GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF NILE TILAPIA (OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS) FINGERLINGS RAISED IN AN EARTHEN POND

ABSTRACT. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth performance of Nile tilapia fed with supplemental feed (25 % crude protein) at 50 % satiation. Juvenile Nile tilapia (average weight 6.4 g) were stocked in an earthen pond at 2.4 fish m-2. The pond was fertilized twice weekly with a mixture of superphosphate and urea fertilizer (68 kg ha-1). The annual fish yield was 6880 kg ha-1. The mean weight of harvested fish ranged from 110 to 250 g. The food conversion ratio (FCR) was 0.82, the average daily weight gain (ADG) was 0.9 g d-1 and the specific growth rate was 1.55 % d-1. This study demonstrated that 50 % satiation feeding is an effective feeding rate for improving the production of Nile tilapia cultured in a fertilized, freshwater earthen pond