The effects of Chaetoceros sp. meal as a feed supplement on color expression, growth performance and survival rate of discus (Symphysodon discus)

Abstract

Discus fish is one of the ornamental fish that has high economic value based on its color characteristic. To increase fish body color, its need carotenoids obtained from feed. Chaetoceros sp. is a natural food rich in carotenoids, especially fucoxanthin. This study aims to evaluate the effect of diets consisting of 0% (control), 5%, 10% and 15% Chaetoceros sp. powder on color expression (brightness value and color density), growth performance and survival rates of Symphysodon discus. Chaetoceros sp. powder was added into the basal diet. One hundred of discus fish with an average length of 0.5 cm were cultured for 56 days. The result showed that the supplementation of 5-15% Chaetoceros sp. powder had no significant effects on the survival rate and the brightness value of discus fish. The increasing of Chaetoceros sp. powder supplementation showed a lower rate of growth performance compared to control (p<0.05), however the color density was observed to increase significantly at 15% Chaetoceros sp. treatment (p<0.05). As the conclusion, this study showed that dietary Chaetoceros sp. could improve the color expression especially the color density of discus fish and the supplementation level was suggested to be 10% Chaetoceros sp powder.