Composite fish culture is also called polyculture of fishes.

It is advantageous as it is economical and profitable from business point of view. It yields about more production upto 8 to 9 times as compared to monoculture. In composite fish culture, 5 or 6 species of fast growing fish are cultured in single fish pond which do not compete with each other for space and nutrition. They live in distinct zones inside the pond and have distinct feeding habits. For example, a highly yielding Indian fish pond may contain following six species of fishes: 1 Silver carp which is a surface and feeds on phytoplankton; 2. Catla which is also a surface feeder but it feeds on zooplankton; 3. Rohu which is column feeder and it feeds on detritus; 4. Grass carp which feeds on aquatic plants (including weeds); 5. Mrigal which is a bottom feeder and it feeds on detritus; and 6. Common carp which is omnivorous bottom feeder.