The influence of feeding rate on growth, feed efficiency and body composition of juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

An 8 weeks growth study was conducted to estimate the optimal feeding rate for juvenile grass carp (3.08 +/- 0.03 g, mean +/- SD). Fish were fed with a casein purified diet (360 g protein, 56 g lipid and 3000 kcal total energy/kg dry diet) at six feeding rates: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5% body weight per day (BW d(-1)). Each feeding rate was randomly assigned to three tanks of fish with 30 fish per tank (50Wx50Hx100L, cm). Fish were maintained in recirculating systems at a water temperature of 24.97 +/- 2.23 degrees C and were fed four times per day. After 2 weeks, fish fed on 3.5% BW d(-1) could not finish the diet and this treatment was cut-off. Analysis of variance showed that growth performance was significantly (p < 0.05) affected by different feeding rates. The nutrient compositions of whole body, muscle and liver were also significantly different among treatments. The body weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), feed efficiency (FE), protein efficiency ratio (PER), apparent digestibility coefficiency (ADC), retention of protein (PR), mesenteric fat index, body moisture and protein content were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by feeding rate. The WG, SGR and digestion rate were highest at 2% BW d(-1), although the FE and PER decreased with increasing feeding rate. Broken line analysis on specific growth rate indicated that the optimum feeding rate of juvenile grass carp is 1.97% body weight day(-1).