Effect of artificial feed enriched with fermented macrophyte on growth and survival rates of climbing perch (Anabas Testudineus Bloch)

The present study was aimed to analyse the effect of different macrophytes species, namely Eichornia crassipes Mart (Solm), Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitchell, Pistia stratiotes L. fermented with Aspergillus sp. added to the artificial food, on the growth and survival rates of climbing perch (Anabas testudineus Bloch). Completely randomized design was applied in this experiment. Independent variables were comprised of different commercial and artificial fish feeds, i.e.: commercial feed (control - A), and treated artificial feed made from Eichornia crassipes (B), Salvinia molesta (C) and Pistia stratiotes (D). Samples B, C and D were in form of powder which was fermented with 5 mL of Aspergillus sp. Number of climbingperch fish subjected to the experiment was180 individuals. Statistical method ANOVA with Duncan multiple test was used. Result showed that the addition of treated artificial foods did not significantly affect the growth rate (GR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of climbing perch compared to commercial food. However, the survival rate (SR) of climbing perch fed with treated feed was significantly higher than commercial food. Therefore, the quality of treated feed can be considered similar to the quality of commercial food.