Effect of different diets on larval growth and juvenile production of Nilgiri Melon barb Haludaria fasciata

Abstract

Larval feeds play a vital role in the production of juvenile fishes in hatcheries. The present study evaluated the effect of selected practical diets used in hatcheries on the growth and the survival of larvae of Nilgiri Melon barb Haludaria fasciata. The experimental diets were Growfin (GF), Elarval 100 (EL), Spirulina powder (SP), Decapsulated artemia eggs (DA), Live artemia nauplii (LA) and a combination of live artemia and Prince wean 300 (LAP). The larvae at 3 days post hatch (dph) were collected and fed with the experimental diets for 35 days. The feeding was done thrice daily under each treatment group. The intermediate growth in total length and larval survival at every five days and body weight of fish larvae on initial and final days were calculated during and after the treatment.  The larvae fed with LAP had a higher mean total length than all other treatments. The mean weight was observed higher in LA which significantly (<0.05) differs from other treatments. The average specific growth rate was higher in DA, LA and LAP. The heterogeneous growth was observed lower in treatment LAP than in other treatments. It is observed that the live feeds are not compulsory for their larval feeding program. Artemia nauplii can be replaced partially or fully with inert feeds such as EL and Prince wean without largely affecting the survival of larvae. Based on the observations, the study proposed a feeding protocol that could improve survival, and growth during larval rearing and reduce the cost of feeding.