Probiotic supplementation for enhanced growth of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) in cages

Abstract

At present, the application of probiotics in aquaculture is gaining wide acceptance for its beneficial effect on fish production. This study focused on evaluating the potency of a commercial multi-strain probiotic on mean growth, feed utilization parameters, yield and survival for profitable cage culture of striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus at haor floodplain of Bangladesh. The present study was designed using five treatments (n = 3) in which the fishes were fed commercial pellet diets enriched with 0 % (Control – P0.00), 0.1 % (P0.10), 0.15 % (P0.15), 0.2 % (P0.20) and 0.25 % (P0.25) probiotic. kg−1 feed for 12 weeks. End of the culture period, the fish groups fed probiotic supplemented diets exhibited significant improvement in growth parameters. Weight gain, survival rate, relative growth rate, specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in P0.20 (808.44 ± 3.67 g, 96.71 ± 0.16 %, 1496.12 ± 2.69 %, 3.08 ± 0.01 % and 3.03 ± 0.01) compared to P0.00, P0.10 and P0.15. The feed conversion ratio significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in P0.20 (1.21 ± 0.01) than other treatments. Significantly (P < 0.05) higher production of P. hypophthalmus was attained in P0.20 (17.20 ± 0.05 kg.m−3), which ultimately boosted gross revenue. The highest benefit-cost ratio was obtained from P0.20 (1.54 ± 0.00). The growth and economic parameters did not exhibit any significant difference between P0.20 and P0.25. However, minimal probiotic inclusion is preferable for its reduced input cost. The overall results indicated that 0.2 % dietary probiotic supplementation hones the growth, yield and survival for profitable floodplain cage culture.