Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Abstract

Improvement of Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758) Growth Performance Fed Three Commercial Feed Additives in Diets

Adekunle Ayokanmi Dada

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of three commercial feed additives on growth, nutrient utilization, body composition and haematological profile of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fingerlings (average initial weight of 7.18-7.35 g). Three commercial feed additives Aqua booster® (Fish Vet, Inc. product, Ohio Dayton.), Aqua superliv® (Ayurvet Limited product, India) and Aqua pro® (Smart Microbial, Inc., USA) were added to the basal diet at 0.5 g /100 g of feed additive respectively and fed to the fish for 56 days at 5% body weight. Fish fed on diets with commercial feed additives showed significantly improved growth performance, feed utilization and body composition compared to fish fed on the control diet. The best growth was observed in the group fed dietary Aqua superliv® and the protein efficiency ratio was significantly highest in groups fed dietary Aqua booster® while specific growth rate was significantly highest in groups fed dietary Aqua superliv®. The highest protein content (70.87%) was obtained in the fish fed dietary Aqua pro® while the moisture content did not differ among treatments. Ash and lipid contents were significantly affected by feed additives. The results revealed that using Aqua superliv® at the level of 0.5 g/100 g feed was the best in terms of weight gain (8.85 ± 0.92 g) and feed utilization (FCR=0.26).