Feed Utilization Efficiency and Growth Potentials of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Cultured on Gongronema latifolium leaf meal Supplement

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of Gongronema latifolium leaf meal on the feed utilization efficiency and attendant growth potentials of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) post fingerlings for thirty (30) weeks. Five treatments were used in all, made up of four levels of G. latifolium leaf meal (2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0) and the control diet (0g/kg, in triplicate. The experimental diets were fed to fish in fifteen tarpaulin tanks of 100 by 80 by 100 cm³ capacity each and stocked randomly with twenty C. gariepinus post fingerlings of mean initial bulk body weight of 2.881+ 0.00 g and mean total length of 5.552 ± 0.0cm. The fishes were fed twice daily at 8.00 am and 4.00 pm at 3% of their body weight. The proximate composition of five experimental diets contained crude protein, crude fibre, moisture, crude fat, ash and nitrogen-free extract within the recommended range for fish growth. In this study, weight gain (g), growth rate, SGR length gain were significantly higher (P<0.05) for the control diet, (0g) than for varying inclusion levels of G. latifolium leaf meal. Feed consumption of C. gariepinus increase significantly (P<0.05), for control diet, (0g) having the highest value and least in diet C (5.0g/kg of GLM), whereas food conversion ratio (FCR) and food conversion efficiency (FCE) recorded higher significant different values (p<0.05).   Conditional factor of cultured fishes placed on all the experimental diets showed significant difference (p<0.05). The inclusion of G. latifolium leaf meal in C. gariepinus feed led to improved growth performance by improving the feed utilization efficiency of the experimental fish.