Influence of Selected Substrates on The Growth of Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio)

Present study was undertaken to assess the effect of sugarcane and paddy straw as an artificial substrate on the growth of Cyprinus carpio. These substrates have great potential for microbial colonization compared to other substrates. Experiments were conducted over a period of 60 days in 3 cement cisterns (2 X 5 X 1.2 m). All the three tanks were filled with 0.1 kg of quick lime, 3 kg of cow dung, sugarcane bagassae (T2) and paddy straw (T3). Control (T1) tank was containing quick lime and cow dung without substrates. Some water parameters were estimated during the study period. No significant variation was noticed in water quality between the treatments. Major groups of phytoplankton were observed during the gut content analysis. Percentage of phytoplankton ratio and growth of C. carpio in T2 and T3 tanks were significantly higher than the control. Overall survival and production of fishes were also more in these two treatments. Higher growth of C. carpio in bagassae tank may be due to its feeding on the microbial biofilm that developed on the decaying paddy straw. Percentage of phytoplankton was higher in T3 than T1 and T2 tanks, Phytoplankton is the main source of energy for fishes.