Influence of Probiotics on the Growth Performance of Sex Reversed Nile Tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus , Linnaeus, 1758) Fry

Abstract

Tilapia culture could contribute a lot in boosting the production of fish so current investigation was aimed to improve the growth, feed utilization, survival of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fry and benefit cost ratio by using probiotics during sex reversal and other steps of culture. The investigation was designed in three treatments where the first one fed on diet supplemented with Bacillus sp., and the second fed on diet containing Lactobacillus sp. while the third treatment fed on basal diet which was considered as control. After 100 days of investigation, it was observed that the fish groups fed with probiotics supplemented diets revealed significant improvement in aspect of growth. Highest yield of fingerling 3.4 kg was found in the treatment fed with Bacillus sp. which ultimately influence the gross revenue. Fry survivality was also found higher upto 66% in the treatments fed with probiotics compared to the control where there was no probiotic added in the feed. In all the treatments sex reversal rate was found the same (97%), revealed that the addition of probiotics in fish feed improves growth and survival of the sex reversed fingerling. Therefore, these probiotics might be useful to get higher production of sex reversed fish.