Effect of different carbon sources on growth, non-specific immunity and digestive enzyme activity of amur carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus Lacepede 1803) fingerlings in biofloc based rearing system using inland saline groundwater

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different carbon sources in biofloc based system for rearing amur carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus Lacepede 1803) fingerlings in inland saline groundwater. The study was undertaken in a complete randomised design (CRD) where each treatment was performed in triplicate. The experimental unit consisted of four different carbon sources viz., T1 (tapioca flour), T2 (wheat flour), T3 (rice bran), T4 (jaggery) and control (C) with water exchange for a duration of 45 days. Each tank (500 l) was stocked with 30 fingerlings with an average body weight of 11.17±0.34 g. At the end of the rearing period, biofloc based treatments showed significantly better growth performance compared to control. Among the treatments, jaggery based biofloc system showed the highest biomass (629.4±1.58 g), specific growth rate, SGR (1.32±0.03 % day-1), protein efficiency ratio, PER (0.29±0.05), and lowest feed conversion ratio, FCR (0.56±0.03). Digestive enzymes of the biofloc reared fishes showed enhanced activity compared to control group. Jaggery based biofloc (T4) showed significantly higher non-specific immune response in terms of respiratory burst activity (1.14±0.01), superoxide dismutase (44.59±0.19 U mg protein-1) and catalase (1.59 ± 0.01 U mg protein-1) activity compared to other biofloc treatments and the control. The present study concluded that jaggery is best as compared to others carbon sources tested (tapioca flour, wheat flour and rice bran) for better growth, non-specific immunity and digestive enzyme activity of amur carp fingerlings in biofloc based rearing system using inland saline groundwater.

Carbon Sources Applications Influencing Growth, Digestive Enzyme Activity and Hematological Profile in Gif Tilapia Reared in Biofloc Supported Systems

“…The ammonia levels in the jaggery, soyahull and molasses tanks of bio oc were within the range of ammonia levels as reported for tilapia culture in bio oc system (Emerciano et al, 2013). In contrast to our results, uctuations in the water quality parameters were observed in Nile tilapia (Elayaraja et al, 2020) and Amur carp (Ezhilarasi et al, 2019).…”

Efficacy of in situ and ex situ Biofloc on Growth, Immune-physiological Responses, Nutrient Composition and Muscle Growth-related Gene Expression of Etroplus suratensis

“…Improved weight gain was observed in the 20:1 in situ biofloc system due to the continuous availability of in situ biofloc in the system. Similar results were documented by Ezhilarasi et al (2019) and Elaiyaraja et al (2020). Various studies resulted in in situ biofloc performing higher growth in biofloc-raised tilapia (Crab et al, 2009;Azim and Little 2008;Elaiyaraja et al, 2020), L. rohita (Mahanand et al, 2013;Ahmad et al, 2016), Carassius auratus (Wang et al, 2015), Cyprinus carpio Najdegerami et al (2016) and Etroplus suratensis Ruby et al (2022) which indicates that biofloc can substitute aquatic animal feed and can promote the growth of diverse fish species.…”

Finger millet as a carbon source for biofloc, improved growth performance of Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878) fingerlings

“…The higher FER value obtained in pangasius in response to finger millet carbon source may be due to the fact that this carbon source could provoke the feed intake of the animals. The higher feeding responses to this condition may be substantiated by presence of some natural feeding stimulants in the biofloc (Ju et al, 2008) which are supported by previous studies in fish with response to different carbon sources (Avnimelech 1999;Widanarni and Puspita, 2012;Ezhilarasi et al, 2019).…”