Color enhancement of zebra malawi cichlid (Pseudotropheus zebra) using carrot (Daucus carota) as feed additive

Abstract

The effect of carrot (Daucus carota) (in form of steamed carrot) mixed in basal wet diet at 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% and a control group without any carotenoid supplementation, on skin pigmentation of zebra Malawi cichlid (Pseudotropheus zebra) was evaluated. Totally 180 zebra Malawi cichlid (15 g mean weight) were stocked in 18 aquariums (70 L) each containing 10 fish (3 replicates for each treatment). After 35 days of treatment fish skin colour was evaluated using colour parameters L, a, b, Chroma and Hue° described by CIE. The findings of the present study showed that the optimum carrot utilization in diet is 20% and at this level all examined factors except H° are significantly different from the control group (0%).