Effects of bamboo substrate and supplementary feed on growth and production of the African catfish, &lt;i&gt;Clarias gariepinus&lt;/i&gt;

S Amisah,D Adjei-Boateng,Dd Afianu

doi:10.4314/jasem.v12i2.55521

Abstract

The effects of bamboo poles as substrate for periphyton development on the growth and production of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, was evaluated over a period of 90 days. Three treatments, namely manureapplication as control (C), control and substrate installation (C + S) and, control and substrate with supplementary feeding (C + S + F) were randomly allotted to six earthen ponds each with an area of 100m2. Catfish fingerlings of mean weight 27.5g + 1.25 were stocked at the rate of 80 fish per 100m2. Water temperature, pH, Total Alkalinity,Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), ammonia and nitrites were monitored during the study. The results obtained after a 90-day culture period indicated no significant variations in water quality between treatments. Similarly, there were no significant difference in survival between the treatments which ranged from 81.3%, 96.8% and 86.3% for the C, C+Sand C+S+F respectively. The mean gross fish yield (kg/100m2) varied from 16.0kg for C + S, 9.5kg for C + S + F and 6.0kg for C. the study indicated bamboo poles as substrate for periphyton was a superior alternative to improve catfish production under pond conditions.

Highlights

Monoculture of an indigenous farmed species, catfish, was used with the principal aim of improving fish production in aquaculture systems. Against this background the study was conducted in order to Evaluate the effects of bamboo substrate and supplementary feed on the growth performance of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus and assess the potential of periphyton-based aquaculture in improving fish production
Provision of bamboo substrates resulted in 70.4% greater fish production than in the control system, whereas supplementary feeding in the same substrate system yielded 29.5% more than in the control system
The results obtained in this study corroborate similar findings in which fish yields of 66-71% for substrate treatment than in control system have been documented (Azim et al, 2002)

Summary

Introduction

Hard substrates such as bamboo and other tree branches, which are generally absent in traditional fish ponds are essential component of the periphyton-based aquaculture for inducing bacterial and zooplanktonic biomass associated with alga growth. A system of periphyton-based aquaculture was considered as an alternative to fish production in conventional, substrate-free, pond. Against this background the study was conducted in order to Evaluate the effects of bamboo substrate and supplementary feed on the growth performance of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus and assess the potential of periphyton-based aquaculture in improving fish production.

Results

Conclusion