Growth performances of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed with seaweed (Hypnea sp.)

Abstract

Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is one of the fastest growing aquaculture species of Bangladesh. In this study, juvenile tilapia was reared with commercial feed supplemented with seaweed Hypnea sp. for three months to assess the effect of seaweed on growth. In total 30 similar sized tilapia fingerlings of one month age were kept in each of 10 aquaria. They were fed under five treatments, viz. T1 (5% sea weed), T2 (10% sea weed), T3 (15% sea weed), T4 (20% sea weed) and C (Commercial feed) with a replica for each. The average daily growth (0.093±0), specific growth rate(2.04±0.01), and value of condition factor (K) for T2 (K=2.32±0.05) was found to be highest while the feed conversion ratio (FCR)of this treatment (1.94±0.01) was found to be the lowest, after3 months of rearing period. In addition, it was evident that excess seaweed supplementation caused ceasing of growth performances. All these results indicated that using 10% seaweed (Hypnea sp.) as supplementary food additives with commercial feed can be considered as best for Nile tilapia to improve their growth within the culture period.