Substituting fish meal with fermented seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii in diets of juvenile freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Abstract

The substitution seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii by replacing fish meal in giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii was carried out by incorporating raw and fermented Kappaphycus alvarezii at three levels, 10 %, 20 % and 30 % in diets. In 15 days digestibility experiment, among the raw and fermented seaweeds incorporated diets, the freshwater prawn fed with fermented K. alvarezii (FK) at 10 %, showed maximum apparent digestibility coefficients for dry matter (96.46 %), APD (94.54 %) and ALD (94.69 %). In the 45 days growth experiment, prawn fed with FK at 10 % showed maximum mean weight gain (3.38 g), SGR (2.2326), mean feed intake (4.47 g) and PER (1.4256). The best FCR value of 1.1424 was observed in prawn fed with FK at 10 % incorporation followed by FK at 20 % incorporation (1.1466). The whole body composition of prawns fed the raw and fermented seaweeds incorporated diets did not show any variations in moisture, protein, lipid and ash. The results of the study suggest that the raw K. alvarezii could be incorporated in freshwater prawn diets up to 10 % and 20 % respectively and fermented K. alvarezii could be incorporated up to 30 % level without compromising growth, digestibility and flesh quality