Fish by-product meal served as a good protein source in the formulated diets for red tilapia fry

The present study was conducted to determine the possibility of replacing the commercial fish meal (FM) with the locally produced fish by-product meal (FBPM) in the diets for red tilapia (phenotypically Oreochromis niloticus) fry (body weight ~0.54 g). Five isoproteic and isolipidic experimental diets with 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% inclusion levels of FBPM were formulated and hand-fed to triplicate groups of fish (20 fish/ group) twice a day. After 6 weeks, fish fed FBPM 50 attained the highest final body weight (4.7±0.3 g; mean ±SD), weight gain (764.8±47.2%), specific growth rate (5.1±0.1%/day), feed intake (7.2±0.4 g/fish), protein efficient ratio (1.7±0.2), and the best feed conversion ratio (0.9±0.1). All fish fed FBPM-based diets also attained the better survival (93-95%) than those fed control diet (83%). Since FBPM is a by-product of marine fisheries industry, it should be considered as a major protein source in the diets for red tilapia fry.