Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Abstract

Growth Performance of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Juveniles Reared in Wastewater Treated with Alum and Moringa oleifera Seed

Akinwole AO, Dauda AB and Ololade OA

Growth performance of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juvenile cultured with wastewater treated by solid removal, using alum and moringa oleifera seed as coagulants was examined. Wastewater from fish rearing pond was collected and treated with 120 mg L^-1 of alum and moringa seed and the supernatant water was decanted and used for fish culture. Ninety Clarias gariepinus juveniles with mean weight of 10 g were stocked at the rate of 5 kg m^-3 per tank in triplicates for each treatment. Each tank contained 20 L of the respective treated wastewater, while the control contained freshwater from deep well. Water in the culture tanked was changed every 72 h and replaced with treated water from the experimental tanks. Growth and feed utilization parameters were assessed fortnightly for 12 weeks. Data obtained were analysed using one way analysis of variance and where significant difference was observed Tukey HSD test was used to establish the exact pairs with difference. The growth performance and feed efficiency of catfish cultured with moringa seed treated water (MSTW) did not differ (P>0.05) from those cultured with deep well water but were higher (P<0.05) than those of catfish raised with alum treated water (ATW). The MSTW catfish had higher (P<0.05) survival rate of 93.33 ± 3.83% compared with the control (90.78 ± 30.64%) and ATW catfish (30.00 ± 26.40%). The MSTW catfish exhibited the best performance in terms of total production per cubic metre of water used, with a value of 2.64 ± 0.46 Kg m^-3 , compared with 0.94 ± 0.02 Kg m^-3 and 0.82 ± 0.61 Kg m^-3 in the control and ATW catfish respectively. M. oleifera seed could be effectively used for wastewater treatment and water reuse in the culture of Clarias gariepinus without negative effect on the growth and feed utilization.