THE EFFECT OF SUBSTITUTING MAIZE WITH GRADED LEVEL OF BISCUIT WASTE ON THE GROWTH PERFORMANCE, NUTRIENT UTILIZATION, CARCASS COMPOSITION, HAEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF AFRICAN CATFISH Clarias gariepinus (BURCHELL 1822)

The effect of replacing maize with biscuit waste (BW) in the diet of Clarias gariepinus was evaluated in a 70-day feeding trial. Four isonitrogenous diets were prepared in which biscuit waste was used to replace maize at a rate of 50, 75 and 100% respectively. A diet without biscuit waste served as control. Each treatment had three replicates stocked with 10 catfish juveniles per tank with (mean initial body weight16.44±2.21g) per fish. The performance of the fish fed test diets was compared with fish fed a maize-based control diet containing 42.94% crude protein. The fish on the test diets performed better than the fish fed control diet with respect to mean weight gain (95.12±2.78g in BW 75 Vs 78.67±3.74g in control) and specific growth rate (3.04±0.04 %day-1 Vs 2.79±0.07 %day-1). Feed intake, feed conversion ratio and the protein efficiency ratio were not significantly different between test diets and the control. The inclusion of biscuit waste significantly improved (P<0.05) crude protein retention in the fish carcass. All the haematological parameters increased as a result of BW inclusion, the converse was however observed in cholesterol and triglyceraldehyde. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in the cost of feed intake and value of fish.Â

Evaluation of soybean meal replacement with sesame seed meal using activated charcoal as an additive in the diet of African catfish juveniles, Clarias gariepinus

This study evaluated the effects of 0.25% activated charcoal added to sesame seed meal (SSM) in partial replacement of soybean meal (SBM) of juvenile Clarias gariepinus diet on growth and haematological parameters for 70 day experimental period. Six experimental diets were formulated as: control diet 1 (100% SSM without activated charcoal), control diet 2 (100% SSM plus 0.25% activated charcoal), diet 3 (50% SMB+50% SSM), diet 4 (50% SBM+50% SSM+0.25% AC), diet 5 (30% SBM+70% SSM) and diet 6 (30% SBM+70% SSM+0.25AC). The inclusion of activated charcoal recorded significant improvement in mean weight gain, mean feed intake, specific growth rate (SGR), protein intake (PI) and protein efficiency ratio (PER). The control diet 2 recorded the highest values for growth and nutrient utilization parameters while diet 5 recorded the least values for these parameters. The best values for mean weight gain (65.33±5.57 g), specific growth rate (2.56±0.12% / day) and feed conversion ratio (0.71±0.05) were recorded in fish fed control diet 2 while the worst values (41.30±3.82 g, 1.92±0.11% / day, and 1.07±0.07, respectively) for these parameters were observed with diet 5. However, haematological parameters did not differ significantly across the diets. Thus, from this study 0.25% activated charcoal could favorably be added to the feed of C. gariepinusfor optimum performance without any adverse effect on the health status of the fish

Evaluation of soybean meal replacement with sesame seed meal using activated charcoal as an additive in the diet of African catfish juveniles, Clarias gariepinus

This study evaluated the effects of 0.25% activated charcoal added to sesame seed meal (SSM) in partial replacement of soybean meal (SBM) of juvenile Clarias gariepinus diet on growth and haematological parameters for 70 day experimental period. Six experimental diets were formulated as: control diet 1 (100% SSM without activated charcoal), control diet 2 (100% SSM plus 0.25% activated charcoal), diet 3 (50% SMB+50% SSM), diet 4 (50% SBM+50% SSM+0.25% AC), diet 5 (30% SBM+70% SSM) and diet 6 (30% SBM+70% SSM+0.25AC). The inclusion of activated charcoal recorded significant improvement in mean weight gain, mean feed intake, specific growth rate (SGR), protein intake (PI) and protein efficiency ratio (PER). The control diet 2 recorded the highest values for growth and nutrient utilization parameters while diet 5 recorded the least values for these parameters. The best values for mean weight gain (65.33±5.57 g), specific growth rate (2.56±0.12% / day) and feed conversion ratio (0.71±0.05) were recorded in fish fed control diet 2 while the worst values (41.30±3.82 g, 1.92±0.11% / day, and 1.07±0.07, respectively) for these parameters were observed with diet 5. However, haematological parameters did not differ significantly across the diets. Thus, from this study 0.25% activated charcoal could favorably be added to the feed of C. gariepinusfor optimum performance without any adverse effect on the health status of the fish