Comparative studies of the growth performance of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed commercial feedstuff and live zooplankton

This study on the growth performance of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed separately on zooplankton, coppens, aquaculture feed and a combination of Coppens and zooplankton lasted for 8 weeks. Ninety (90) three-week old Hatchery bred fingerlings of Clarias gariepinus used for the study were acclimated for three (3) days in a concrete tank measuring 1m x 1m and fed with fish meal, before commencement of the experiment. The fingerlings were grouped in tens into 9 concrete tanks measuring 1m x 1m x 1m. These tanks were further grouped into threes to give three treatments labelled A1 - A3, B1 - B3 and C1 - C3. Treatment I (A1 - A3) were fed with zooplankton, Treatment II (B1 - B3) were fed zooplankton and 3% body weight of coppens, while Treatment III (C1 - C3) was fed with 5% body weight of coppens only. Zooplanktons used were mainly rotifers, branchionus and Cyclops. Total length and weight of fish were measured weekly and used as growth indices. Data collected were analyzed using one way Analysis of variance and means separated by Duncan's Multiple Range Test. Results from the study revealed that Treatments II and III were not significantly different from each other (P>0.05) for both length and weight, but were different from Treatment I (P