Effects of enclosure colour on growth performance of Clarias gariepinus fry

The effect of five enclosure colour on the production of Clarias gariepinus fry at post- yolk absorption stage were examined in the indoor hatchery during the first phase of exogenous feeding. A total of 3600 C. gariepinus fry (mean weight, 6.3 ~c 0.00 mg) were stocked into 15,56 litres capacity laboratory plastic bowls. Tank colours evaluated were black, blue, green, white and maroon. Frys were fed on zooplankton ad-libitum. Results indicated that tank colour had significant impact (P 0.05) than the blue and green tanks treatments but was significantly higher ( P > 0.05) than the blue and green tanks treatments. Based on the results, it is obvious that the background enclosure colour has effects on the growth and survival of fry in the indoor rearing system. A general tendency of higher fry growth and survival in dark colour backgrounds was evident. This could have a significant financial impact on commercial fingerlings production of C. gariepinus as fish hatchery operators in Nigeria do not currently take into consideration the colour of tanks use for the rearing of fry in the indoor hatchery