Effect of Inclusion of Fresh or dried black soldier fly larvae in Diets on Snakehead Fish’s Growth Performance and Chemical Composition (Channa sp.)

Abstract

In snakehead fish farming, feeding represents the largest portion (accounting for 50-60%) of production cost. Thus, finding an alternative natural feed that can be replaced as full or partial inclusion in snakehead fish commercial diets is urgently needed. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of including fresh or dried black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) in diets on the growth performance and chemical composition of snakehead fish cultured in small-scale farms. Fingerlings of snakehead (5.15 ± 0.12 g) were distributed randomly into fifteen net cages (6 m3) at a density of 120 fish.net cage-1. Including five dietary treatments named: NT1 (100% commercial feed served as a control); NT2 (100% fresh BSFL); NT3 (100% dried BSFL); NT4 (50% fresh BSFL + 50% commercial feed); and NT5 (50% dried BSFL + 50% commercial feed). Each treatment was performed in triplicate. The results showed that the inclusion of fresh BSFL in diets for the snakehead fish did not affect the survival rate (82.22-85.56 %), improved feed conversion ratio, increased live weight (70.9 – 103.3 g) and daily weight gain (1.09 – 1.64 g.day-1), and fish’s yield (1.16 – 1.73 kg.m-2); and did not affect the chemical composition of the fish. These findings suggest that farmers should feed snakehead fish with commercial feed plus fresh black soldier fly larvae to maintain good condition factor and enhance fish growth performance and production.