Non-fishmeal based, and Selected Indigenous Raw Materials as Cost-Effective Feeds for Milkfish Aquaculture

This study aimed to find alternative feeds or supplementary feeds that can perform similarly to the existing commercial feeds thereby reducing farmer expense and cutting down their cost of production and increasing their profitability on Milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsskål, 1775) aquaculture. The formulations for the study included four grow-out treatments mainly: control (commercial feed), taro+control (powdered Colocasia esculenta+commercial fish feed), bloodmeal (formulated fish feed based on bloodmeal), banana stem+control (chopped banana stem+commercial fish feed). The result of the study showed no significant differences between feed treatments from the 6^th^ week onwards, whether with weight (MS=0.130, df=3, F=1.14, p=0.333) or total length of the treatments (MS=0.008, df=3, F=0.40, p=0.75). The FCR ratio showed bloodmeal (1.60) as the lowest, followed by the control (1.65), and taro+commercial (1.71), and then banana stem+commercial (2.18). In terms of weight gain, fish from the bloodmeal treatment gained the highest (236.97 g), followed by control (223.33 g), then taro (217.67 g), and banana stem (196.99 g). As a result, we find that any of the tested treatments can serve as an alternative feed to using purely commercial fish feeds. Cost-benefit analysis showed that a better gross profit margin of 42% and cost-benefit ratio of 1.37 was observed in taro+commercial feed diet. The experiment showed that the taro, Blood meal, and banana stem can be used as an alternative feed component for sustainable milkfish farming

Hematological profile of red drum <em>Sciaenops ocellatus</em> (Linnaeus, 1766) under natural and commercial feed nutritional conditions

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of natural and commercial feeds on the hematological characteristics of red drum Sciaenops ocellatus. At different durations up to 30 days of feeding, blood samples were collected from the caudal vein. Biochemical analyses were conducted, and blood smears were prepared and stained with Giemsa. The results showed that the number of erythrocytes fluctuated from 2.07 to 6.32 × 10^6^/μL, the percentage of leukocytes was about 0.34 to 4.80%, and platelets ranged from 0.14 to 4.49% compared to the number of erythrocytes. Pearson correlation (r) between the cell morphological parameters, such as the erythrocyte length and width, with the length, width and area of the nuclei of erythrocytes was not greater than 0.30, while in the group of fish consuming natural feed, the correlation coefficient between cell length and width with the area were 0.57 and 0.52 respectively. In both groups of fish, we found many types of morphological disorders of erythrocytes associated with the cell membrane, and disorders associated with the cell nucleus were expressed at a low level. In addition, the study results also provided biochemical data of red drum such as glucose (1.8 – 22.4 mmol/L), urea (0.6 – 1.7 mmol/L), creatinine (12.1 – 43.2 µmol/L), triglyceride (2.5 – 10.7 mmol/L), AST (4.7 – 68.9 U/L), ALT (0.3 – 6.1 U/L) and protein (21.0 – 49.2 g/L). Overall, these findings contribute to understanding the health and physiological responses of red drum, offering valuable data for optimizing feeding strategies in aquaculture

Comparison of the potential effects of three compound probiotics on growth, intestinal microbiota, intestinal morphology, and immunity of juvenile turbot (<em>Scophthalmus maximus</em>)

A 36-day feeding trial was conducted to compare the effects of the diet addition of three commercial compound probiotics (Ma, Mb, Mc) on growth performance, intestinal health, and immunity of juvenile turbot (30-day-old, 0.15 ± 0.07 g). The results showed that adding probiotics to the diet can improve growth performance and the Ma and Mb group had the most significant facilitation effect (P OTUs richness and diversity, the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes at the phylum level, and Lactobacillus at the genus level, with the significant enrichment of potential probiotics. Notably, the Ma group also significantly increases metabolism-related functions. Both probiotic groups increased the fish intestinal villus length. Moreover, after 14 days of challenge test with Aeromonas salmonicida, the cumulative mortality rate was the lowest and the time of death was the latest in the Ma group. In general, compared with the Mb and Mc group, supplementation of Ma to juvenile turbot could significantly improve growth, intestinal morphology, and immune ability with the promotion of potential probiotics in the host intestine