An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different dietary protein levels (30, 35, 40 and 45% crude protein (CP) diets on growth performance, nutrients profile and digestive enzyme activity of Pangasius hypothalamus fry. There were four treatments each with three replicates. Experimental trial was carried out in 12 hapa’s installed in earthen pond. Each hapa was stocked @20 fish and trial duration was 90 days. A formulated pelleted feed was given with feeding rate of 10%, 8%, 6%, 4% which was consecutively adjusted after each fortnightly sampling and 3% for last 4 weeks. Results showed that highest weight gain, SGR and feed efficiency were observed significantly higher (P<0.05) in T3 (40% CP) followed by T4, T2 and T1 while significantly higher survival rate was observed in T1 and T4 than T3 and T2. The proximate analysis of whole body revealed that crude protein content increased with increasing dietary protein level and was found significantly higher in T4 (45% CP) followed by T3, T2 and T1. Lipid contents in fish were observed significantly higher in T3 and T4 compared to T2 and T1. The protease enzyme activity in fish increased with increasing protein level while lipase and amylase activity decreased with increasing dietary protein contents in the diet.
Keywords: Dietary protein levels, Pangasius, Growth, Body composition, Enzymes activity.