Growth response and feed utilization of Heterobranchus bidorsalis juveniles fed graded levels of melon shell

The study evaluated the effect of including graded levels of melon shell in diets of Heterobranchus bidorsalis juveniles (15.30±1.20 g). This study was conducted for 8 weeks. The diet constitutes 42% crude protein content with melon shell at different inclusion levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% respectively. One hundred juveniles were randomly stocked into ten tanks for the five treatments in duplicate. Fish in each tank was fed 3% body weight of diet twice daily. Weights of fish were taken weekly. Data collected were analyzed using one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The proximate values of the experimental diets showed a significant differences (p<0.05) among treatments. Mean Weight Gain (MWG) ranged between 97.01g in DT1 and 107.82 g in fish fed DT5. The Specific Growth Rate (SGR) ranged between 11.00%/day in fish fed DT5 and 12.98%/day in fish fed DT3. Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) ranged between 2.01 in fish fed DT3 and 2.68 in fish fed DT1. Survival Rate (SR) ranged between 95.00% in fish fed DT1, DT3 and 100.00% in fish fed DT2, DT4 and DT5 respectively. Feed Intake (FI) ranged between 3.68 g in fish fed DT1 and 5.74 g in fish fed DT5. Result of the present study demonstrated that growth and nutrient utilization of Heterobranchus bidorsalis juveniles was significantly (p<0.05) affected by the graded level of melon shell in diet fed. It can be concluded that partial inclusion of melon shell in fish feed to supplement other carbohydrate sources is acceptable and useful in fish industry. Melon shell can be included in the diet of Heterobranchus bidorsalis up to 50% inclusion level without any adverse effect on the growth.