Comparative Study On The Growth And Survival Of Heteroclarias Fry Fed On Artemia Nauplii And Moina Micrura.

Growth rate, specific weight gain, total body length and survival rate were studied in Heteroclarias fry fed under three (3) different treatments with shell free Artemia naupli, cultured Moina micrura and combination of both, 180 fry measuring 0.2g in weight and0.2cm in length were used in the experiment. Each treatment has two replicates. 30 individual fry were placed in each of the treatment in 50-liter plastic tank for durations for 10 weeks (70 days). Water quality parameters, pH and temperature for each treatment were monitored using pH meter (PHS-3sc) and mercury in glass thermometer (0°c-100°c) respectively. The weights increase of the fry of each treatment was measured weekly using a labtech electronic sensitive scale (0.1g-750g) the body length was also measured using a graduated ruler. Body weight gain was significantly higher (p<0.05) in Heteroclarias fry fed with Artemia nauplii (15.49 ± 0.01g) and Heteroclarias fry fed on Artemia + Moina micrura (15.09 ± 0.01g) comparedto those fed with Moina only (12.70 ± 0.05g). Heteroclarias fry fed with Artemia had the highest percentage weight gain (7742.50 ± 2.50%),while fry fed with Artemia and Artemia + Moina micruraboth had same higest specific growth rate (0.062 ± 0.000). The highest total mean body length was recorded in Heteroclar ias fry fed with Artemia (5.30± 1.45) although no significantly different (p>0.05) from others. Complete replacement of Artemianauplii with Moina micrura produced the lowest body weight gain (12.70 ± 0.05) and percentage survival rate (26.67 ± 3.34%).The result of the overall resarch showed that partial replacement of shell free Artemia nauplii with Moina micrura showed significant growth increase and survival rate and so could be adopted for successful feeding of Heteroclarias fry.