GROWTH RESPONSE OF NILE TILAPIA FINGERLINGS (Oreochomis niloticus) FED DIETS CONTAINING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF BET AFIN | ||||
| Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||||
| Article 3, Volume 27, Issue 6, June 2002, Page 3747-3753 PDF (2.18 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2002.255553 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| F. I. Magouz, | ||||
| Department of Animal Production, Kafr EI-Sheikh, Faculty of Agriculture, Tanta University | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| A feeding trial was conducted in Fish Research Laboratory in Kafr EI-Sheikh, Faculty of Agriculture, Tanta University to study the effect of supplementing betafin as a pure form of betaine in the diet of monosex Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings on their growth performance and efficiency of feed and protein utilization. A set of 195 fingerlings monosex Nile tilapia with about 22 g average initial weight were taken from the stock of a private hatchary in Kafr EI-Sheikh Governorate. The fish were transported into glass aquaria in Kafr EI-Sheikh, Faculty of Agriculture and adapted for one month before the beginning of the experiment. The fish were divided into 15 similar groups and randomly distributed into 15 glass aquaria (80 x 35 x 40 ern) with 13 fish in each. A basal diet containing about 29 % crude protein was formulated from the commercial ingredients (Fish meal, soybean meal, yellow corn, wheat bran, cellulose and vitamin and mineral mixture). Betafin was added to the basal diet at 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 g/Kg deit or 0, 0.2,0.4 , 0.6 and 0.8 % of the total diet. The basal diet without betafin was considered as a control diet. The experimental diets were fed to fish groups at 3 % of their total biomass for 56 days. The results showed that growth parameters including body weight gain (BWG), average daily gain (AOG) and specific growth rate (SGR) were the highest in the groups fed diet containing 8 g betafin/kg, while the lowest values were obtained in the groups of the control diet . All betafin supplemented diets significantly improved BWG, AOG, SGR, FeR, PER and PPV as compared with the unsupplemented diet (control). Fish body composition was not affected by the supplementation of betafin in the diet. It is recommended to supplement the diet of Nile tilapia with betafin at 4 g/kg | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Betafin-Nile tilapia; growth; feed efficiency | ||||
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