Effects of co-fungal fermented rice bran on growth performance, feed conversion and carcass composition of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings

Fish meal was partly replaced with various concentrations of co-fungal treated rice bran and fed to African catfish Clarias garipienus for 58 days with an initial mean weight of 6.04 g. Five isonitrogenous diets were formulated namely with 0% (control diet/D0), 20% (D20T) and 50% (D50T) of co-fungal treated rice bran, and with 20% (D20U) and 50% (D50U) untreated rice bran to substitute for fish meal. Clarias garipienus fed with D0 and D20T had the highest survival rates of 80%, while the group fed with D50T had the lowest survival rate. Maximum weight gain (84.312 g) and specific growth rate (200.76 %/week) were observed in the group fed with D0, while lower values in the other groups. The carcass composition of the group fed with D50T had a higher protein content than in the group fed with D0, and the fish fed with co-fungal treated bran had improved nutritive carcass composition.