Comparative Study of Artemia and Liqui-Fry in the Rearing of Clarias gariepinus Fry

Abstract

Clarias gariepinus fry with initial total length and mean total weight of 7.00 mm and 0.18 g respectively and initial condition factor of 0.052 were stocked in six glass aquaria measuring 60×30×30 cm each. There were two treatments with three replicates each. Treatment one (T1) (Artemia fed fry) and treatment two (T2) (liquid-fry fed fry). Each aquarium was stocked with 50 fry and reared for 42 days. The water quality parameters (Temperature, pH and Dissolved Oxygen) were monitored. At the end of the experiment, the final mean total length for T1 and T2 were 38.67 mm and 25.00 mm respectively while the final mean total weight were 35.25 and 0.63 for T1 and T2 respectively. The statistical analysis of the results showed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) in the mean total weight and survival rate of T1 and T2 fry. Also, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the mean total length of the two treatments. The Specific Growth Rates (SGR) were 12.56 day-1 and 2.98 day-1 for T1 and T2 respectively. The final condition factors were 0.061 and 0.004 for T1 and T2 respectively. Based on these findings it was concluded that fry fed on Artemia diet had better growth and survival rates.