Production of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) during grow-out with two feeding strategies

Abstract

The gray tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) is an excellent choice for aquaculture due to its resistance to adverse conditions and diseases, and their eating habits. Two feeding strategies were evaluated during the grow-out stage, which ended when the ideal weight of 1,085 g was reached. The feeding strategies were ad libitum and feed at 90% of ad libitum. The trial was performed at AquaFinca Saint Peter Fish, Cortés, Honduras. The analyzed variables were feed conversation ratio (FCR), specific feeding rate (SFR), days to harvest (Dhar) and daily weight gain (DWG). Twelve floating cages were used, six cages for each feeding strategy. Each cage had a volume of 1,380 m³ and capacity for 50,000 fish. Statistical analysis were performed using Student's t test (P ≤0.05). The ad libitum and 90% of ad libitum did not show differences in FCR (1.88 and 1.82 respectively); no differences in DWG with 6.39 g in ad libitum and 6.16 g in 90% of ad libitum were observed. In SFR ad libitum had 3.19 and 3.06 for 90% ad libitum, and Dhar was 157 in ad libitum and 165 in 90% of ad libitum. The 90% of ad libitum presented lower feed consumption without affecting the FCR and took eight days more to reach the ideal harvest weight with a difference of 26,270 kg of feed use between both treatments.