Growth performance and nutrient composition of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed Spirulina flakes, rice bran and mustard oil cake.

INTRODUCTION

Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is an important cultured fish that is widely distributed in Bangladesh. This study was conducted to improve the growth performance and nutrient contents of the fish using five different types of feeds.

METHODS

Tilapia fingerlings were fed two types of commercial fish feeds (Feed-1 and Feed-2), Spirulina flakes (Feed-3), Feed-2 mixed with Spirulina flakes (Feed-4) and manually mixed feed made from a mixture of mustard oil cake and rice bran (Feed-5). After 4 weeks of being fed with the diets, growth parameters and meat nutrient composition of the tilapia fingerlings were recorded.

RESULTS

Significant growth in length and weight was observed in juvenile tilapia fish fed with commercial Feed-1 only, while growth performance varied significantly among fingerlings fed other types of feeds. Body tissue calcium (92.8 mg/100 g), iron (1.29 mg/100 g) was higher in fishes fed with dry Spirulina flakes (Feed 3), while the highest amount of zinc (2.09 mg/100 g) was recorded in fishes fed Feed-5. Protein (13.32%) content was highest in fish fed Feed-2 mixed with Spirulina flakes (Feed-4).

CONCLUSION

Meat nutritional quality of tilapia can be improved by combining commercial feeds with Spirulina flakes, compared with feeding commercial feeds in isolation.