Growth performance of clarias gariepinus larvae raised in Happa-in-pond

Abstract

The growth performance of C.gariepinuslarvae in pond and concrete tank hasbeen well documented. However, the challenges of shooters andeconomy of available space changed the focus of fish seed producers to the use of happas in both systems. This study therefore focused on the growth performance and survival rate of C. gariepinus larvaeculturedfromhappa-in-pondin a bid to access growth performance. 500 larvae of 0.04 ± 0.005g weight and 7mm body length were stocked in happa(0.75m3) with three replicates. Commercial diet of 45% crude protein was administered four times dailyin split-rations at 10% body weight for 30days post hatching. Unconsumed feedswere removedby weekly washing of the happaafter sampling.The Specific Growth Rate(SGR),Feed ConversionRatio(FCR), Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER)and Survival Rates (SR)were determined weekly for a period of thirtydays. The C. gariepinus larvaeperformance when raised in happa-in-pondprior to pond stocking wasthen compared withthe pond and tank culture system. The SGR, FCR and PER (1.59±0.12and 1.65±0.11)was significantly different and better than that of boththe pond (1.78 and 1.84)and tankobtainedfrom secondarydata. Thesurvival rate (89.53±1.48%) was also highin the happa-in-pondsystem. The results of this study revealed that, rearing of larval fish fromhappa-in-pondis considered better for seed production if the target is to attain faster growth of the seed,andeasysize grading to curb cannibalism.