Effects of Formulated Fish Feed on Water Quality, Growth Performance, and Nutritional Properties of Catla Fish, Catla catla

The study was to investigate the comparative effects of commercial fish feed (CFF) and formulated fish feed (FFF) on pond water quality, growth performance, meat quality, survival rate, and antioxidant properties of fish. The FFF greatly reduced (from 565 to 505 mu S/cm) water conductivity. The weight and length of fish were significantly (p < 0.05) increased by 94.1% and 42.5% in FFF treatment after 90 days of freeing as compared to CFF, indicating the higher growth performance of fish. Similarly, the highest survival growth rate was observed in FFF treatment after 60 days of release. However, the lowest food conversion ratio (0.28 g/g) was found in FFF at 90 days of freeing, representing the FFF as a quality feed. No mortality was found in both feed treatment. The protein (from 24.5 to 31.5%), and fat (from 0.8 to 1.8%) contents were significantly (p < 0.05) increased with FFF, however, the energy and mineral contents were nonsignificantly (p > 0.05) different as compared to CFF. In addition, inducing glycine (0.45 mu g/g) and alanine (0.18 mu g/g) in fish muscle indicates the improved quality of fish meat with the supply of FFF feed. The both total phenolic (from 1.6 to 2.8 mg/100 g) and total flavonoid (from 0.76 to 3.9 mg/100 g) contents were significantly (p < 0.05) increased with FFF treatment as compared to CFF treatment. Finally, FFF has the potential to improve the water quality, growth performance, nutritional properties, and bioactive compounds of Catla fish as a potential alternative to CFF feed in aquaculture.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of commercial fish feed (CFF) and formulated fish feed (FFF) on various aspects of fish, including water quality, growth performance, meat quality, survival rate, and antioxidant properties. The results showed that FFF significantly improved water quality, growth performance, and nutritional properties compared to CFF. It also increased the protein and fat content in fish meat, as well as the levels of bioactive compounds.