Effect of Raw Spirulina Platensis Supplement on the Colour Enhancement and Growth Performance of Guppy Fish — Red Blonde (Poecilia Reticulata)
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Date
2013
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Aquarium fish industry in Sri Lanka has become a valuable source of foreign exchange recently. Guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata) ranks the highest (67%) market in Sri Lankan fresh water ornamental exports. Spirulina platensis is one of commercially important micro algae due to its overall nutritional qualities. The study investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of different percentages of raw Spirulina platensis (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%) (Spirulina platennsis perentages measured based on wet weight) on growth performance, feed conversion rate and survival rate in guppy and were compared with commercial feed as the control treatment. Spirulina platensis were cultured in an axenic batch culture method in Zarrouck's medium, under illumination with a photo period of 12 hours light and dark. Glass tanks (0.3 m x 0.15 m x 0.15 m) were used for each treatment with 3 replicates and 21 days old red blond guppy were reared with a stocking density of 10 fish/tank. Fish were fed, twice per day at a rate of 10% of body weight for 60 days. Data were collected every 2 weeks interval and analyzed by one way Analysis Variance (ANOVA). At the end of the experiment, there were significant differences between all the diets in terms of average body weights (p<0.05). The highest recorded in 5% raw Spiruina platensis incorporated feed p.45 ±
0.09 g) and lowest in the control treatment (0.36 + 0.13 g). No significant differences were observed in weight gain and specific growth rate (p>0.05). However, there were significant differences in feed conversion rate between all the 'diets (p<0.05) and the highest recorded in 5% raw Spirulina platensis incorporated feed (1.43 ± 0.06) and the lowest in control treatment (2.05 ± 0.09). Best colour performance was observed with 25% raw Spirulina platensis incorporate diet, but almost similar colour enhancements was observed in each raw Spirulina incorporated diets. Therefore, this study can conclude that that 5% raw Spirulina platensis supplementation has a positive effect on the growth and the feed conversion rates in guppy fish and that percentage of raw Spirulina platensis can use for colour enhancement of guppy fish with less amount of raw Spirulina platensis.
Keywords: Poecilia reticulata, Spirulina platensis, Growth performance, Dietary supplementation, Colour enhancement
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Aquatic Resources Technology Degree Programme ( AQT)