Response of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fry to diets containing Azolla meal

Abstract

Sun-dried Azolla pinnata was ground and incorporated into experimental diets at various levels (8.50, 17.00, 25.46, 34.00 and 42.45% of the diets) to replace fish meal in a control diet isonitrogenously. All feeds contained 35% crude protein and 250 kcal digestible energy/100 g. They were fed to Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus ) fry (mean body weights, 14.9 mg in Experiment I and 11.2 mg in Experiment II) at 45% of fish biomass daily for 7 weeks. Results of the 2 experiments showed that Azolla meal is a suitable component of diets for Nile tilapia fry. Growth increased and feed conversion ratios improved as the level of the dietary Azolla meal increased. Survival rates were not affected by the levels of Azolla in the diets.