Effects of Bamboo Charcoal Added Feed on Reduction of Ammonia and Growth of Pangasius hypophthalmus

Abstract

A 50-day feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of dietary bamboo charcoal (BC) on ammonia (NH 3 -N) excretion and growth performances of Pangasius hypophthalmus. Four levels of BC (0%, 0.5%, 1% and 2%) were supplemented to the diet composition and fed to fish (initial body weight 1.18 ± 0.04 g) twice a day. At the end of the trial, mean of final weight (g), final length (cm), weight gain (g), length gain (cm), percent weight gain, percent length gain, specific growth rate (% per day), feed conversion ratio, survival rates and water quality parameters i.e, ammonia (NH 3 -N), pH, and dissolved oxygen were measured and found that fish fed 2% BC diet showed significantly (P<0.05) higher growth enhancement than those of fish fed the control diet (0% BC). Ammonia concentration over the experimental period decreased with increasing dietary BC. Moreover, in histological observation it was found that the villus height and villus area in all intestinal segments tended to increase with increasing dietary BC supplementation. The present results indicate stimulating effects of dietary BC on intestinal villi and the diet supplemented with 2% BC was found to have a suitable level to fulfill the maximum growth performances of P. hypophthalmus and to decrease the ammonia concentration. Dissolved oxygen: Dissolved oxygen of the aquarium water was recorded in mg/1 with the help of a dissolved oxygen meter (Model Oxi 3150i, Germany). Effects of Bamboo Charcoal Added Feed on Reduction of Ammonia and Growth of Pangasius hypophthalmuspH: pH of the water was recorded with the help of a pH meter (pH meter L20 ME 1-1 LER TOLEDO, Switzerland).

Use of biochar as feed supplements for animal farming

“…Lan et al (2016) found that growth rates revealed that using 1% rice husk-based biochar to feed striped catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) were increased by 36% (p < .05). Quaiyum, Jahan, Jahan, Akhter, and Sadiqul (2014) observed that 2% of bamboo biochar added to the daily diet of striped catfish significantly increased their body weight, survival rate, FCR and SGR. .…”

Adding Charcoal to Diet as A means to Reduce Costs and Its Effect on Production Performance and Economic Indicators in Broilers

“…The treatment of adding charcoal by 5% did not differ significantly from the previous treatments and it amounted to (657.30, 632.38, 590.13, 600.95) g. The superiority of the fourth treatment may be attributed to (Addition of 7%) to the birds of this treatment consuming more amount of feed than other treatments, considering charcoal as a filler, so the birds tried to compensate for the shortfall in the amount of feed, as it amounted to (93) % of the actual consumed amount of the control litter, and this was confirmed by Table (5) regarding feed consumption. In addition, this percentage of adding charcoal to the diet (7%) was effective in contributing to the improvement of weight gain in this week with the advancing age of the bird, as the intestinal endothelial cell walls have adapted to the presence of charcoal, and there has been a development and improvement in the function of the villi [28][29], and that this percentage of charcoal addition achieved the bioavailability of digested food materials, as charcoal reduces the surface tension of materials by absorbing water thanks to the presence of minerals in it [30], [20,21] increasing the capacity of nutrient exchange within the intestine and slowing down the passage of nutrients through the digestive system, increasing their digestion and absorption, thus promoting growth [30,31], and for this reason, some researchers considered it a nutritional supplement for growth in birds and turkeys [32][33][34][35][36][37]. As for the total weight gain (2-6) weeks, we note that the charcoal addition treatments did not differ significantly in this trait from the control treatment, and this is also a positive result by achieving an equal weight gain (same performance) for all addition treatments despite their consumption.…”

“…This is in line with the schedule of weight gain in the same week (Table 3) and this significant effect disappeared with the progression of the age of the birds in the (third, fourth, fifth and sixth) weeks, as there were no significant differences between the control treatment and the addition treatments, as it was noted that the overall relative growth rate for the rearing period (2-6) week was not significantly affected by the addition of charcoal. The equal growth rates in the addition treatments with the control treatment is the result of the birds reaching the same weight rates (Table 2) as a result of the ideal utilization of the charcoal-containing diets, despite the birds consuming the same amounts of feed (Table 5), but the actual consumed amounts of feed were less than The consumption of birds in the control treatment (Table 6), as it gave the same growth speed compared to the control treatment, and this is due to an improvement in the efficiency of the alimentary canal and an improvement in the digestion and absorption of food, as it supported the function of the digestive system in the utilization of nutrients [32][33][34], and increase the efficiency of feed use, which was reflected in growth [3,9,32]. The presence of different letters within the same column indicates the presence of significant differences (p ≤ 0.05).…”

Addition of Bamboo Charcoal to Selenium (Se)-Rich Feed Improves Growth and Antioxidant Capacity of Blunt Snout Bream (Megalobrama amblycephala)

“…Previous studies on the effects of dietary charcoal supplementation in animals have largely focused on mammals and some fish species, with a particular focus on animal growth [22][23][24][25]. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effects of dietary charcoal supplementation on trace element uptake and antioxidant performance in fish have not been previously characterized.…”