Growth and Survival of Goldfish (Carassius auratus) Juveniles Fed Tubifex, Custard Meal and Commercial Feeds

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate suitable feed for Carassius auratus juveniles. 30-day-old juveniles (3.31±0.14 cm and 0.84±0.3 g) were reared in glass aquaria (50×30×30 cm3) at stocking density of 10 juveniles/aquaria in triplicates. The juveniles were fed four different feeds, Tubifex, egg custard, commercial feed, and aquarium feed, twice daily until satiation. After 28 days of trial, fish fed custard and Tubifex had significantly higher survival rates (91% and 88%) than those fed aquarium feed (81%, P < 0.05) and commercial fish feed (75%, P < 0.05). The final length, weight, absolute growth rate and metabolic growth rate were significantly varied among the treatments (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences were evident in weight gain and SGR (P > 0.05). The fish fed custard and Tubifex were comparable in terms of growth performance (P > 0.05) while a significantly lower growth rate was found in fish fed commercial feed (P < 0.05). Fish fed Tubifex and custard had significantly higher protein content (15.28% and 14.86%, respectively) than those fed commercial fish feed (13.41%) and aquarium feed (12.21%). The overall findings suggest that the formulated egg custard can promote growth and survival in goldfish.