Effect of varying levels of lipid on growth performance, survival and body composition of Milkfish (Chanos chanos)

Abstract

A 45 days feeding trial was conducted to study the effect of varying levels of lipid on growth performance, survival and body composition of milkfish (Chanos chanos) with average weight of (1.96 ± 0.02 g). Four is nitrogenous experimental diets formulated with increasing levels (4, 8, 12 and 16 %) of lipid. The trial was carried out in 300-L fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) tanks with three replicates (each containing 15 fish) for each treatment and fish were hand fed in twice daily at 10.00 and 16.00 hours The results of the feeding trial showed that there was a significant (P 0.05) difference in survival and daily growth coefficient among the fish fed with different experimental diets. Survival was greater than 95% in all treatments. Whole body composition of post fed animals showed significant differences (P 0.05) difference in condition factor, hepatosomatic index and viscerosomatic index (VSI) among the different treatment groups. The results of this experiment reveals that 8% lipid in diet of milkfish juveniles is optimal for the better growth and survival.