Effects of different diets on growth performance and body composition of Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, Brandt & Ratzenburg, 1833)

The effects of a commercial trout feed (45% crude protein, 12% crude fat) and a carp diet (35% crude protein, 10% crude fat) on growth performance of Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) was studied and expressed as weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and body composition (protein, lipid and dry matter).). 23-months old sturgeons were hand-fed (pelleted diets) twice daily throughout the 330-day experimental period. Fish were grown at ambient temperatures (seasonal range: 6.2-26.3 degrees C). Initial mean weight in the two groups was 399 +/- 12 g and 404 +/- 13.1 g, respectively. Mean weight gain in the two groups was calculated to be 95.3% in fish fed the trout pellets (Group 1) and 77.3% in fish fed the carp pellets (Group 2). Mean specific growth rate (SGR) in sturgeons fed the trout and carp diets was found to be 0.19 and 0.16, respectively. Mean feed conversion ratio (FCR) for both test groups was 4.9 and 5.2, respectively. Corresponding crude protein values, were 19.04% and 18.21% in muscle tissue, respectively. The results indicated that growth performance of Russian sturgeons using trout diets seem to be somewhat better than that of the fish fed the carp feed. However, growth performance (WG, SGR and FCR) and body composition were not statistically different in two groups