Growth performance of juvenile Clarias gariepinus fed dried Eichhornia crassipes leaf meal

Abstract

The invasive water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) poses a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems but also offers a potential alternative to expensive fishmeal in aquaculture feeds. The study evaluated the growth performance and survival of juvenile Clarias gariepinus (weight: 4.95±0.154 g and length: 9.07±0.378 cm) fed diets with varying levels of water hyacinth leaf meal (WHLM) as a fishmeal (FM) replacement. The diets were TD1 (100% FM), TD2 (25% WHLM), TD3 (50% WHLM), TD4 (75% WHLM), and TD5 (100% WHLM). A 49-day feeding trial, conducted in a controlled condition, monitored fish growth, survival and water quality parameters. The feeding experiment was conducted in fifteen plastic tanks of 50-liter capacity each stocked with 10 juvenile C. gariepinus. The fish were fed twice daily at 3% of body weight. The control diet (TD1 diet) exhibited the best growth, followed by TD2, TD3, TD4 and TD5 diets. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio and average daily growth between the control and WHLM-containing diets. Water quality parameters remained within acceptable limits for juvenile C. gariepinus growth, indicating that WHLM can be a suitable partial replacement for fishmeal. The study therefore suggests 25% water hyacinth leaf meal as a promising diet for sustainable production of juvenile gariepinus.