Effect of feeding frequency on growth performance, reproduction efficiency and skin coloration of rusty cichlids (Iodotropheus sprengerae)

ABSTRACT

In the present study, the effects of five different feeding frequencies including every other day (2F1), one (F1), two (F2), three (F3), and four (F4) times daily on growth, reproduction, the coloration of rusty cichlid (mean body weight 2.04 ± 0.01 g and mean total length 4.35 ± 0.01 cm) were investigated. The trial was carried out in 15 100-L fiberglass circular tanks conducted to 4000-L freshwater recirculating system with three replicates for 16 weeks. Fish were stocked in each tank at a density of 10 individual with sex ratio 1:4 (male:female) and they were fed with a commercial ornamental cichlid diet to near satiation. At the end of the trial, final mean weight (FMW) and specific growth rate (SGR) increased with increasing feeding frequency (P < .05). The highest final mean total length (FMTL) was found in F3 group with 9.07 cm (P < .05). Although the average seed production (ASP) of F3 (mean of 98 ± 8.89) and F4 (mean of 93 ± 4.04) were significantly similar, the highest fecundity was observed in F4 group. For the coloration parameters, the final redness (a*) of F4 group was the highest (P < .05). The cost-effective groups of the present experiment were F3 and F4 groups. In conclusion, three times daily feeding is recommended the best application for profitable commercial cultures of rusty cichlid due to decreasing labor.

KEYWORDS:

• Feeding regime
• ornamental fish
• pigmentation
• profitability
• seed production

Acknowledgments

The present study is a part of doctorate thesis of Onur Karadal prepared in Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey. Some parts of this study have been presented in the International Eurasian Conference on Biological and Chemical Sciences, Ankara, Turkey as an oral presentation on April 26–27th, 2018. The authors are grateful to Serhan Mantoğlu, Ph.D. for helping feed analysis and Olcay Şimşek, Mehmet Akgün, Muhammet Balcı, Mevlüt Yalçın, Olkan Şentürk, and Kemal Can Kök for their excellent technical assistance in fish rearing and sample collection.

Ethics committee approval

The present study was carried out in accordance with animal welfare and the ethics of experiment.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.