EFFECTS OF FEED FORMS AND FEEDING FREQUENCY AND GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF Clarias gariepinus FED COMMERCIAL FEED

Abstract

This review investigated the effect of feed form and feeding frequency of Clarias gariepinus fed floating and sinking pellet feeds, growth performance of Clarias gariepinus fed fish feeds, similarly to evaluate growth of C. gariepinus fed 5 difference commercial feeds. Fish fed with floating pellet had highest Final Weight Gain with the value of 9.50g than those fed with sinking pellet feed with the value of 8.98g. Final Weight Gain and Daily Feed Intake of C. gariepinus fed floating or sinking pellet feed fed twice a day and thrice a day were significantly higher than those fed once a day (p < 0.05). There were significant difference (p < 0.05) in Specific Growth Rate (SGR) with value of 2.79 and Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) with value of 1.97 in C. gariepinus fed Aqua and Rana feeds. Furthermore, there were significant difference (p < 0.05) in the survival rate of the fish species fed Coppens (93.33%) while lowest (46.67%) in C. gariepinus fed with Aqua feed. C. gariepinus juvenile fed with Coppens, Multifeed and Eurogold with Final Mean Weight value of 181.54, 179.92, 0.95 and 139.92 respectively, while Final Mean Weight for Vital and Ajanla were 110.1 and 119.03respectively. Fish fed with Coppens had the highest SGR (3.19%) and lowest (2.71%) in those fed with Eurogold feed. C. gariepinus can be fed floating and sinking pellet feeds twice or thrice per day for optimum growth. C. gariepinus should be fed with feed that have macronutrient composition 7 of 45% crude proteins, 12% crude fat, 1.5 crude fiber and 9.5% Ash in order to promote better growth.