Effects of feeding rates on growth, body composition and economic performance of juvenile clariid catfish hybrid (female Clarias gariepinus X male Heterobranchus bidorsalis).

摘要

The effects of feeding rates on growth, body composition and economic performance of juvenile clariid catfish hybrid (C. gariepinus X H. bidorsalis) were studied using 18 glass tanks, 10 juveniles/tank. Triplicate groups of juvenile catfish hybrids(26.2?.8 g) were fed with experimental diet containing 40% CP at 0 (control), 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5% body weight (BW) daily for 8 weeks. No mortality was recorded in all the treatments throughout the experimental periods except the control which had 20% mortality. There were no differences in growth indices (average daily growth, percentage body weight increase, specific growth rate) at 3, 4 and 5% BW daily. Fat content of juveniles fed at 0, 1 and 2% BW daily were lower at the end of the experiment than theinitial values, while corresponding protein content in all treatments were higher than the initial protein content. Economic performance (gross profit) increased with feeding rates from 1% to plateau at 3% BW daily. Results obtained showed that the optimum feeding rate for the clariid catfish hybrid juveniles was 3% BW daily.