Performance of Carassius auratus with different food strategies in water recirculation system

Abstract

The efficiency of a recirculation system for the cultivation of C. auratus, fed with natural and artificial diets was evaluated. The experiment consisted of four treatments with four replicates. The first two treatments used recirculation system and the last two static system. In the first and fourth treatment, animals were fed with brine shrimp biomass (50% CP), while in the second and third treatments a commercial flake ration (42% CP) was used. At the end of cultivation (60 days), water samples were taken from all experimental units and subjected to standard plate count for determining the density of mesophilic bacteria. Final weight (g), final length (cm), specific growth rate (% day-1) and weight gain (%) were significantly different (p<0.05) among tested diets, but the culture systems did not affect fish performance. There was significant difference (p<0.05) between systems for total ammonia and nitrite. Animals fed with brine shrimp biomass acquired more intense and brighter colors than those fed only with commercial flake food. The values of standard plate count of mesophilic bacteria ranged from 7.0 × 10 3 to 1.