has become acidic, that increasing ammonia levels and the bottom of the tank was full of them, we have clean the tank and now they live happily ever after.....

the solution,
1. only small amount of food given
2. we monitor the eating rate
3. check regularly on the tank bottom surplus
3. change the water 2 times a week

our pond still need at least 1 week to full, the paddle wheel is here, the fencing using fish nets is 40% done, what we need now is a rain of 1 hour and we can release the baby udang galah to the pond

we also have segregate the pond into two section which we can bring in new baby 'P' for the next batch, hopefully by early april and can be harvest during puasa

Aero tube - I have got many updates from the aero-tube supplier, Mr Francis and will post the review soon, they also doing some testing in our friend trueaqua ponds in ulu bendul

New location - i manage to find a suitable lands for expansion, 2.2ac and got permanent water source, now doing some discussion with the bank and the owner...update..bank cannot help startup enterprise like us! So plan B, get a rented land and building the business foundation first....

paddle wheel vs aero tube

i had ordered a 1hp paddle wheel made in china and when i start use it, i will post a review on this blog. i also will set up an aero tube system maybe an air-lift type and will compare them both..i had email to the aero-tube distributor in singapore for a supply of few metres but they have not answer my queries...hope i can get the aero-tube and report my findings here soon..

Please visit the aerotube manufacturer web site at
aero-tube.com ,distributor planetasia
and a youtube video of aerotube in china

logo udang galah for elmeena aqua

i am pleased to present our udang galah sketch logo for our farm...need to put into software and render in color to make him look more fierce lah.. please please do not copy

New land for new development

yesterday we went to search and try to deal few strategic locations for our future udang galah expansion plan, 3 acres of swampy and have natural water source..i really love a location with natural clear water stream, got few durians and other fruit trees... but on my way to those lands, i saw lots of small agri projects eg. red chillies, bananas, serai and even tilapia and goats being develop and maintain by my fellow bumiputra, i am really touched by the scenery and hope they all succeed and thrive forward..

I will upload few pictures taken from the land that I hope it will be reasonably price and i can buy it immediately...and i can start and target start supplying the first batch of udang galah by next aidilfitri....

Update : We failed to get the 2 acres land as the owner have sold it...but i will have a visit soon to a new location nearby...have faith insyaAllah

economics for aquaculture

why am I investing in aquaculture/ freshwater prawn? malaysia still have vast land to develop + whole year round of rain that God gives for free, udang galah or freshwater prawn farming/rearing are still niche market, I hardly find any udang galah being sell in our local market or hypermarket, either in JB, Seremban or KL...compare to India, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, they exported tonnes of freshwater prawn... now US dan New Zealand become new contributor...

Udang galah or freshwater prawn should be rear/farm systematically and in large community areas... hopefully I can assist/encourage my community of young and old to venture into farming freshwater prawn lah....

Enough said... I always think this is a good business either supply LIVE to pay fishing ponds or supply frozen to the wet market... I need to add few more ponds so I can supply the freshwater prawn constantly and steady stream for at least 100kg to 200kg per week...my business plan will be discuss later lah ya....

Hot & Harsh

Yesterday weather was great in JB, rain pouring in the afternoon, but at our pond in Mersing, different story, hot day lah...my brother struggling to fix the fence, our pond size is 30m x 50m, we have finish fence part of the perimeter, all the neighbour came and comments, biasalah...but the most important the baby 'P' (prawn) are active all the way.. we have fatality of 20 baby 'P' due to they was suck into the water filter...apa nak buat, here some pictures of our pond and our nursing tank..i would express my love to my wife for her support..thanks dear

2 x 100 gal poly tank as a saviour ....

D Day of Inspiration

For 2 years I have been searching for information of investing in freshwater prawn and accidentally came across a blog , very informational and EMOTIONAL for me, contact them and went to their mini course...great guys, young and energetic...called themselve trueaqua enterprise...true sport guys...i've included their bloq address at my links...here some of the pictures taken during the course.....

The Beginning of a Journey 10 Feb 09

Assalam, saya dan adik telah memulakan projek ternakan udang galah secara komersial di felda tenggaroh 1 (16100 benih), setelah mengikuti kursus pendek di ladang 'rakan muda' trueaqua di ulu bendul negeri sembilan.

Musim kemarau telah melanda, so kolam utama tak dapat dipenuhi air on-time, kami pun fikir alternatif terbaik ialah kolam asuhan sementara.

Alhamdulilah, anak udang sihat dan asyik running around... happy dan lega...

Tugas utama sekarang ialah memenuhkan air ke kolam utama dan menyiapkan pagar (fencing) untuk mengelakkan pemangsa masuk....