EFFECT OF DIETARY GRADED LEVEL OF SUBSTITUTING DISTILLERS DRIED GRAINS WITH SOLUBLES INSTEAD OF FISH MEAL IN TILAPIA DIET

Abstract

This study was carried out at El-Manzala Lake, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt in order to investigate the effect of substitution of fish meal (FM) by graded levels of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS, being 25.0, 50.0, 75.0 and 100%) in fish diets on performanceof Nile tilapia (Oreochromisniloticus, initial body weight was 27.072 g/fish) reared in five floating net cages (12m×24m×3m) representing the dietary treatments and stocked into the experimental cages at a rate of 35 fish/m 3 (about 30.000 fish/cage). All the experimental groups were fed the experimental diets at a rate of 3% of the live body weight of the fish.The experimental period lasted 123 days.Conclusively, it is safe and economic to feed Nile tilapia fish diets containing DDGS (cheaper than fish meal, FM) to replace up to 100 % of the FM (which is locally not enough available) in fish diets. So, the results of the present field (i.e. its results are reproducible) study recommend using DDGS in Nile tilapia diets at replacing rate of 25 % for the best growth performance or 100 % for the best economic efficiency.