IJA_2025v15n3

International Journal of Aquaculture, 2025, Vol.15, No.3, 155-164 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ija 158 2.6 Fish acclimatization and stocking Fishwerestockedinindoortanksatadensityof10fishpertank,withaninitialaverageweightof3 g.Priorto stocking in the experimental tanks, the fish were conditioned to the rearing environment for one week. This acclimatization period was intended to ensure uniform feed acceptability across all treatment groups. Sixty fish of similar size were selected from a larger population and distributed equally among six indoor tanks. Each tank measured40 cm×60 cmgivingasurfaceareaof0.24 m2 and a volume of 48 liters. 2.7 Feeding practice and feeding rate In this experiment, fish were fed commercial feed and on farm-made feed to satiation. The feeding was done twice a day in the morning at 9 amand the afternoon at 3 pm. The fish were fed on the diet at the rate of 8% and the feeding took 9 weeks. Feed was administered by broadcasting across the tank surface to ensure even distribution and access for all fish. 2.8 Fish measurements Fish growth was monitored on a weekly basis throughout the experiment. Body weights and lengths for all fish from each tank were recorded after 24 hours without feeding. Precautionary measures were taken to minimize stressing and injuring the fish during the weighing process by wearing gloves. Total lengths (TL) as well as wet weight (Wt.) of each fish were recorded. A measuring board and a ruler were used to measure the length (cm) of fish, while an electronic scale was used to measure the fish weight to 3 decimal units. At the conclusion of the experiment, all fish were individually harvested, weighed, and measured to determine final mean body weight and length. Survival rate was calculated using the following formula: = ℎ / ℎ ∗ 100 Specific growth rate: Specific Growth Rate (SGR) expressed as a percentage of body weight per day was calculated using the equation shown by Westers (2001). % = 100 [ ( − 1) ] where: ln (Wt.) is the natural logarithm of the weight at time t, and ln (W1) is the natural logarithm of the initial weight. Mean weight gain (MWG): Mean weight gain (MWG) was calculated using the formula: = ℎ − ℎ ℎ ∗ 100 Feed conversion ratio (FCR): The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated using the formula: = ( )/ ℎ ℎ ( ) 2.9 Carcass composition (meat yield) Meat yield was carried out to assess carcass composition analysis. The fish samples were collected from all the different feed diets (3 from each), and then it was first scaled; thereafter, it was filleted to collect fillets (Figure 3). The fillets were used to assess the carcass composition. The equipment included a weighing scale to weigh the fish and fillets, buckets to clean the fish, a knife, and new razor blades to scale and fillet the fish. 2.10 Feed formulation The diet 1 (Farm-made feed) was 40% crude protein level using the Trial and Error method from Sunflower meal, soybean meal, maize bran, Cassava meal, vegetable oil, vitamin and mineral premixes , while diet 2 (Commercial

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