GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF NILE TILAPIA |(OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS) FRY FED WITH A DIETARY INCLUSION OF DECAPSULATED ARTEMM CYSTS

摘要

Previous works have demonstrated that a dietary inclusion of decapsulated Artemia cysts (DAC) in the red tilapia (Oroechromis mossambicus) fry starter diet, given during the first month of exogenous feeding, improved its growth performance and survival. In this case, the effect of a dietary inclusion of 10% DAC on growth and survival of the Nile tilapia O. nlloticus fry, was compared with a tilapia starter diet (IS). The experimental diets were studied with three replicates each (n = 40 fry per replicate) in a recirculating system and given at a feeding ratio of 25% of body weight per day, four times daily. The mean initial wet weight was 0.0173 ± 0.0050 g. The growth performance and survival were registered after 30 culture days. In average, fishlarvae fed with the 90%TS + 10%DAC were almost 0.6 g heavier compared with the 100%TS diet at the end of the experiment. There were differences (P < 0.05) in daily weight gain, specific growth rate and feed conversion between diets. Considering the feeding costs related to the possible use of DAC as dietary supplement in rearing of Nile tilapia fry, its dietary inclusion of 10% of the total diet is of great importance, and represents a very useful tool to reduce production expenditures improving fish growth performance. Nevertheless, before application of DAC at commercial level, still biological, technical and economical considerations should be carefully reviewed.