REPLACEMENT OF FISHMEAL BY Lupinus albus AND INFERTILE EGG HATCHERY WASTE IN A TILAPIA (Oreochromis niloticus) RATION

Resumen

Unconventional vegetable and animal materials represent attractive ingredients for the formulation of tilapia fish diets cultivated in intensive farms. In this study, we formulated an isoproteic, and isocaloric tilapia ration with Lupinus albus dehulled seeds and infertile eggs hatchery waste dry flours and compared its growth performance to that of a commercial feed (Nutripec) in an eight-week trial. We purchased tilapia fries from the Aquaculture Center of Tizapan Jalisco and reared them in six 300 L tanks (200 g of fish per tank) for a two weeks adaptation period. During this period, we fed the commercial ration (Nutripec), and in the third week, switched fries in three tanks to the experimental diet while the rest continue on the commercial diet. Fishes were fed twice daily with a quantity of food equal to 3.0 % of their live weight, divided into equal morning and afternoon portions. Every two weeks, we monitored the chemical water parameters and recorded the fishes’ weight, length, and mortality. We calculated the specific growth (SG), defined as the days needed by fishes to increase 50% their average weight and compared the diet’s performance using Student’s two-tail t-test. The SG for the experimental diet was significantly higher (27 days) than for the Nutripec feed (24 days), p < 0.05. We found similar results when the increase in length was considered. The survival rate for both diets was >84 %, indicating that fishes adapted well to the diet and environmental growth conditions. Although additional studies are required, the two ingredients can potentially replace fish meal in the diet of tilapias cultivated in intensive farms.