Feed intake, growth and metabolism of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in relation to dissolved oxygen concentration

The objectives of the present study were to determine, for Nile tilapia of different body weights and fed to satiation, (1) the incipient dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration at which feed intake starts to level off and (2) the effect of DO on nitrogen and energy balances. Two successive experiments were conducted with two weight classes of male Nile tilapia (>200 g, Experiment 1, and <100 g, Experiment 2). Twelve aquaria were assigned to four DO levels in each experiment. Fish were fed to apparent satiation for 16 and 20 days in Experiments 1 and 2 respectively. The DO-feed intake curve of fish<100 g appeared to level off at a DO of 3 mg L-1, while that of fish>200 g continued to increase as DO increased from 2.6 to 6.0 mg L-1. The latter curve suggests that the incipient DO for fish>200 g is about 5.5 mg L-1. Fish tended to reduce the energy requirement for maintenance as DO declined. A DO reduction caused an increase in the apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC), but further declines in DO to levels below a critical level decreased ADC. The DO did not have a considerable effect on the metabolizable energy: digestible energy ratio of the diet.