Growth pattern of <i>Macrobrachium vollenhovenii</i> fed with varied crude protein levels of purified and local diets

Abstract

Feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of different dietary protein on the growth of Macrobrachium vollenhovenii under laboratory conditions for 60 days. Post-larvae (average weight, 3.02 ± 0.08 g) of Macrobrachium vollenhovenii were reared on purified diets containing different crude protein (CP) levels (25%, 30%, 35%, 40% and 45%); another diet containing 40% CP served as the control in a completely randomized design (CRD). The water quality parameters such as the temperature (27 – 30 ºC), pH (6.26 - 8.09), DO (4.17 - 6.92 mg/L), salinity (2 – 5 ‰) and conductivity (65 – 354 μS/cm) were found to be within the acceptable range for aquaculture. At the end of the culture trial, the prawns that received 40% CP, compounded from local ingredients performed significantly (P < 0.05) better than the other treatments in terms of average Weight Gain (1.18g), Specific Growth Rate (0.61 %/day), Food Conversion Ratio (5.50), Protein Efficiency Ratio (0.60), Food Efficiency Ratio (0.21) and the survival rate (70.83%). The least growth performance was obtained at the 25 % and 45 % crude protein substitution. This study showed that 40% CP is adequate for the culture of Macrobrachium vollenhovenii.