Abstract:
This study investigated the effects of sudden weaning of angel fish larvae (Pteraphylum scalari) from Artemia nauplii
to commercial larval feed. Four days post hatch (DPH) larvae were reared in four different weaning protocols
(TR1-TR4) with triplicates in a complete randomize design. Larvae in TR1 and TR4 were exclusively fed Artemia
nauplii and dry feed respectively. In TR2 and TR3, larvae were initially fed Artemia nauplii and suddenly wean to
formulated feed on 14 DPH and 7 DPH respectively. The experiment was lasted for 28 days. At the end of the
experiment, final mean weight (FW), total length (FL), height (FH), Daily Weight Gain (DWG), Specific Growth Rate
(SGR), survival and stress index were compared. Significantly highest (P < 0.05) FW, DWG and SGR were observed in
TR1 and TR2 while former values of TR3 were not significantly different from TR1. Highest FL observed in TR1 and
TR2 while FL of TR2 was statistically similar to that of TR3. The poorest growth was observed in larvae solely fed
formulated feed. Survival and the stress index were independent from weaning methods. Although sudden weaning is
possible on 7 DPH, larvae showed comparatively higher growth when switch off to formulate feed on 14 DPH.
