GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED AFRICAN CATFISH Clarias gariepinus ON FIELD SCALE
African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is one of the main aquaculture commodities whose role is to support food security in Indonesia. C. gariepinus has been widely cultivated in almost all region of Indonesia, especially in Java and Sumatra. Research Institute for Fish Breeding in Sukamandi has succeeded in producing a new strain of African catfish, namely Mutiara. Mutiara is an African catfish strain that has the superiority in growth. This strain is resulted from individual selection in the third generation derived from synthetic base population catfish consist of sangkuriang, Paiton, masamo and Egypt strain. The study to evaluate of this new strain was done to determine the technical and economic feasibility. The aim of this study was to determine the performance of Mutiara catfish strain on a field scale.
The study was conducted on a tarpaulin tank belonging to farmers in Pandeglang. Tarpaulin tank diameter was 3.5 m with a height of 1.2 m. The tank was equipped with aeration installations and water installations. In this experiment, as a test fish is Mutiara strain and as a comparison is local catfish that commonly used by the farmer. The fish was reared for 2-3 months. The stocking density was 250 individuals / m2. During the rearing, feed was given as much as 10-3% of biomass / day, given 2-3 times a day. The protein content in feed was 30%.
The results showed that the Mutiara strain grew faster than the local strain. Specific growth rate of Mutiara strain reached 4.4 ± 0.1 g / day and local strain reached 3.5 ± 0.5 g / day. Mutiara strain was more efficient in utilizing feed. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) of Mutiara strain reached 1.08 ± 0.01 while the local strain reached 1.2 ± 0.03. Based on the analysis of business, the cost of production of Mutiara strain was lower than the local strain. Cost of production of Mutiara strain was 13 667 IDR/ kg, while the local strain was 14 904 IDR/ kg. This leads to the profit of Mutiara strain farming in tarpaulin tank was higher than local strain. The profit of Mutiara strain farming reached 1 288 633 IDR/ tank, while the local strain reached 967 199 IDR/ tank.