Abdullah W. Al Zahrani, Asaad H. Mohamed, Augusto E. Serrano. Jr, Rex Ferdinand M. Traifalgar
A feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of feeding rate and feeding frequency on growth and feed utilization efficiency of the camouflage grouper E. polyphekadion fingerlings fed commercial feed. Survival between treatments were not significantly different from each other. Final average body weight (ABW) and weight gain of grouper fed the commercial diet at either 2, 3 or 4 % body weight (bw) were superior to that of fish fed at 1% bw. Average feed intake (AFI) for individual grouper were highest in those fed at 3% and 4% bw and were significantly higher than in grouper fed at 1% and 2% bw. Specific growth rate (SGR) in grouper fed commercial diet at 2, 3 and 4% bw were significantly higher than in those fed at 1% bw. Efficiency of feed conversion (FCE) were higher in fish fed at 1 and 2% bw than in those fed at 3% and 4% bw. In contrast to feeding rate, feeding frequency did not significantly affect all the growth and efficiency indices. The feeding ration, using the quadratic model, which provided the maximum FCE was estimated to be 1.2 % bw.
