Evaluation of Three Commercial Catfish Feed through Growth and Nutrient Utilization Performance of Clarias Gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) Fingerlings

Abstract

Selection of appropriate diet reduces cost of production and improves yield in aquaculture system. This study is aimed at evaluating growth performance and nutrient utilization of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed three different commercial catfish feeds. A completely randomized design was employed, and the fingerlings were acclimated for twelve days before the feeding trial commenced. The experiment was conducted in a set of 50L plastic container operated under a flow-through drainage system. Fifteen fish were stocked into each tank while each treatment had three replicates. The experimental diets included three established commercial feeds namely; a locally formulated diet (T1), Blue Crown (T2), Top Feed (T3) and Vital Feed (T4). The feeding trial was conducted for eight weeks using fingerlings of initial average body weight of 6.930- 7.020g. The fish were fed twice daily at 5% body weight. Growth parameters evaluated include mean weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) while the evaluated feed utilization indices were feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), apparent net protein utilization (ANPU) and fish carcass proximate parameters. There were significant differences (p<0.05) between the treatments in all the evaluated parameters with T2 and T4 having best values in WG (5.787g& 6.516g respectively) and FCR (1.497 & 1.560 respectively). The T2 and T4 also had highest fat content at 14.06% & 13.28% respectively and Protein content of 49.00% and 48.35% respectively. Overall performance indicated the Blue Crown and Vital feed supports better growth and feed utilization of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings.