Comparative studies on the growth and survival of African catfish, <i>Clarias gariepinus</i> (Burchell, 1822) juveniles reared in cages suspended in concrete tank and earthen pond in Umudike, Abia State

Abstract

Comparative studies were carried out to evaluate the growth and survival of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus reared in cages suspended in tank and pond of surface area 24m 2 and 450m 2 respectively. The result showed that growth was better in pond than in tank. At the end of the culture period, the percentage survival was 97.96 % in tank and 93.88 % in pond and this did not differ significantly (p>0.05) among the stocking densities. There was no significant difference in food conversion efficiency (FCE) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) at different stocking densities between the two systems. Fish stocked at 7m -3 grew better than those stocked at higher densities (14m -3 and 28m -3 ). Statistical analysis of the data collected showed significant difference (P< 0.05) in the specific growth rate. The analysis of the labour cost required for the adoption of net cage culture in both concrete tank and earthen pond systems, proved it to be more efficient and profitable for juvenile catfish production.