Crude Fiber for Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, L) Fingerlings

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate different crude fiber levels on reverted Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, L) fingerlings performance and time of retention of food. One hundred and twenty-five fingerlings of Thai strain, 1.39 ± 0.03 g of initial weight were allotted to twenty-five 54 L aquarium, at five treatments and five replications on completely randomized design. Five isoenergy (3000 kcal/kg of digestible energy) and isoprotein (30% of crude protein) diets were formulated with five different crude fiber levels (3.65, 4.75, 6.00, 7.25 and 8.50%), for ranging cellulose and inert material addition. The experimental period was 64 days with 26.5°C ± 0.8 in the morning and 27.5°C ± 0.7 in the afternoon temperatures. No difference was observed to fingerling performance (food conversion, final weight, weight gain), but a linear decrease to time of retention of food with crude fiber addition.