Comparison of the inter – strain growth rate performance of three different strains of Oreochromis niloticus fry

Abstract

Growth performance, Feed conversion ratio and condition factor are crucial factors that considered in breeding programs. A three-month experiment was conducted to investigate and ascertain the strain with the best growth performance of three selected O. niloticus strains from three different lakes of Uganda. Broodstocks of Nile tilapia from lakes Nabugabo, Victoria and Kyoga were well conditioned and bred. Fry of the 3rd generation of each strain of 0.05g ABW were stocked into 120l water holding capacity tanks at a rate of 2fish per liter and were then fed for 90 days at rate of 20%,15%and 10%.720 fish of each strain were used to run the experiment. Weight and length data of fish was collected bi-weekly from 30 fish per replicate of the three strains of Oreochromis niloticus fish. The results showed that the Victoria strain had the best growth rate and Feed conversion ratio which makes it a good candidate of a selective breeding program in aquaculture using the Uganda Nile tilapia native fish stocks. All the three strains had a condition factor above 1 which was an indicator that the fish were health and biologically active. This was also an indicator that the environment in which they were living was suitable and in good condition to support their growth.