Effect of flour-based feed of Tenebrio molitor l. on fresh water lobster (Cherax quadricarinatus von Martens) seed growth

Abstract

Feed according to nutrient requirements is a major aspect to support optimum growth of C. quadricarinatus. Commontly, farmers still use fish flour as a source of feed nutrients. However, the price of fish flour often fluctuates. While, T. molitor L. flour has potential to be an alternative feed ingredient for C. quadricarinatus because of its high nutrient content. This study aims to determine the effect of feed based on T. molitor L. flour on C. quadricarinatus growth, which is measured by parameters of wet biomass (gram/week), dry biomass (gram/week), carapace length (mm/week), FCR, and FUE (%/week) during the research period. The research was carried out in March-September 2021 at the Animal Laboratory of the Biology Education Study Program, University of Jember. The test animals used were C. quadricarinatus seeds aged 80 days with wet biomass (4±0.3grams) and carapace length (23±0.6mm). This study was an experimental design using a completely randomized design, consisting of 2 treatments 1 control with 3 replications each. The results showed that feeding with flour-based T. molitor L. had a significant effect on the growth of wet biomass (p=0.047), dry biomass (p=0.046), and carapace length (p=0.011). However, FCR and FUE showed no significant effect (p=0.089; p=0.162 respectively).