Comparative Study Of Growth Performance Of African Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus) Fed With Three Commercial Feeds In The Institute Of Oceanography Fish Farm, University Of Calabar, Nigeria..pdf

Fish is an important and one of the cheapest sources of animal protein and account for about 37% of Nigeria total protein requirement. For fish farming to be highly successful in Nigeria there is need for good quality and affordable feed, which can also encourage small scale farmers in the field of aquaculture for sustainable production and also meet the demand for fish. This study evaluated the growth performance of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fed with three commercial fish feeds in the production of African catfish (C. gariepinus). A total number of ninety (90) C. gariepinus fingerlings were used for this study. The fingerlings reared were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments: Treatment A (Aller aqua feed), Treatment B (Top feed), and Treatment C (Vital feed). Each treatment was replicated two times in a completely randomized design. The experiment lasted for 12 weeks during which the parameters monitored included weight gain, length increase, percentage weight gain, specific growth rate, food conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance at 5% significant level. The results revealed that the highest weight gain was recorded by the fish fed with Aller aqua feed (239.66±0.02 g) followed by those fed with Top feed (102.69±0.14 g), while the lowest was found in those fed with Vital feed (73.63±0.11 g). The highest length increase was recorded by the fish fed with Aller aqua (30.78 cm) followed by those fed with Top feed (19.81 cm), and the least in those fed with Vital feed (11.25 cm). The percentage weight gain of C. gariepinus fingerlings was highest (22.55±2.44%g/d) in those fed with Aller aqua followed by those fed with Top feed (9.55±1.92%g/d) and the least in those fed with Vital feed (6.91±0.87%g/d). The specific growth rate was highest (0.28±0.17) in those fed with Aller aqua followed by those fed with Top feed (0.21±0.15) and the least in those fed with Vital feed (0.18±0.34). The best feed conversion ratio was recorded in fingerlings fed with Aller aqua (2.09±0.01) followed by those fed with Top feed (4.87±0.03) and the least in those fed with Vital feed (6.79±0.25). The best value for protein efficiency ratio was recorded in the C. gariepinus fingerlings fed with Aller aqua (1.17±0.11) while the poorest protein efficiency ratio was evident in those fed with Vital (0.49±0.16). Fingerlings of C. gariepinus fed with Top feed had the highest survival (93.33±0.24%) and the least in those of Vital feed (73.33±1.03%).There was significant difference between the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed with the three commercial feeds for 12 Weeks (P<0.05).There was no significant difference between the protein efficiency ratio C. gariepinus juveniles fed with the three experimental diets for 12 weeks (P>0.05).The mean survival rate of fish during the experiment did not show significant difference (P>0.05) between fish fed with the three commercial feeds.Although, there were difference in the weekly measurements of the physicochemical parameters, but there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in the mean values of temperature (0.06) and pH (0.61) of the different culture treatments. Based on the findings of this study, Aller aqua fish feed is best prescribed among the three commercial fish feeds whileVital feeds was ranked the least