Performance of Different Feeding Frequency on Growth Indices and Survival of Monosex Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Teleostei: Cichlidae) Fry

Abstract

An experiment was conducted for twenty eight days to evaluate the efficacy of feeding frequency on growth performance and survival of monosex tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fry. A total of 13,500 fry of threedays-old (weight 0.018±0.04 g) were stocked in nine hapa (1×1×1 m 3 ) at the rate of 1500 fry/hapa. The hapas were divided into three treatments on the basis of feeding frequency viz. 3 (T1), 4 (T2) and 5 (T3) times per day respectively, having three replications. Fry were fed with 17α-methyltestosterone (MT) hormone mixed feed initially at the rate of 25% of their body weight and the rate was gradually reduced by 10% up to the final week. The water quality parameters were monitored found to be within suitable range for proper growth of O. niloticus. After ending the trial period, significant variations (P<0.01) were observed in three treatments and T3 showed the best performance in case of all parameters studied such as weight gain (WG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and specific growth rate (SGR). The survival rates were estimated highest (95.66%) in T3 compared to the rest two treatments (T1 and T2). The results revealed that feeding frequency had a positive effect on growth indices and the survival rate of O. niloticus fry.