Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum and Pediococcus pentosaceus on the Growth Performance and Morphometry of the Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum and Pediococcus pentosaceus on the growth performance of the genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT) (Oreochromis niloticus). A total of 120 fingerlings were acquired, assigned randomly into 4 groups (n=30/ group) received one of four experimental diets each (30% crude protein supplemented with either T1-L. plantarum1×108 cfu), T2-(P. pentosaceus 1×108 cfu), T3-(L. plantarum and P. pentosaceus1×108 cfu) or (T0-(No probiotics) for 60 days in a triplicate manner (n=10/replicate/aquarium of 1 ft3). Growth performance was assessed by final weight (FW) weight gain (WG), average daily weight gain (AWG), specific growth rate (SGR,%), percent% weight gain (% WG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Morphometry was also taken for total length (TL); standard length (SL); dorsal fin length (DFL); head length (HL); eye diameter (ED); pectoral fin length (PFL); pelvic fin length (PvFL); anal fin length (AFL), and caudal fin length (CFL). Fish treated with T3 had the highest growth performance indicated by FW (36.00±1.13g), WG (29.86±0.57g), AWG (0.49±0.01g), SGR (2.94±0.04% day-1) WG (%) (487.12±16.18) and FCR (1.35±0.02). T1 and T2 did not differ significantly (P>0.05) from each other but improved (P