The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of supplementing intestinal conditioner pronutrients in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings diet, grown in a recycling system, after measuring productive performance.

Method

The length of the trial was 12 weeks and took place from March to June 2018, at facilities of the Environmental Sciences College in the Scientific University of the South, in Peru. The trial was arranged in 16 different experimental units and each one had 40L capacity, and were maintained in different water recycling systems containing 10 fingerlings each.

Four different groups were tested at the same time, each group holding four experimental units. They all were fed with a standard isoenergetic and isoproteic diet and with different feed supplement concentration. Group 1 was kept as a control group – without intestinal conditioners.

• Group T1:00% (Control without pronutrients)
• Group T2:50% (5 g/kg of feed)
• Group T3:00% (10 g /kg of feed)
• Group T4:50% (15 g/kg of feed)

Younger fish were weighted every 15 days.

Results

All groups fed with diets combined with intestinal conditioner pronutrients showed better fingerlings growth compared control group. However, groups with higher concentrations showed better growth. The group with the best results was T3, at a dose of 10 g/kg, which achieved an increase in weight by 16.7% compared to control group, and T4 obtained 16.4% respectively.

The T2 group, with an inclusion rate of 0.5%, obtained similar results to control group.

On day 30, T3 began to show better growth, as did T2. At day 37, T3 showed significant differences weight-wise.

All treatments with intestinal conditioner pronutrients showed some improvement compared to T1 (control).

On the day 45, T3’s growth rates were the best, whereas T2’s results were slightly worse. Control group (T1) obtained the worst results.

At the end of the study, T3’s growth was superior by 16.7% and T4’s by 16.4% in contrast to the control lot.

The results on size uniformity are displayed on the graphs below.

Conclusions

Diets with 10 g/kg of intestinal conditioner pronutrients in tilapia fingerlings allowed to obtain a greater growth (+ 16%) and a more uniform size, at 12 weeks of breeding.

The intestinal conditioner used during this study has been developed by Biovet S.A. and it is marketed under the name of Alquernat Nebsui.

You can find more information about this topic in the following article: Pathologies in tilapia farming