Effects of feeding frequency on growth and survival in fry of gold fish, Carassius auratus (Hamilton) in outdoor rearing system

Abstract

The effect of feeding frequency on the growth performance and survival of gold fish Carassius auratus fry was investigated in the outdoor rearing condition. A total of 135 gold fish fry of 7 days old (initial weight = 0.17±0.00 g) were stocked at the rate of 15 fry/hapa (90×45×60 cm 3 ) and reared for 35 days set in a pond adjacent to the Faculty of Fisheries. There were three treatments: T1 (feeding once daily), T2 (feeding twice daily) and T3 (feeding thrice daily) each having three replications with same stocking densities. A commercial diet in powdered form (Mega feed; Spectra Hexa Feeds Ltd) containing 34.11% protein was supplied to the fry in each hapa. Initially, the fry were fed at a rate of 100% of their body weight, then the rate was minimized gradually to 80%, 60%, 40%, and 20% respectively at 7 days interval. At the end of experiment, T3 showed the best performance in case of final body weight, percent body weight, specific growth rate (SGR) and survival of gold fish fry in outdoor nursing condition. The present study suggested that a higher feeding frequency is needed for aquarium suitable gold fish production in large scale basis that will ultimately popularize the ornamental fish keeping among the enthusiastic people.