Effect of Shrimp Head Meal Supplementation on Growth and Color Enhancement in Rainbow Fish (Melanotaenia sp.)

Introduction: Color brightness in ornamental fish is influenced by several factors including genetics, environmental conditions, and feed nutrition. An effective way to enhance the color brightness of ornamental fish is to incorporate carotenoid-rich feed additives. Rainbow fish (Melanotaenia sp.) often face challenges with suboptimal color brightness, which can be addressed by supplementing their artificial feed with shrimp head meal, which is a rich source of astaxanthin. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of shrimp head meals on the color intensity and growth of rainbow fish. Methods: A completely randomized design (CRD) experiment was conducted with four treatments, each replicated three times. The treatments included feed formulations with varying levels of shrimp head meal (0 %, 5 %, 10 %, and 15 %). A total of 15 fish, with an average weight of 1.42 ± 0.42 g, were reared in 15 L aquariums for 45 days. Results: Feed was administered thrice daily (morning, afternoon, and evening). The findings revealed that feed containing 10% shrimp head meal significantly produced color intensity, relative growth rate (RGR), and specific growth rate (SGR), with values of 22.15 ± 0.13, 29.73 ± 1.11, and 26.95 ± 1.70, respectively (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, parameters such as the feed conversion ratio (FCR), feed efficiency (EPP), protein efficiency ratio (PER), and survival rate (SR) showed no significant differences across treatments. Conclusion: Supplementing rainbow fish feed with 10% shrimp head meal effectively enhanced the growth and color intensity of Melanotaenia sp.