Enhancing the efficiency of the cultivation of cladocerans ( sp. and sp.) through dietary diversification strategies.

The establishment of a feeding regimen for cladocerans is crucial in contemporary aquaculture due to their significance as nutrient-rich live feeds for various aquatic species. Three experiments were conducted to optimize the growth and reproduction rates of cladocerans ( sp. and sp.) using various stocking densities, types of food, and feeding regimens, emphasizing the importance of sp. in enhancing aquaculture productivity. In the first experiment, five different initial stocking densities: 1 × 10 indv. L (T), 3 × 10 indv. L (T), 6 × 10 indv. L (T), 9 × 10 indv. L (T), and 12 × 10 indv. L (T) of cladocerans were tested over a 10-day culture period, where T demonstrated the best growth. Using the best initial stocking density from experiment 1, the second experiment assessed varying concentrations of sp.: 1 × 10, 5 × 10, 10 × 10, 15 × 10, and 20 × 10 cells mL in T, T T T and T, respectively as feed of cladocerans; among them, T exhibited the highest population density. Experiment 3 evaluated the effects of three different diets including live sp. (T), baker's yeast () (T), and sp. + baker's yeast () (T) on the growth of cladocerans over 10 days. The study employed the optimal initial stocking density of cladocerans and the feeding concentration of sp. as determined from the prior two experiments. Notably, T yielded the highest zooplankton density in this investigation. These findings indicate that elevating the initial stocking density of cladocerans and increasing the concentrations of sp. as feed up to an optimal level can effectively enhance the population growth of cladocerans. Both very low and excessively high initial stocking density, as well as suboptimal and excessively high concentrations of sp., negatively impact the growth of cladocerans. Moreover, using sp. alone or in combination with baker's yeast () enhances the growth and reproduction rates of cladocerans, indicating potential benefits for aquaculture systems.