Effect of Feeding Single Ingredient Supplemental Diet on Growth, Feed Utilization, Plankton Abundance and Survival of Tilapia, Tilapia rendalli Boulenger, in Ponds

Abstract

ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted in which tilapia, Tilapia rendalli, were evaluated in ponds fertilized with chicken manure to determine the effect of using different single ingredient supplements (soybean meal, maize (corn) bran, and rice bran) and chicken manure alone on plankton abundance, growth, and survival of fish in ponds. Juvenile T. rendalli weighing 5.73 ± 0.66 g and 6.72 ± 0.38 cm in length were stocked into twelve 20 m2 ponds (40 fish/pond). There were three replicated ponds for each treatment and chicken manure was applied once weekly at a rate of 500 kg/ha. The fish were fed twice daily at the rate 3% body weight per day. After 84 days, the T. rendalli in the soybean treatment were significantly (P < 0.05) larger and had higher extrapolated net annual yields than those in maize bran, rice bran, and chicken manure treatments. The survival of the fish did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) and ranged from 93.3 to 94.2% across treatments. The whole-body composition of fish and zooplankton was influenced by treatments applied. Chlorophyll a was significantly (P < 0.05) higher (101.9 μg/L) in the soybean and the zooplankton numbers/L varied with treatments. The stomach contents indicated that fish cultured in ponds supplied with rice bran and chicken manure consumed significantly (P < 0.05) higher amounts detritus. The overall results indicated that it's better to supplement cultured fish with soybean for more yield than maize bran, rice bran, or chicken manure fertilization alone.