REARING PERFORMANCE AND HEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF NILE TILAPIA Oreochromis niloticus FED WITH PHYTASE-TREATED CORN-DISTILLER'S DRIED GRAIN WITH SOLUBLES-SUPPLEMENTED DIET FOLLOWING AMMONIA STRESS

This study evaluated the effect of regular distiller's dried grain with solubles (R-DDGS) and phytase-treated DDGS (PT-DDGS) on rearing performance of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and their hematological profile and survival under normal and ammonia-stress condition.

The 150 fish were assigned to 10 glass aquaria following complete randomized design where each treatment was duplicated with 15 fish per aquarium. The fish were fed with 150 g kg^-1 R-DDGS (R150), 300 g kg^-1 R-DDGS (R300), 150 g kg^-1 PT-DDGS (P150) or 300 g kg^-1 PT-DDGS (P300) - supplemented diet for 6 weeks while a commercial diet served as the control (C). Growth and survival were monitored periodically. Blood sampling was conducted after rearing and one day after ammonia stress test to evaluate the hematological parameters.

WG of fish fed with R150, R300, P150 and P300 were increased by 11, 26, 41 and 22% as compared to that of C, respectively (Table 1). After rearing, HCT of R150 and P300 were higher than that of C. Moreover, WBC, HGB and HCT of fish fed with DDGS were significantly higher than that of C. Overall, DDGS improved growth performance and exhibited favorable hematological parameters of fish under normal and ammonia stress-condition.