Growth Performance of Clarias gariepinus Fed Dietary Milk Fat

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted on the utilization of milk fat as lipid energy source by Clarias gariepinus fingerlings (0.85±0.03 g). The fishes were fed with 0, 5, 10, 15, 20% milk fat based diets respectively for 8 weeks. The results obtained showed significant differences (p<0.05) for diets containing graded levels of milk fat in terms of weight gain, feed efficiency ratio and specific growth rate when compared with the control diet (0% milk fat). Among the milk fat based diets, containing that had 20% inclusion level of milk fat gave the highest specific growth rate and lowest feed conversion ratio. Carcass analysis showed that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the control diet and milk fat based diets. Therefore, the results indicated efficient utilization of milk fat as protein sparing which would promote sustainable aquaculture in view of the high cost fish oil.