Sashi Bhushan Mohapatra
The aim of this work was to determine the possibilities of substituting plant protein ingredients for fish meal in compound artificial diets in rearing of common carp fry, Cyprinus carpio L. Inclusion of water hyacinth, Eichhornia at different levels (0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) in place of fish meal were prepared to feed the fry. The acceptable nutritional value of water hyacinth as an ingredient in diets for fry was experimented under aquarium culture system at 5% of the body weight twice daily morning and evening for 70 days. The different inclusion levels of water hyacinth supported the growth of Cyprinus carpio fry but growth performance decreases as the level of water hyacinth increases. It was observed that weight gain growth rate was favoured by low inclusion of water hyacinth meal. There was no significant difference (P≤0.05) between the weights gains recorded for the fish fed all the experimental diets. Although fishmeal is non replaceable but can be supplemented with water hyacinth up to an optimum level to produce cost effective feed for the growth performance of Cyprinus carpio.The results showed that a diet consisting of up to 40% content could be used as a replacement for fish meal in diet formulation for common carp fry.
