REPLACING Artemia IN THE LARVAL CULTURE OF SIX FRESHWATER ORNAMENTAL FISH

Taylor Lipscomb, Amy Wood, Shane Ramee, Michael Sipos,
Elisabeth Groover, Matthew DiMaggio
 
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory
Institute of Food and Agriculture Science
University of Florida
Ruskin, FL.
tlipscomb@ufl.edu
 

Larvae of freshwater fish produced for the ornamental aquaculture industry are generally given live Artemia nauplii as a first feed. While Artemia has proven to be invaluable in the development of protocols for culturing various fish species, this live feed organism also has many disadvantages to alternative feeds. These include variable cost and availability, the potential for pathogen transfer, and irregularities in nutritional profile. In light of these disadvantages, research investigating the efficacy of alternative feed items for larval freshwater ornamental fish is important. The present study evaluated survival, growth and homogeneity of growth of six commercially important ornamental fish (Rosy Barb Pethia conchonius, Tiger Barb Puntigrus tetrazona, Black Tetra Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, Redtail Sharkminnow Epalzeorhynchos bicolor, Dwarf Gourami Trichogaster lalius, and Freshwater Angelfish Pterophyllum scalare) fed four different diets for the first fourteen days of exogenous feeding. Diets evaluated were the industry standard first feed, Artemia, and three commercially available microparticulate diets:  Larval AP-100, Otohime A1, and Golden Pearls. All fish were raised to 14 days after the onset of exogenous feeding, at which point survival and standard length were evaluated. For Rosy Barb, Tiger Barb, Redtail Sharkminnow and Dwarf Gourami, mean survival did not differ significantly. Mean survival of Freshwater Angelfish and Black Tetra, however, varied significantly, with larvae fed Golden Pearls exhibiting the highest survival. The diet exhibiting the highest final mean standard length was more variable across species. This study provides evidence for the successful first feed replacement of Artemia with commercially available micro-particulate diets in freshwater ornamental species.