Supplement usage and development of Clarias gariepinus fed to four different commercial feeds

Abstract

Several studies had been conducted on the nutritional requirements of African catfish, Clarias
gariepinus. Nevertheless, currently there is a gap about the gross composition of feed ingredients
required for formulation of commercial feeds. The aims of this feeding trial were to investigate whether
fish fed four different commercial feeds have a significant growth rate and nutrient utilization. A total of
120 fish samples were stocked for a triplicate feeding trial (10 fish for each replication) in 4 separated
tanks with 4 different feeds: Euro, Melick, Coppens and Durante (T1), (T2), (T3) and (T4) respectively.
During all the trial, the water quality and growth parameters were determined according to standard
methods and no significant differences were found among the water quality parameters determined.
The mean weight gain (MWG) and specific growth rate of T3 were significantly higher than those of
other treatments. Statistics showed that protein efficiency ratio (PER) of T3 was significantly higher
than other treatments. Contrary to the above trend, the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of T2 was
significantly higher than other treatments. According to the results of this study, fish fed with Coppens
feed showed a significant growth rate and nutrient utilization.