IKAN HARUAN

IKAN HARUAN

Ikan haruan atau nama saintifiknya Channa striatus merupakan spesis ikan air tawar karnivor dan popular di negara ini.
Populariti ikan haruan bukan sahaja sebagai sajian makanan atau sumber protein semata-mata tetapi menjangkau sehingga kepada penggunaan dalam perubatan.

Di kalangan masyarakat Melayu, ikan haruan digunakan dalam perubatan tradisional iaitu untuk rawatan dalaman terutama ibu yang baru lepas bersalin.
Hal yang sama juga berlaku bagi masyarakat Cina dan India dan masyarakat lain yang juga terkenal dengan penggunaan ikan haruan sebagai rawatan tradisional.

Para penyelidik telah menemui sesuatu yang menarik dalam ikan haruan iaitu terdapat 17 jenis asid amino dalam ikan haruan antaranya glycine, alanine, praline, isoleucine, leucine, methanine dan throenine yang secara realitifnya lebih tinggi dalam spesis berkenaan berbanding yang lain.

Selain protein itu, ikan haruan juga mengandungi lemak dan kedua-dua merupakan komponen biokimia penting dalam proses penyembuhan luka.

Ekologi:

Terdapat 30 spesis dalam famili Channidae dan lapan daripadanya terdapat di negara ini termasuk haruan Channa striatus, Toman Channa micropeltes dan Bujuk Channa lucius. Haruan biasanya hidup dalam air cetak sedalam kira-kira satu meter. keruh dan tenang pada suhu 20 dan 30 darjah Celsius. Dengan sifat karnivor, haruan makan haiwan kecil termasuk ikan, reptilia dan amfibia.

Kelakuan/Tabiat:

Spesis ini mempunyai tabiat berenang ke air bersih dan mencari makanan di kawasan yang banyak makanan. Ketika musim kemarau ikan tersebut menyorok dalam lumpur dan keluar semula apabila keadaan kembali normal.


Reproduksi:

Secara semulajadi haruan membiak beberapa minggu sebelum musin hujan dan anak-anak ikan membesar kepada saiz dewasa bagi menghadapi musim banjir. Ini menjadi satu strategi bagi mengelakkan pemangsa seperti ular, burung dan sebagainya.

Penternakan:

Haruan membiak sama ada secara semulajadi atau juga di ladang ternakan termasuk teknik aruhan. Ikan ini mampu membiak sehingga 1,000 ekor anak ikan dan dalam kolam konkrit dengan kedalaman tiga kaki dan stok antara 2,000 dan 3,000 ekor bergantung kepada saiz kolam. Ia memerlukan empat bulan untuk membesar mencapai saiz pasaran seberat 250gm.

(Sumber Utusan Malaysia)

Defining Water Quality

Defining water quality
Do You Meet The Five Point Standard?
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Water quality and fish health
The single, most important factor affecting fish health and influencing disease in fish ponds and tanks is water quality. Raised levels of ammonia or nitrite, sub-optimum pH and water hardness levels or a high level of organic pollution will be stressful to koi and other fish; predisposing them to disease. If we are to create healthy, optimum conditions and prevent disease, it is important to be clear what is actually meant by good water quality.
Water quality - not clarity
Many fish keepers tend to judge water by its clarity. Whilst clear water is obviously desirable, just because water is clear it does not necessary mean that it is good water. After all, concentrated hydrochloric acid is crystal clear and so is water heavily laced with arsenic! Fish want a little more than just clear water – indeed, they possibly prefer it slightly murky and green. If we are serious about providing good conditions the question we should ask is what do fish want ?
1. Low ammonia and nitrite
Fish are constantly polluting their own environment and producing ammonia. Both ammonia and nitrite are highly dangerous, causing stress and physical damage to sensitive tissues. A major, major requirement of any fish keeping system is no detectable levels of either. This particularly applies to new set-ups (new pond syndrome) and heavily stocked fish ponds. Biological filtration may be needed to maintain optimum levels.
2. Chemically clean water
The water should be chemically clean and free of chemicals such as pesticides, chlorine, heavy metals, organophosphates and chemicals used to treat fish diseases. The presence of any toxic chemicals, even at fairly low levels, may be harmful. OK, we do have to treat fish from time to time - the point is to realise that any chemical treatment will compromise water quality, and for the duration, conditions (from the fish’s perspective) will be less than optimal.
3. Water hardness, pH and temperature
Different species of fish have specific requirements for essential water parameters such as pH, water hardness, alkalinity and temperature. Conditions outside of what are fairly narrow limits are liable to create stress. Water that fails to meet these criteria cannot for obvious reasons be considered good water quality
4. Low levels of organic pollution
In addition to fish waste, the pond or tank is also being continuously polluted with uneaten food, algae and other detritus. As this organic matter decomposes it produces many organic and inorganic compounds. Biological filtration will take care of ammonia and nitrite, but there may be a build up of dissolved and particulate organic compounds. High levels of organics (POCs and DOCs) can create conditions that encourage disease, parasites and opportunistic bacteria. Water with high levels of organic matter cannot be considered good water quality.
5. Stability not fluctuation
Depending on the water chemistry, stocking levels and pond design, it is possible to have substantial fluctuations of pH, temperature and other parameters over a 24-hour period. Constant changes - even if they stay within the preferred range are liable to be extremely stressful, as the fish have to constantly adapt to changing conditions. An example might be pH that varies between, say 7 in the morning, rising to 9-10 in the evening on a hot sunny day. Apart from stressing the fish, it will have other implications for other water chemistry aspects such as ammonia and many common disease treatments. Water that constantly fluctuates in quality and conditions cannot be said to be good water quality
Hopefully, this overview has given food-for-thought about what we mean by good water quality. Based on these criteria, how many of us can honestly claim to have excellent water quality all of the time? The rest of the pages in the water quality section explain more about water; how it is formed, how variations in quality or chemistry can affect fish health and what steps to take to create optimum conditions for your fish.