Effects of bamboo substrate and supplementary feed on growth and production of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus

The effects of bamboo poles as substrate for periphyton development on the growth and production of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus , was evaluated over a period of 90 days. Three treatments, namely manure application as control (C), control and substrate installation (C + S) and, control and substrate with supplementary feeding (C + S + F) were randomly allotted to six earthen ponds each with an area of 100m2. Catfish fingerlings of mean weight 27.5g ± 1.25 were stocked at the rate of 80 fish per 100m2. Water temperature, pH, Total Alkalinity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), ammonia and nitrites were monitored during the study. The results obtained after a 90- day culture period indicated no significant variations in water quality between treatments. Similarly, there were no significant difference in survival between the treatments which ranged from 81.3%, 96.8% and 86.3% for the C, C+S and C+S+F respectively. The mean gross fish yield (kg/100m2) varied from 16.0kg for C + S, 9.5kg for C + S + F and 6.0kg for C. the study indicated bamboo poles as substrate for periphyton was a superior alternative to improve catfish production under pond conditions