Passing times of two types of feeds in wels (Silurus glanis) at three different temperatures

Passing times of two different types of feeds were determined in cases of wels ( Silurus glanis ) by measuring the body weight at three different temperatures. Fingerlings, 38.03 ± 8.04 g, were fed by an artificial dry feed (commercial catfish feed) or forage fish. The treatments were carried out (11 fish/aquaria) in 3 replicates. Fish were individually tagged by pit tags. Temperatures applied were the following: 15, 20 and 24 °C. The appetite of fish highly depended on temperature. At 15 °C, only 42.4 % of the experimental fish accepted the granulated feed, while this ratio was 90.9 % in the forage fish fed group. At higher temperatures, 100 % of the experimental fish accepted feed in both feeding groups. The daily mean value of consumed feed at 15 °C was 3.20 % of body weight in the case of forage fish and 1.36 % in the case of dry feed. At 24 °C, this ratio was 10.68 % of body weight in cases of forage fish and 4.46 % in cases of artificial feed. At low temperature (15 °C), the quantity of consumed feed met the measurement’s error threshold, which made the determination of passing time uncertain. At 20 °C, the evacuation started 20 h after feeding and lasted for 18 h, while at 24 °C, it started 11 h after feeding and lasted for another 16 h.