A 20-week feeding trial was conducted to measure growth, nutrient utilization and faecal/gut bacterial counts in triplicate groups of red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis sp., when fed diets supplemented with 0.5% organic acids blend (OAB), 1.0% OAB, 0.5% oxytetracycline (OTC) or a control diet (no additives). At the end of the feeding trial, tilapia were challenged with Streptococcus agalactiae for 22 days. Fish fed the OTC diet had significantly higher (P < 0.05) growth than the control treatment, while growth between fish fed the OTC or OAB diets was not significantly different (P > 0.05). Phosphorus, dry matter and ash digestibility were significantly higher in the 1.0% OAB diet than the control diet. Fish fed the OAB diets had significantly lower colonyforming units of adherent gut bacteria compared to the control or OTC treatments while those fed the 1.0% OAB diet had the lowest total faecal bacterial counts. Tilapia fed the 0.5% OTC or OAB diet had significantly higher resistance to S. agalactiae than those fed the control diet. This study indicates that dietary organic acids can potentially replace OTC as a growth promoter and antimicrobial in tilapia feeds.

Attempts were made to identify the association between water quality parameters and the presence of Streptococcus agalactiae in cage cultured red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus × O. mossambicus. Fish from commercial floating net cage‐culture systems in a river and lake were randomly sampled over a 24‐month period. Swabs from the brains, eyes and kidneys were streaked directly onto blood agar to isolate S. agalactiae. Water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, clarity, ammonia, nitrite, sulfide, rate of water flow and depth of water at sampling sites were measured at the same time of fish sampling. The prevalence of fish that were cultured positive to S. agalactiae was significantly higher in lake compared with river. The length and weight of the infected fish were between 9 and 33 cm, and between 20 and 760 g respectively. There was a significant and positive strong correlation between the presence of S. agalactiae and fish mortalities in lake. All water quality parameters showed significant differences between river and lake. However, only water temperature, clarity and pH of lake and the ammonia, temperature and dissolved oxygen in river showed significant correlation with the presence of S. agalactiae in the cultured fish. It was concluded that several unfavourable water quality in the fish farm influencing the presence of S. agalactiae in cultured red hybrid tilapia.