Biochemical composition and growth performances of Malaysian Mahseer Tor tambroides larvae fed with live and formulated feeds in indoor nursery rearing system

The consequences of live and formulated feeds on carcass biochemical composition and growth performances of Malaysian mahseer, Tor tambroides larvae were assessed in indoor nursery rearing systems. Quadruplicate groups of T. tambroides larvae (0.07 ± 0.01 g, mean ± SE) were stocked in sixteen aquaria (60 × 30 × 30 cm), randomly arranged in four dietary treatments: larvae fed artemia (LA), moina (LM), daphnia (LD) and formulated feed (FF) with stocking density of 34 larvae per aquarium. An additional experiment was conducted with the same dietary treatments in four circular tanks (1000 L capacity) with stocking density of 100 larvae per tank. In both experiments, the larvae were fed to visually near satiation in two equal feedings per day, seven days per week for 75 days. Treatments results were compared using ANOVA (α = 0.05). At the end of the feeding trial, the significantly highest whole body crude protein and lipid contents were found in larvae fed FF compared to those fed live feeds. Whole body polyunsaturated fatty acids were highest in the larvae fed FF compared to those fed live feeds. The significantly highest RNA/DNA ratio was observed in larvae fed FF, followed by those fed LA, and the lowest values were observed in larvae fed LM or LD. The growth-related parameters (mean final weight, mean weight gain and specific growth rate) were significantly highest in treatment FF, followed by treatment LA and lowest in treatment LD or LM. The results of the present experiment demonstrated that the nursery rearing of T. tambroides larvae with formulated feed gave better results than feeding live feeds.