Effect of supplemental feed type on water quality, plankton and benthos availability and carp (Cyprinus carpioL.) growth in semi-intensive monoculture ponds

Abstract

A four‐and‐a‐half months study was conducted in nine earthen ponds to evaluate the addition of different supplemental feeds as a management tool for enhancing natural food availability and common carp growth, while maintaining optimal water quality in the semi‐intensive system. Three supplemental feeds were used: commercial extruded and pelleted feed with 25% protein and 7% fat and cereals. The type of supplemental feed did not influence water quality, except hardness, but significantly affected abundance of cyanobacteria, natural food availability and common carp growth. The use of pelleted feed was related to the lowest abundance of cyanobacteria in the ponds. For the two groups of large zooplankton, Cladocera and Copepoda, abundances were higher in the ponds with pelleted feed compared with the ponds where cereals and extruded feed were used. The abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates in the treatment with pelleted feed was three times higher than in the other two treatments. The results of this study indicate that pelleted feed can help farmers not only as a source of nutrients for carp growth but also indirectly as a management tool for maintaining ecological stability and control of cyanobacterial bloom in ponds.

Integrative approach of histopathology and histomorphometry of common carp (Cyprinus carpioL.) organs as a marker of general fish health state in pond culture

“…Water quality parameters were monitored and results were published, showing no differences between ponds, except in the level of water hardness, with following values: for cereal feed: 12.8°dH a ; for PF: 14.0°dH b ; for EF: 13.2°dH ab ( P < 0.01; Ćirić et al . ).…”

“…The design of this experiment is already described in previous article (Ćirić, Subakov‐Simić, Dulić, Bjelanović, Čičovački & Marković ). The experiment was conducted in nine earthen fish ponds at the carp farm ‘Kapetanski rit’ in the northeastern part of Serbia from June to October 2009.…”

Effects of common carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758) supplementary feeding with modified cereals on pond water quality and nutrient budget

“…Several other studies have also shown that the use of cereals as a supplementary feed in carp ponds can affect zooplankton composition (e.g. Adámek et al., ; Ćirić et al., ). In the present study, however, different artificial diets had no significant influence on natural food availability (i.e.…”

“…() and Ćirić et al. (), who showed that different supplementary feeds (cereals or pelleted and extruded diet) had no effect on water quality in fish ponds. On the contrary, water quality can be strongly influenced by fish biomass: higher densities of carp increase turbidity and nutrient concentration, especially P (Chumchal et al., ; Driver et al., ).…”

Effects of Pond Fertilization and Feeding of Carp Fry (Cyprinus carpio L.) on Diversity of Zooplankton Groups (Rotifera, Cladocera, and Copepoda)

“…However, the experiment carried out by Ćirić et al [27] showed that protein-enriched feed applied to carp ponds had a positive effect on the development of large Cladocera and Copepoda in the zooplankton of the ponds. Vakkilainen et al [28] also studied the infl uence of predatory fi sh and additional feeding on zooplankton.…”