Effect of protein ratio on growth and survival of cultivated common carp larvae

Abstract

The current experiment was conducted in the Fish Laboratory belonging to Aquaculture Unit, Agriculture College, Basrah University. At the beginning of feeding experiment average larvae weight was 0.031 g. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) larvae brought from Fish Hatchery of Marine Science Center. The experiment used to detect the protein ratio effects on growth and survival of common carp larvae. Three fish feed with protein ratio (T1 35, T2 40, T3 45)% and only fish meal of 55% protein (T4) were used to feeding 25 larvae in each aquarium to satiation six days a week. Twelve aquaria with dimensions of 60×40×30 cm were used for current experiment. Feeding experiment lasted for 54 days from 10th may to 3th July 2022. Results of current experiments revealed that the highest growth criteria were achieved by larvae fed on diet with protein ratio of 40% followed by larvae fed on diet with 45% protein ratio, while lowest growth criteria achieved by larvae fed on fish meal only. Highest survival rate (96.0%) was achieved by larvae fed on diet with 45% protein ratio and lowest survival rate (78.7%) was achieved by larvae fed on diet with 40% protein ratio. There were significant differences P≤0.05 between T2 with T3 and T4 in the survival rate, while there were no significant differences P≥0.05 between T1, T3 and T4.