Abstract:
Department o f Fisheries and Aquaculture, Faculty o f Fisheries and Marine Sciences and
Technology, University ofRuhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka.
A 15 week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of three commercial diets;
Prima diet, Galaxy diet and Prawn diet on the growth performance and reproductive
performance of Guppy, Poecilia reticulata.
Triplicate groups of juveniles (mean initial weight of 0.07 + 0.03g) were stocked in 9 indoor
glass aquaria (30 x 22 x 8.5cm), at a density of 20 fish tank'1 at a sex ratio of 1 female: 1
male. Fish were fed ad-libitum, 5 times daily and food consumption was recorded daily. Total
length and body weight were measured at 3 week intervals and % Specific Growth Rate
(%SGR) and Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) were calculated. Weight of gonads and liver were
measured at the end of the experiment. Time taken for first spawning, total number of larvae,
spawning interval, gonadosomatic index (GSI) and hepatosomatic index (HSI) were
calculated.
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Daily food consumption was not different among three dietary treatments. Fish fed on Prawn
diet showed significantly higher final body weight (0.83 ± 0.46g), body length (4.63 ±
0.41cm) and % SGR (2.34 + 0.03) compared to fish fed on other two diets. Total body weight
and GSI were found to be significantly higher (p < 0.05) in females compared to males in all
treatments. Fish fed on Prawn diet recorded the significantly highest mean number of larvae
per tank (33.67 + 7.51). However, larval length showed no diffrence among three treatments.
In the present study significant highest growth and reproductive performance (in terms of
number of larvae tank'1) of guppy was observed in fish fed on Prawn diet. Therefore, for
guppy broodstock rearing in indoor aquaria Prawn diet could be recommended as the best feed
out of three commercial diets tested herein.
