Formulated Feeds Containing Fresh or Dried Artemia as Food Supplement for Larval Rearing of Black Tiger Shrimp, Penaeus monodon

Abstract

Supplementation of microalgae and Artemia nauplii with practical formulated feeds containing fresh or dried Artemia biomass for larval rearing of black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, was assessed. Five feeding treatments were carried out in a recirculating seawater system with fifteen 30-L fiberglass tanks. Shrimp nauplii were stocked at a density of 150 L⁻¹ for 23 days. In the control treatment, live feed was supplemented with commercial formulated feed (Inve Aquaculture NV, Belgium). In two other treatments, live feed was supplemented with a pelleted feed based on either fresh or dried Artemia. In the remaining two treatments live feed was supplemented with a combination of 50% commercial feed and 50% fresh or dried Artemia feeds. Overall, performance of PL in the combination treatments (commercial feed and Artemia diets) were equal to or better than those fed commercial feed alone as seen by the better growth rate and higher resistance to formalin stress. The results indicate that feed containing fresh or dried Artemia biomass can partially supplement live feeds for larval rearing of P. monodon.

Keywords:

• Commercial feeds
• Artemia biomass
• live feed
• Penaeus monodon
• larval rearing

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the Vietnamese Overseas Scholarship program, Project 322, the Ministry of Education, Vietnamese Government. The authors sincerely thank Tran Cong Binh and Pham Thi Ngoc Bich for their help during the feeding experiment.