Growth performance of an indigenous carp Bangana dero (Hamilton) fed on formulated and commercial diets

A six month feeding experiment was conducted to compare between different diets and its effect on growth performance of an indigenous carp Bangana dero. A total of 360 uniform B. dero (average weight 4.9±0.02 g) were cultured in twelve circular fibreglass tanks @ 15 fish per tank (90 W × 64 H cm.). The fishes were fed by two commercial feeds (T1, T2), formulate feed (T3) and control feed (T4) in triplicates with 4% of body weight twice a day. Fish were maintained in well aerated water system. Analysis of variance showed that the growth performance in T1 was significantly higher than other groups (p<0.05). The formulate di et also had uniform growth rate with significant positive effects on Specific Growth Rate (SGR) and final biomass gain. The present study reveals that there is potential effect of commercial and formulated fish feed on growth performances of this target species.