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Effect of Selected Seaweed Powder as a Fish Feed on Growth and Immune System of Tilapia (oreochromis Niloticus)

Asaduzzaman Nur
Department of Fisheries Biology and Aquatic Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh

Md. Foysul Hossain
Department of Aquatic Environment and Resource Management, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh

Md. Nahid Hasan
Department of Fisheries Biology and Aquatic Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh

Saida Zannat
Department of Fisheries Biology and Aquatic Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh

Koushik Chakroborty
Department of Fisheries Biology and Aquatic Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh

SM Ra?quzzaman
Department of Fisheries Biology and Aquatic Environment, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Formulating new fish feed is one of the major challenges for profitable aquaculture. With this view, this study was designed to find out the effect of seaweed as a replacement for the fish meal on the growth and immune response of Tilapia. This experiment was carried out in an earthen pit with four treatments (T₁: Control, T₂: 10%, T₃: 20% and T₄: 30% seaweed as a fish meal replacement) with three replications of each. Fishes were reared in very small earthen ponds called pits for 60 days. Results found that the average weight gain, the relative percent (%) increment of weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR % day^-1) was highest in T₄ followed by T₃, T₂ and T₁ (P<0.05). Furthermore, the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of experimental Tilapia in T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ was 1.27±0.35, 1.15±0.18, 1.12±0.07 and 1.02±0.28, respectively which was significantly different (P>0.05). Regarding the immune response of Tilapia, the blood parameters such as red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscle volume (MCV), mean corpuscle hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscle hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were measured. Results found that the highest number of RBC (3.23×10⁶ cells mm^-3) and WBC (12.86 × 10³ cells mm^-3) were found in T₄ along with other blood parameters compared to T₃, T₂ and T₁. So, it can be inferred that seaweed has a positive impact on the growth and immune system of fish.

Keywords: Seaweed, Fish meal, Tilapia, Growth, Immune system

Location: Faculty of Fisheries, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh.

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Animal Health and Management

Commodity: Tilapia

Objectives:

To determine the effect of seaweed as feed on the growth and the immune response of Tilapia (O. niloticus).

Methodology:

The experiment was conducted in the backyard of the Faculty of Fisheries, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur. It was conducted for a period of 60 days to determine the effect of selected seaweed powder as a supplement of fish feed on the growth and immune system of Tilapia (O. niloticus) in a randomized completely block design (RCBD) into four different treatments having three replications each containing 75 fish. Tilapia fish was selected because of its ability to tolerate an adverse situation in accordance with its availability. Uniform sized fry of tilapia was selected for each pit. Among 194 seaweed species found in Bangladesh red seaweed H. musciformis was selected for the experiment due to its availability and low costing. It has plenty of essential nutrients, especially trace elements and several other bioactive substances. It contains very high-quality protein and has all the essential and non-essential amino acids and that’s why we selected the red seaweed species (H. musciformis) for this research. Seaweed was collected from the St. martins island of Cox’s Bazar district. Experimental feed was formulated in the laboratory of the Department of Fisheries Biology and Aquatic Environment (FBE) at Fisheries Faculty of BSMRAU. At first, all ingredients were collected before feed preparation such as dried fish meal, mustard oil cake, rice bran, wheat bran, and seaweed. Feeds were prepared with seaweed ingredients at three different levels of replacement like 10%, 20%, and 30% respectively, where control was prepared by commercial feed solely. The feed was formulated by the Pearson square method. Then, the ingredients were mixed together. The mixture was slowly mixed with hot water (80 °C) in a proportion of 70:30 (v/w) to accomplish agglutination. The dough was passed through a meat chopper (Brand-Filizola) to obtain pellets of 2 mm diameter and dried for 3 days under the sunlight and then stored at room temperature. Then, the nutritional properties of formulated feed were analyzed in the lab of the Department of Aquaculture; Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh.

The experiment site was cleaned up first and the plants and weeds were manually removed from the site. To set up the pit (small earthen pond), the soil was excavated in which length and width were 5 ft each and depth was 3 ft. Tilapia (O. niloticus) fry were collected from a commercial fish hatchery. Fish were reared in Pit for acclimatization. At the beginning of the experiment, fishes were weighted individually and uniform-sized fishes were selected. There were 61 fish per pit. Triplicate groups of fish were fed with control and seaweed supplemented feed during the experimental period. The fish was fed twice a day near satiation. Sampling was done fortnightly for monitoring growth parameters. Fish were harvested by scoop net and randomly 25-30 fish were weighted by digital electric balance to measure different growth parameters. pH, Ammonia (mg l^-1), Dissolved oxygen (mg l^-1), and Temperature (°C) of each pit were measured daily at 8 am by using a digital device. The following formulas were used to evaluate the growth parameters: Weight gain (g) = Mean final weight (W2) - Mean initial weight (W1); Relative percent (%) increment of weight gain = Comparison between the percent (%) of weight gain of treatments and control. Blood was collected after the experimental period was over. Before blood collection, the needle was soaked into a 2% heparin solution as an anticoagulant. Blood was collected by syringe from the caudal peduncle of the fish. After that, the blood was transferred into the EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid) tube and stored at 4 °C for determining the hematological parameters. Hematological parameters like Leukocyte (WBC), erythrocyte (RBC), hematocrit (Hct), hemoglobin (Hb), MCV, MCH, and MCHC were determined in the FBE laboratory of BSMRAU. Red blood cells (RBC) and white blood cells (WBC) were counted using a hemocytometer with Neubauer counting chamber as described by Blaxhall 1972. The following formula was used to calculate the number of RBC and WBC per milliliter of the blood sample: Number of cells = (Number of cells counted × dilution) / (Area counted × depth of fluid). Blood hemoglobin concentration (Hb) can be measured on microliter blood samples and has been used widely and arguably. The most accurate method of determining Hb Drabkin’s method was used to determine Hb. Hematocrit (Hct) was determined by means of centrifugation. The pipettes containing samples were centrifuged for 3 min with a speed of 3000 rpm and placed on the reading device and read-off. MCV, MCH, and MCHC were determined using a method originally devised by Yokoyama in 1947 and later on modified by Christensen et al., (1978).

Source of Information: International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies; 2020; 8(4): 24-30

Article Link (Online Journal): www.fisheriesjournal.com

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

This study has established a substantive base for incorporating seaweed as a fish feed with the aim of better growth and immune system of fish. This study indicates that seaweed replaced feed has a better growth performance. On top of that all the haematological parameters observed also showed the highest result in seaweed replaced feed compared to control which indirectly indicates the better performance of the immune mechanism. A positive correlation between the percentage of seaweed increment in feed and better growth besides immune response has been observed. Further study is imperative to optimize the rate of seaweed replacement in fish feedstuffs and select the best seaweed. However, it can be recommended that seaweed could be used as an essential feed ingredient for fish feed production.

Knowledge Management: Journal