Comparative growth response of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed with imported and local feeds

The comparative growth response of African catfish fingerlings (Clarias gariepinus) fed with three (3) local and three (3) imported feeds was studied in the Department of Biological Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria between September and October, 2009 with the aim of establishing the best quality feed in terms of specific growth rate, total weight and percentage survival rate for a period of 8 weeks (56 days). One hundred and twenty (120) fingerlings of Clarias gariepinus and six commercial feeds with varying crude proteins namely Chivita, Aquaplus, Vital, Skrettings, Multifeeds and Coppens were used for the experiment. Some water quality parameters analyzed indicated temperature varied from 25.50 ~'C to 28.0 ~'C while pH and dissolved oxygen ranged from 6.6 to 7.2 and 6.3mg/l to 8.2mg/l respectively. The treatment shows significant difference in terms of mean weight gain, specific growth rates and survival rate. The lowest SGR was 0.31 and 0.89 the highest. Fish fed with Chivita and Coppens showed the best growth compared to other treatments