Haematological and Biochemical Profile of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758) Fingerlings Fed Diets Supplemented with Aqua pro (Lactobaccillus and Baccillus Species) under Cage Culture System in Ajiwa Reservoir of Nigeria

Haematological and biochemical parameters are important indicators of fish health status. Even though blood parameters are a useful tool for assessing the health of aquatic life, there are a number of internal and external issues that might make the process challenging. The haematological characteristics of aquatic organisms are affected by biological and environmental conditions. This study was carried out to evaluate the haematological and biochemical profile of Nile tilapia fed diets supplemented with Aqua pro (Lactobaccillus and Baccillus Species) under cage water culture system using four treatments and three replications to each treatment, four diets of varying probiotic supplementation were formulated at T1 0g, T2 1g, T3 2g and T4 3g aqua pro supplementation. Completely Randomized Design (C.R.D) with 12 floating net cages having an area of 4 m × 3 m × 1 m (L × W × H, 12 m3) was used. Two hundreds and fourty (240) Oreochromis niloticus fingerlings of initial mean weight of 17.46±7.16g were randomly distributed in the experimental cages at twenty (20) fishes per cage. The total growing period was 198 days (14 days of acclimitization and 184 of feeding). Five Nile tilapia from each treatment and replication were removed from culture cage for blood analysis, five mililitres of blood was collected from the Nile tilapia by cardiac puncture using different 5ml disposable heparinized syringes, with ethylene diamine tetracetic acid (EDTA) tubes that served as anticoagulant. The data collected was subjected to a One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the statistical package (SPSS Version 27) software, where significant differences observed among treatments, the means was separated using Duncan’s multiple range test at the 95% confidence limit. The findings on Haematological parameters of RBC WBC, HGC, PCV, Neutrophils and Lymphocytes were significantly higher in Aqua pro supplemented treatments T4 (3g/kg Aqua Pro supplementation) than the control. Total protein, albumin, sodium and potassium ion concentration and chloride were significantly higher in the Aqua pro treated groups T4 (3g/kg Aqua Pro supplementation) over control group, this aligns with a non‑stressful, non‑pathological condition, suggesting that none of the treatments compromised haematological and biochemical parameters over six months. Based on this results it was concluded that Aqua pro supplementation level at 3g/Kg in the diets of Nile tilapia fingerlings under floating cage system improved its haematological and biochemical profile.