GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF GIFT INFLUENCED BY VARYING CP LEVEL SOY-BASED EXTRUDED FEED AND LIMNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS

The study was conducted in two earthen ponds with one as control in replicates for 180-days to evaluate the varying Crude Protein (CP) level soy-based diets on the growth performance of Genetically Improved Farm Tilapia (GIFT) in correlation with limnological parameters of the water viz., pH, TDS, Temperature, DO, Transparency and water level. GIFT having average body weight of 110-g was stocked in earthen ponds and was fed with two varying CP levels commercially available soy-based pelleted feed viz., 30% CP for the first 90-days and 22% CP for rest of the period, respectively, while conventional mixture of feed without soybean was used to fed the control pond. Water quality parameters were studied throughout the study period with special emphasis on water temperature management at three different levels of the pond. At the end of research trial after statistical analysis of the data it was observed that there was significant difference among the control and soy-based fed ponds in terms of growth of gift. The average maximum weight gain remained as 158 g during the month of September and the average optimum water quality parameters remained as; Temperature 20-34⁰C, pH 7.7-8.7, TDS 470-650 ppm, DO 5.25-8.59 ppm, Transparency 22-35 cm throughout the study period.