The fry-to-fingerling nursery stage decides whole-crop survival. Fry are sensitive and die easily from a foul nursery, parasites and early bacillary necrosis. Than Vuong: clean nursery + strong digestion + immunity + early disease control.
A successful pangasius nursery needs: (1) a clean tank/pond — SOILMAX New, NIAZYME probiotics, YUCCA C for toxic gas, gentle water exchange; (2) digestion and immunity support with PRO F, BIOMAX, ACTISEL, AQUAMOS; (3) early disease control: Edwardsiella ictaluri necrosis often appears at the fingerling stage → FLOR-MAX; parasites (Trichodina, flukes) → AQUA PRAZI. Fry are very sensitive — dose carefully and avoid shock.
Pangasius fry are nursed at high density, feed continuously and are very sensitive. Good water and nutrition here lift survival and fingerling quality.
Excess fine feed spikes NH3 in small nursery tanks/ponds. Probiotics + gentle exchange keep water clean and reduce fry loss.
Fry guts are immature and easily upset. Digestive enzymes and yeast aid absorption, with immune support to keep fry strong and reduce loss.
Bacillary necrosis (Edwardsiella ictaluri) and parasites (Trichodina, flukes) often hit fingerlings. Early detection and gentle dosing save the batch.
Clean tank/pond, seed SOILMAX New + NIAZYME before stocking fry.
Gentle exchange, apply YUCCA C when gas rises, avoid leftover fine feed.
Feed PRO F / BIOMAX / ACTISEL + AQUAMOS, CANFORTA for vitamins.
Watch the liver + scope parasites; AQUA PRAZI for flukes/Trichodina.
FLOR-MAX dosed carefully by size, with HERB GUARD; gentle WORK 80 / AQUA DINE.
Click to read the full translation. Open-access papers fully translated; copyrighted papers summarized from abstract.
Haque et al., 2021, Aquaculture Reports
Finding: In-feed Bacillus probiotic during nursing raised phase-2 survival from 28.73% to 58.58% (~104%) and improved length, haematology and intestinal villi.
Different angle: Direct evidence for Mekong nursery farmers: early probiotic feeding is a low-cost biological alternative to prophylactic antibiotics.
High nursery mortality is a major bottleneck in pangasius (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) farming. This Bangladesh farm trial tested an in-feed probiotic across three phases as an antibiotic alternative.
Early Bacillus probiotic sharply cut fry mortality with lasting benefits through grow-out — a cost-effective antibiotic alternative.
Wiratama et al., 2025, Antioxidants (MDPI)
Finding: Probiotic Bacillus subtilis plus its postbiotic for 30 days raised post-challenge survival against Edwardsiella from 62.5% to 87.5%, with higher growth (SGR 3.29 vs 0.74 %/day) and mucosal lysozyme.
Different angle: Supports the postbiotic (ISAPP) angle: probiotic + metabolites boost immunity and liver-gut antioxidants while raising resistance to Edwardsiella behind bacillary necrosis.
Edwardsiellosis causes heavy losses in pangasius. This 2025 study tested probiotic Bacillus subtilis AAHM-BS2360 and its cell-free postbiotic.
The probiotic–postbiotic combination gave the highest survival against Edwardsiella while improving growth and antioxidant status.
Pham et al., 2021, Journal of Fish Diseases
Finding: Resistance to bacillary necrosis (Edwardsiella ictaluri) shows low-to-moderate heritability (up to 0.135–0.220 at 50% mortality), indicating selective breeding is feasible.
Different angle: BNP is the top killer of pangasius fingerlings; resistance is partly genetic but modest, so biological tools remain essential while breeding matures.
Translated from the abstract — full paper restricted by the publisher on the original page.
Bacillary necrosis (BNP) from Edwardsiella ictaluri is the leading loss in Mekong striped catfish. Data from four cohabitation challenges were analysed with three genetic models at 50% mortality and endpoint. Heritability was very low (≤ 0.012) under the survival model but reached 0.135–0.220 at 50% mortality under linear/threshold models — exploitable but modest. Breeding for resistance is feasible yet slow, so biological management remains essential.
Thy et al., 2017, Fish & Shellfish Immunology
Finding: Spore-forming Bacillus probiotics fed for 90 days cut ammonia-stress mortality to 20–27% versus 75% in controls, while raising growth and innate immunity.
Different angle: Ammonia toxicity is a top loss in dense nurseries; gut probiotics speed growth and markedly improve ammonia tolerance.
Translated from the abstract — full paper restricted by the publisher on the original page.
In high-density pangasius nurseries, ammonia (NH3) is a major lethal stressor. Spore-forming Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 54A + B. pumilus 47B (gut-isolated) were fed at 1–5×10⁸ CFU/g for 90 days. At the top dose, weight gain reached 476.6 g vs 390 g control; innate immune indices rose. Under ammonia stress, probiotic mortality was only 20–27% vs 75% in controls. Gut probiotics boost growth and ammonia tolerance in dense systems.
Zaki et al., 2023, Aquaculture International
Finding: Higher stocking density (90/120/150 fish/m³) progressively lowered survival, growth, digestive enzymes and liver antioxidant/immune indices while raising stress markers (glucose, cortisol) and liver MDA — 60 fish/m³ performed best.
Different angle: Denser fry nurseries don't mean more profit — excess density quietly wears down digestive enzymes and liver health before visible signs appear, reinforcing density control plus environment management.
A 3-month trial in Egypt raised 1,260 Pangasianodon hypophthalmus fingerlings (17.52 ± 0.20 g) in 12 tanks at four densities — 60, 90, 120, 150 fish/m³ — tracking growth, gut enzymes, haematology, immunity and hepatic antioxidant status alongside water quality.
60 fish/m³ gave the best growth, survival, immunity and antioxidant status; 150 fish/m³ caused the highest stress even without immediate mass mortality — quantitative evidence against overcrowding nursery tanks beyond what the pond/tank environment can support.
Dao Minh Hai et al., 2022, Aquaculture Reports
Finding: After one generation of selection in 10‰ saline water, the new pangasius strain showed average direct responses of +18.0% growth and +11.4% survival versus controls, with a realized heritability of 0.29 for body weight.
Different angle: Salinity intrusion is a long-term threat to Mekong Delta nurseries. This is early evidence a more saline-tolerant strain can be bred in just one generation — a genetic complement to short-term environment/probiotic management.
Climate-driven salinity intrusion increasingly threatens Mekong Delta pangasius nurseries. Vietnamese researchers ran a selection program to breed a more saline-tolerant Pangasianodon hypophthalmus strain. Broodstock from several Mekong provinces were factorially crossed; fry (47 dph) were moved into 10‰ saline water, and the fastest-growing 50% were retained across three rounds (143, 237, 340 dph), alongside random-selected and freshwater control groups.
A single generation of selection produced a markedly more saline-tolerant strain — evidence that breeding is a viable way to adapt pangasius nurseries to worsening Mekong Delta salinity intrusion, complementing short-term environmental management.
Elnakeeb et al., 2025, Fishes (MDPI)
Finding: A 90-day EPM probiotic blend (1.5–4.5% of diet) improved growth, haematology and resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila in a dose-dependent manner, while raising beneficial lactic acid bacteria and lowering pathogenic coliforms and Vibrio in the gut.
Different angle: Effects scaled with dose up to 4.5% — improving blood profile, liver function (lower enzymes, lipids, MDA) and gut microbiota together. Supports using an adequately dosed, sustained multispecies probiotic to proactively suppress Aeromonas, the most common hemorrhage pathogen in pangasius.
Intensively farmed pangasius are vulnerable to Aeromonas hydrophila under stress. This Egyptian study tested a multispecies Effective Probiotic Microorganisms (EPM) blend at three feed inclusion levels. 300 fingerlings (4 groups × 3 replicates) were fed a control or EPM diets at 1.5%, 3% or 4.5% for 90 days, tracking growth, haematology, liver/lipid metabolism, gut microbiota and resistance to A. hydrophila challenge.
The highest dose (4.5%) performed best across every metric — boosting growth, protecting the liver, rebalancing gut microbiota toward beneficial bacteria, and raising Aeromonas resistance. Supports sustained, adequately dosed multispecies probiotic use rather than short bursts only during outbreaks.
Vu, Sáng, Phúc, Vuong, Nguyen, 2019, Aquaculture
Finding: Genetic evaluation of a 15-year (2001–2015) growth-selection program across 54,259 fish (955 families) found medium-to-high heritability (0.31–0.54) for body weight/length, with selection improving harvest weight by about 9.3% per generation.
Different angle: The longest published pangasius breeding program on record — proof genetic gain compounds over generations rather than happening overnight, underscoring that sourcing broodstock from a rigorous breeding program is a long-term foundation biological products alone can't replace.
Translated from the abstract — full paper restricted by the publisher on the original page.
Vietnam's leading pangasius breeding program was genetically evaluated after 15 years (2001–2015), analysing 54,259 fish from 554 sires and 926 dams (955 families). Heritability was medium-to-high (0.31–0.54) for body weight/length and medium (0.17–0.20) for fillet/condition traits. Selection improved harvest weight by roughly 9.3% per generation, alongside gains in fillet weight, condition index and grow-out survival — long-term evidence that sustained, multi-generation breeding delivers real, compounding growth gains at production scale.
Bhuiyan et al., 2022, J. Advanced Veterinary and Animal Research
Finding: Within the first 2 hours of live transport, water bacterial counts rose roughly 30–40× (from ~0.1×10⁵ to 3–3.7×10⁵ CFU/ml), dissolved oxygen fell sharply (one channel dropped from 3.9 to 1.95 mg/l by 8h), pH declined and NH3 rose from 0–1 to as high as 5 mg/l.
Different angle: Water quality collapses fastest in the first 2 hours — exactly when farmers pay least attention because fish "still look fine." Supports lowering transport density, continuous aeration/oxygen, and treating toxic gas from the moment fish are loaded, not after arrival.
Live transport of pangasius fry/fingerlings from hatchery to grow-out ponds is an overlooked step that decides post-stocking survival. This Bangladesh study followed three real supply channels (Mymensingh to Dhaka, Faridpur, Sylhet) from July–December 2019, sampling transport water at intervals for bacterial counts, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and ammonia.
Transport water quality collapses fastest in the first 2 hours — rising bacteria, falling oxygen and rising toxic gas compound stress on fingerlings before any visible mortality. Density control, continuous aeration and toxic-gas treatment should start at loading, not on arrival.
Tok et al., 2016, Aquaculture Research
Finding: Alternating a 35%-protein day with a 25%-protein day (35P/25P) gave growth and digestive/metabolic enzyme activity nearly matching continuous 35% protein feeding (35P/35P), and clearly outperformed pairing with lower protein levels (30P or 20P).
Different angle: Continuous high-protein feed isn't always necessary — alternating the right protein pair (35/25) preserves near-full growth while cutting high-protein feed cost, a practical lever for nursery feed programs.
Translated from the abstract — full paper restricted by the publisher on the original page.
High-protein feed is a major nursery cost driver. This 90-day trial fed 144 P. hypophthalmus fingerlings (5.0–5.5 g) four iso-caloric diets (35/30/25/20% protein) in four alternating schedules: continuous 35P (control), 35P/30P, 35P/25P, 35P/20P. Growth (SGR, weight gain %) was highest in 35P/25P, followed by continuous 35P and 35P/30P; metabolic enzymes performed best under continuous 35P, then 35P/25P and 35P/30P; digestive enzymes (protease, lipase) were highest in continuous 35P and 35P/25P. Alternating the right protein pair (35/25) preserved balanced digestive/metabolic enzyme activity and growth without needing continuous high-protein feeding — a practical feed-cost lever.
SOILMAX NewConcentrated bottom probiotics, decompose organics, cut toxic gas
NIAZYMEClean water & bottom, remove toxic gas, build water color
MAX 4000Broad-salinity probiotics, strong at low-oxygen bottom, cut NH3/NO2/H2S
AQUA PRO4000XBroad-salinity probiotics treat bottom/water, control algae — fresh & marine
YUCCA CFast NH3 absorption, anti-shock, stabilize environment
PREMIX EDTAChelate heavy metals, reduce acid-sulfate (iron, aluminum, manganese)
PRO FProbiotic for gut support, better digestion in fingerlings
BIOMAXYeast boosts immunity, balances gut microbiome
ACTISELLive yeast balances gut microbes, stimulates feeding
AQUAMOSYeast nutrients stimulate immunity, healthy gut, faster growth
BETAGLUCAN GROBeta-glucan boosts health, stimulates natural immunity
CLEVERSuppress opportunistic gut bacteria (Vibrio)Use gentle doses for fingerlings, under guidance.
Keep nursery water clean (SOILMAX New, NIAZYME, YUCCA C, gentle exchange), support fry digestion and immunity (PRO F, BIOMAX, ACTISEL, AQUAMOS) and detect disease early (scope parasites, watch the liver). Feed to appetite, avoid leftover fine feed.
Usually fast toxic-gas rise in the nursery, parasites (Trichodina, flukes) or early necrosis. Check water, scope parasites and watch the liver to treat the right cause.
Treat with FLOR-MAX at a careful, size-based dose (fingerlings are drug-sensitive), with HERB GUARD for liver recovery and reduced feeding. Observe withdrawal.
Apply SOILMAX New + NIAZYME regularly; use YUCCA C to absorb NH3 when high; exchange water gently and avoid leftover fine feed.
Than Vuong technical team — free protocol consultation for your pond/cage, 24h response.
Aquaculture Q&A
CALPHOS GRO
MIXBOOM
MAX LIVER (Dung dịch)
OXYTETRA
TETRA-C
WORK 80
POWER GLUTA
AQUA DINE New