A study of the optimum stocking density and feed rate for school prawns Metapenaeus macleayi (Haswell) in some Australian brackish water farming ponds

A stocking density experiment was conducted in 18 experimental enclosures within a single 0.11 ha pond. As stocking density increased in the range 6.1–21.2 prawns/m², school prawn growth declined while survival rate was unaffected and total harvest (final biomass) increased. A simple economic analysis indicated that the optimum stocking density for juvenile school prawns was 19.1 prawns/m². In a similar experiment the effects of feeding school prawns with a pelleted diet at a range of supplementary feed rates (0–12.5% of prawn biomass/day) were investigated. The optimum feed rate in terms of growth was approximately 5% of biomass/day. However the optimum feed rate, in terms of the economic return index used, varied depending on the estimated cost of the diet.     

New techniques for the assessment and optimal management of growth and standing crop variation in the cultured freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

The current ‘traditional’ prawn pond management system really does not ‘manage’, but rather accommodates prawn production characteristics and was instituted with a minimum knowledge of prawn biology and husbandry. As such, the traditional system is not optimal because it does not rely on a strong empirical knowledge base. Prawn culture has succeeded up until now because Macrobrachium rosenbergii is easily cultured and will give 500–1000 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ without much effort. This is sufficient in many areas of the world but not in others where economic conditions have break-even production requirements of nearly 1 tonne greater than this. The traditional system relying on selective harvesting with large seine nets is seriously inefficient which not only leads to lost revenue but under-manages pond growth since unculled large animals suppress the growth of unculled smaller ones. The degree to which this occurs was not known to the designers of the traditional system who had no way of knowing (as we do now from our research results) the extremely large compensatory growth capability of small prawns in the absence of large ones. The traditional system also does not manage sexual dimorphic growth because no technology exists which can be used to create monosex broods or manipulate the sex ratio in ponds. Accurate production models are not available because traditional ponds are rarely sampled and/or rarely drained. This, along with inefficient harvests, results in a co-mingling of cohort stocking classes. It is impossible to get accurate survival and growth data because of this and because it is so time consuming to sample commercial ponds and process the data on a regular basis. This paper describes four new engineering and ‘bioengineering’ techniques which are under development and can overcome all the drawbacks of the traditional system: (1) surgical sex reversal to create monosex broods; (2) genetic tagging of stocking and resident cohorts to assess survival and growth; (3) size grading and 100% efficient harvesting using pond draining and a machine grader-harvester; and (4) a semi-automated computer assisted prawn sample data management system which uses sonic digitization of prawn sample data.     

Effects of feeding rates on the growth,water quality and nutrient budget of western king prawn (Penaeus latisulcatus Kishinouye) reared in recirculating aquaculture systems

Feed rate is one of the important variables considered for the improvement in production of prawns. The effects of four feeding rates on growth, water quality and the nutrient budget of Penaeus latisulcatus were investigated for 98 days. The specific growth rate (SGR) at 3.0% feed rate was significantly higher than at all higher feed rates, and there was no significant difference in SGR between 4.5%, 6% and 7.5%. Total ammonia nitrogen concentrations in all treatments remained low in the safe range for prawn culture. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in prawn tanks received feed rates of 6.0% and 7.5%. Total phosphorus and the soluble reactive phosphorus linearly increased with the progression of the trial and feeding rates. Nutrient conversion rates were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in prawns receiving the feeding rate of 3.0% than feeding rates of 6.0% and 7.5%. The lowest food conversion ratio was recorded at feeding rates of 3% and 4.5%. Nutrient budget showed that 6.01–15.99% nitrogen and 4.53–9.29% phosphorus of the nutrient inputs were retained in the prawn biomass. The results indicated that the growth and nutrient conversion rate may not increase with the increase above 3.0% of biomass per day.     

A Comparison of Two Feeding Technologies in Freshwater Prawns,Macrobrachium rosenbergii,Raised at High Biomass Densities in Temperate Ponds

ABSTRACT

Recent developments in prawn production technologies (i.e., added substrate, increased stocking densities, size grading, and increased feed rates) have increased production rates from 900-1,000 kg/ha to over 2,500 kg/ha. While prawn can receive substantial nutritional benefit from natural foods at the lower biomass densities, at higher production rates prawn are likely to be more dependent on prepared diets. To ensure that maximum production is being achieved by these new production technologies, production rates must not be nutritionally constrained. This study was conducted to compare the current recommended technology of phase feeding of different quality feedstuffs to prawns of different sizes with the feeding of a high-quality penaeid diet throughout the production season. Two treatments were evaluated: Treatment 1 was phase feeding (current technology-control) where prawns were fed unpelleted distillers' grains with solubles (DDGS) for the first four weeks, then a 28%-protein prawn diet for weeks 5-12, and finally a 40%-protein penaeid diet for weeks 13-16. In Treatment 2, prawn were fed the 40%-protein penaeid diet throughout the entire production period. Feeding rates in both treatments were based upon a feeding table. Three 0.04 ha ponds were used for each treatment. All ponds were stocked at 59,280 juveniles/ha and were provided with artificial substrate in the form of a polyethylene “safety fence” oriented vertically to increase available surface area by 50%. After 106 culture days, no significant differences (P >0.05) were observed between treatments in terms of yield, average individual weight, food conversion ratio (FCR), or survival, which averaged 2,575 kg/ha, 46 g, 2.3, and 94%, respectively, overall. Due to the higher cost of the penaeid diet (US$0.84/kg), feeding costs for the penaeid diet treatment (Treatment 2) were 38% higher than those for Treatment 1. No benefit to using higher protein diets during the first 12 weeks of prawn pond production was observed.     

鲈与中国对虾混养试验

１９９５、１９９６年进行鲈与中国对虾混养试验，利用鲈摄食病虾及小型糠虾类，阻断病毒传播，推迟了对虾发病，试验池产量，效益成活率均高于对照池。     

The use of passive acoustics to measure feed consumption by Penaeus monodon (giant tiger prawn) in cultured systems

The feeding inefficiencies associated with intensively cultured prawn systems have a significant financial cost and environmental impact. Initial trials of a commercial system using sound to manage feeding within cultured systems have achieved promising results with an impressive food conversion (food weight/biomass) ratio of 1.42. Whilst these results demonstrate the potential benefit of employing passive acoustics for feed management, the underlying technologies are not well understood by industry or the research community. Consequently, a sound based study of feeding tiger prawns is conducted to investigate the key challenges associated with passive acoustic approaches; sound detection and feed demand estimation. The study finds that tiger prawns produce impulsive sound signatures during feeding that can be used as a proxy of feeding activity. Spectral features of the feeding signatures can be used to detect feeding activity within acoustically complex farm ponds (feeding signal to noise ratios less than −40 dB), given they are largely disjoint from the background noise spectrum (aerators) across all farm recordings. One of the potential challenges identified with sound based feed detection is that other sources of event driven interference arise (i.e. rain and faulty aerators), which can be misclassified as feeding. Whilst our investigation indicates that sound based detection of feed events are plausible, it is unclear how accurate it is to estimate the quantity of consumed pellets from feeding sound. Our study provides evidence to support its feasibility, given the temporal evolution of feeding sounds and pellet consumption were linearly related across tank and pond based feeds, respectively (R² = 0.95 and R² = 0.96).     

Production of the Australian freshwater silver perch, Bidyanus bidyanus (Mitchell), at two densities in earthen ponds

Silver perch fingerlings (mean weight 15.3 g) were stocked at densities of 21 000 and 7000 fish/ha in six 0.1-ha earthen ponds and cultured for 10 months. There were three replicate ponds for each density. Ponds were aerated for at least 11 h a day and water was added every 4 weeks to replace that lost by evaporation and seepage. Fish were fed a formulated diet containing 35% crude protein at 4% body weight per day for the first 4 weeks and at rates up to 3% thereafter. The mean annual production rate of 9819 kg/ha of fish stocked at 21 000/ha was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than the annual rate of 3699 kg/ha of fish stocked at 7000/ha. The maximum daily production and growth rates achieved in any pond over a 1-month period during summer were 97.7 kg/ha and 5.1 g/fish, respectively. Stocking density did not significantly (P > 0.05) affect survival rate (treatment means for 21 000 and 7000 fish/ha: 92.8 and 94.7%), daily growth rate (0.2–3.3 and 0.3–3.4 g/fish), weight at harvest (434.9 and 473.2 g), food conversion ratio (1.9:1 and 1.8:1) and cost of feeding ($A1.55 and $A1.47/kg), suggesting that higher stocking densities and production rates are possible. Water temperatures ranged from 11.1 to 30.0 °C. Significantly (P < 0.05) slower growth during December was associated with concentrations of NH₃-N up to 0.65 mg/l. The results demonstrate that silver perch is an excellent species for semi-intensive culture in static earthen ponds with the potential to form the basis of a large industry in Australia, based on high-volume, relatively low-cost production.     

Combined diet of yeast,fermented soybean meal,and microparticulate as larval feed in extensive rearing systems for seed production of the oriental river prawn <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macrobrachium nipponense</Emphasis>

The present study aims to evaluate the effects of several types of larval feed on seed production of the oriental river prawn Macrobrachium nipponense and water quality in extensive rearing systems. Healthy M. nipponense were distributed into fifteen 15-m² pond outdoors, and each pond was stocked with 90 prawns including 41 egg-bearing (berried) female prawns, 37 not bearing female prawns, and 12 male prawns for larval production. The experimental design was completely randomized, with four diet groups (diet A: soybean homogenate, diet B: yeast, diet C: yeast?+?fermented soybean meal, and diet D: yeast?+?fermented soybean meal?+?microparticulate diet) and one no feeding control and three replications. There are equal levels of the total protein content in diets A–D. Higher larvae and postlarvae number was obtained for diet C and diet D. Furthermore, the increase of M. nipponense larvae and postlarvae in diets B–D can result in the decrease of zooplankton and increase of phytoplankton in the pond during some periods, simultaneously improving the water quality. The Spearman correlation coefficient (r_M,N) between the amounts of larvae and postlarvae of M. nipponense per pond and zooplankton per pond during the entire experiment period was ??0.56. The highest juvenile M. nipponense production was obtained in the diet D group (3140.00?±?461.63), which was slightly higher than that in the diet C group (2940.33?±?382.60). The juvenile M. nipponense production in diet B (2303.00?±?449.23) was also significantly higher compared to diet A (1106.33?±?176.64) and the control group (1039.67?±?212.85). There were no significant differences in the amounts of juvenile M. nipponense between the control and diet A groups, which indicated that the soybean homogenate could not increase the amount of M. nipponense juveniles. Our results clearly showed that diet D significantly raised per unit yield of prawn seed comparing with no feeding and other diet group in extensive rearing systems and that the cost of producing prawn seed with diet D is low, which provide an important foundation for the expansion of oriental river prawn culture.     

Polyculture of Macrobrachium rosenbergii and Notemigonus crysoleucas

A polyculture study was conducted in southwest Louisiana comparing production of Malaysian prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii , in monoculture and polyculture with Golden shiners, Notemigonus crysoleucas .
This test revealed stocking of shiners at 24.7/m² with prawns at 4.4/m² resulted in increased total pond production over monoculture of prawns at 4.4/m² with equal prawn yields in both systems and little increase in labor. Feeding rates were based on prawn biomass. Food conversion ratios ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 in polyculture and 0.9 to 1.1 in monoculture when total production was considered. Prawn production averaged 640 kg/ha in polyculture and 629 kg/ha in monoculture. Mean size of prawns was 19 g in polyculture and 20 g in monoculture. The polyculture of shiners with prawns added an average of 307 kg/ha of the bait fish to pond production.
Shiners did not compete seriously with prawns when stocked at these rates. This practice could result in added revenues to producers culturing these species together.     

Growth, Survival, and Biochemical Composition of Freshwater Prawns Macrobrachium rosenbergii Fed Natural Food Organisms Under Controlled Conditions

Under production conditions freshwater prawns Macrobrachium rosenbergii are supplied nutrients by a combination of prepared diets and natural pond organisms. For maximum production efficiency and profitability it is important that the nutritional contributions of natural foods be identified and quantified. In this study the relative importance of forage organisms previously identified as important natural foods for prawns in ponds were evaluated under controlled conditions. Juvenile prawns (average weight 1.80 ± 0.06 g) were stocked into 18 37.5-L aquaria at a density of 10 prawns per tank. The six dietary treatments tested were: 1) unfed (negative control); 2) commercially prepared diet (positive control); 3) oligo-chaetes; 4) chironomids; 5) zooplankton; and 6) a combination of the latter three. Each treatment was evaluated in triplicate aquaria for 7 wk. The growth rate of prawns in the unfed treatment was statistically lower than in fed treatments ( P < 0.05). There were no significant differences ( P > 0.05) between growth rates and survivals among prawns in the five fed treatments. Selective retention of arachidonic acid (20:4n-6), eicosapentanoic acid (22: 5n-3), and docosahexanenoic acid (22:6n-3) in unfed prawns likely indicates the relative nutritional importance of these fatty acids. Comparisons of whole-body fatty acid and amino acid concentrations of prawns and food organisms indicate that zooplankton and oligochaetes may have the most appropriate biochemical compositions as prawn food sources.     

Nutritional studies in crustaceans and the problems of applying research findings to practical farming systems1

Methodological approaches for undertaking research on the dietary nutrient requirements of farmed crustaceans should ensure that the studies are designed and conducted in such a manner that the ensuing results can be applied under practical farming conditions. Sadly, the majority of studies to date have had little practical applicability, the bulk of nutrient-requirement studies having been conducted under controlled, artificial, laboratory conditions. Despite the fact that the giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon Fabricius), the whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei Boone) and the fleshy prawn (Penaeus chinensis Osbeck) are the three most-cultivated crustacean species in the world (total aqua-culture production of these crustacean species in 1993 totalled 625487 metric tonnes or 66.9% of the total world farmed crustacean production), little or no information exists concerning their dietary nutrient requirements under practical semi-intensive pond-farming conditions (where the bulk of the production is currently realized). To a large extent this has been due to the apparent reluctance of the conventional laboratory-based crustacean nutritionist to also work under field conditions and the difficulty of quantifying the contribution of natural food organ-isms in the overall nutritional budget of pond-raised crustaceans. If meaningful conclusions are to be drawn from nutrient requirement studies and dietary feeding trials, it is essential that the experimental animals be reared under conditions mimicking as far as possible those of the intended farm production unit and environment, including holding facility (indoor or outdoor tank, cage or pond), feed preparation technique (grinding, pelleting, drying; diet texture, form, shape, size, buoyancy and water stability), feeding method (hand, demand or automatic feeding; feeding frequency and feeding rate–fixed or satiation feeding; day or night-time feeding), water quality (temperature, turbidity, salinity, oxygen and mineral concentration; water exchange rate, water circulation pattern and artificial aeration), photoperiod (artificial or natural) and crustacean stocking density. Finally, but not least, it is essential that the growth performance of the experimental animals be at least equal to or greater than that of the target crustacean species under practical farming conditions if realistic conclusions are to be drawn, and it is necessary that dietary nutrient requirements can be ascertained under conditions of maximum attainable growth.     

饲料中添加法夫酵母对罗氏沼虾的体色及生长状况的影响

在饲料中添加富含虾青亲的法夫酵母,能显著提高罗氏沼虾的增重车和存活率．增重率提高14．48％,存活率提高21．66％．并能改善罗氏沼虾的体色,虾壳中类胡萝卜素含量提高40．40％．使其外观更健康。     

Yield characteristics of prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man), with fish polycultures at low feeding rates

Abstract. As currently practiced, freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man), aquaculture in Hawaii requires large inputs of supplementary feed, water and labour. The high cost of these inputs greatly restricts profit potential. An experiment was conducted to compare an alternative prawn production system which used lower feeding rates and fish polycultures to reduce inputs. Three treatments were run in quadruplicate: (1) control—prawns stocked at standard densities (11.5 per n2) in monoculture and fed standard prawn pellets at the commercial ration recommendations by New & Singholka (1982); (2) low feed—prawns at standard densities and fish [silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes), grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes), and grey mullet, Mugil cephalus (L.)] fed one-half commercial ration; and (3) maintenance feed—prawns at standard densities and fish fed one-tenth commercial ration. Although prawn yield characteristics (mean weights, harvestable sizes, survival, net yields) were not significantly different (P > 0.05) based on an analysis of variance in the three treatments over the approximately 9.5-month culture period, this lack of significance most likely resulted from interpond variability and the lack of a large number of replicates. The relatively poor survival (60–63%) of gray mullet and an almost twofold difference in prawn yields in the control and maintenance feed treatments suggest that there was in fact competition for resources in the nominally polyculture systems. Nevertheless, the wet weight yield of biomass from all species was twice as high in the low feed ponds as in the control ponds.     

POLYCULTURE OF THE FRESHWATER PRAWN (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) WITH TWO COMBINATIONS OF CARPS IN MANURED PONDS

A study was conducted to 1) evaluate the compatibility of prawns (Macrobrachiurn rosenbergii) with carps, especially the effect of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio); and 2) measure the ability of prawns to utilize the foods available in manured systems. Carps used were the silver (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), bighead (Aristichthys nobilis), grass (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Four ponds (0.09 to 0.17 ha) were stocked with silver, bighead and grass carps while common carp were stocked in only two ponds. Total fish densities were 8,600/ha where four carps were stocked, but only 6,200/ha when common carp were omitted. Post-larval prawns (wt 0.116 g) were stocked at densities of 17/m². Swine (approximately 60/ha of pond surface area) were housed on pond dikes so that fresh manure continuously entered each pond. Two lots of swine were fattened during the experimental period and loadings of swine manure were calculated based on hog size and feed consumption. Growth periods were 163 days for fish and 107 and 121 days for separate stockings of prawns. Gains in biomass by prawns averaged 714 kg/ha in ponds without common carp and 364 kg/ha in ponds containing common carp. Gains in biomass for both fish and prawns were 3,619 kg/ha (19.8 kg/ha/day) in ponds with common carp and 2,924 kg/ha (18.0 kg/ha/day) in those without common carp. Prawn survival was higher (X = 84.5% vs X = 72.5%), but final average weight of prawns was lower (2.64 vs 5.86 g) in the presence of common carp due to competition for food between common carp and prawns. Competition from carp is believed to have exerted less influence on prawn survival than predation on small prawns by larger, faster-growing prawns.     

Correction of black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon fabricius) coloration by astaxanthin

After two months of feeding a group of juvenile black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) with a commercial feed (CF), their external pigmentation changed from its normal greenish-brown to a light blue. This condition was thought to be induced by a carotenoid deficiency in the feed. Nutritional improvement and hence correction of this condition was attempted by adding 50 ppm astaxanthin (Roche Ltd^®) into one feed (AF) and 5% addition of brown algae (Chnoospora minima) into a second feed (BF). After four weeks of feeding, the prawns fed on AF reverted to their normal greenish-brown pigmentation. The carotenoids present in the BF feed increased carotenoid content in the prawns, but the levels were not high enough to correct the blue coloration. Analysis of carotenoid content in the shells of the groups showed 318%, 57% and 14% increase for AF, BF, and CF respectively, with 70–90% of the total carotenoid being in the form of astaxanthin. Deposition of astaxanthin was higher in the shell than in the flesh, with deposition in the flesh plateauing after two weeks, whilst deposition in the shell increased steadily.

The importance of these findings to the marketing of cultured shrimps is discussed.     

Performance evaluation of rice–fish integration system in rainfed medium land ecosystem

This study was carried out for three successive years during 1999–2001 to evaluate growth and yield performance of fish, prawn and paddy under rice–fish integration system in rainfed medium land ecosystem. Irrespective of stocking density, faster growth rate was recorded for Catla catla followed by Cyprinus carpio, Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo rohita and Macrobrachium rosenbergii. C. carpio and C. mrigala performed better growth rate against that of L. rohita probably due to the fact that being bottom dwellers, C. carpio and C. mrigala are more tolerant to fluctuation of oxygen concentration. Productivity of fish and prawn was, however, higher (p<0.05) in refuges with 10-cm weir height plots, irrespective of stocking density, while overall yield performance was good at stocking density of 25,000 ha⁻¹. It was observed that, even with supplemental feeding, with increase in stocking density, biomass yield increased up to an optimum and then decreased. An average minimum and maximum yield of 906.6–1282.3 kg ha⁻¹ of fish and prawn has been achieved, which was much higher than the earlier recorded productivity in a season under rice–fish integration system. Highest grain yield was recorded at 15-cm weir height plot (3629 kg ha⁻¹), probably contributed by higher number of panicles per square meter (235.5) and number of filled grains per panicle (121.7). Percentage increase in rice yield under rice–fish integration system was 7.9–8.6% against control, where paddy was cultivated without integration of fish and prawn probably due to better aeration of water, greater tillering effect and additional supply of fertilizer in form of leftover feed and fish excreta. Irrespective of stocking density, the overall rice equivalent yield (REY) of the system was high (4.22–4.55 tons ha⁻¹) at 12.5-cm weir height plots-cum-refuge, without using any pesticide, herbicide, etc.     

Nutrient efficacy of microalgae as aquafeed additives for the adult black tiger prawn,Penaeus monodon

This study used a small amount of several lyophilized microalgae (5% of dry weight in aquafeed) to feed adult black tiger prawns Penaeus monodon for 4 weeks, aiming to promote prawn health and nutritional level. Apart from slight increases in ash content, chlorophyll and β‐carotene in the microalgae‐added feeds, there was no difference from the commercial diet in their biochemical composition. After 28 days of feeding, prawn body length, body weight, condition index and also total amount of fatty acids and amino acids of the flesh (2nd abdominal segment) were not affected by microalgae additives as compared with the control commercial diet‐fed group (P > 0.05). Prawns fed the microalgae diets, however, had a relatively better survival rate than those fed the commercial control diet, although no statistical significance was detected in any except for the diatom Melosira sp. The elevated survival rate was concomitant with a higher phagocytosis rate and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the immune response analysis, and significantly a higher astaxanthin content detected in the tail muscle of microalgae diet‐fed prawns (5.36–10.78 ng of astaxanthin per gram of muscle DW). These findings demonstrated that low‐inclusion microalgal additives in prawn diets over a short feeding period (4 weeks) can result in healthier adult prawn, and hence could contribute to the development of an optimized feeding strategy for prawn aquaculture close to harvesting.     

The budget of nitrogen in the grow‐out of the Amazon river prawn (Macrobrachium amazonicum Heller) and tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum Cuvier) farmed in monoculture and in integrated multitrophic aquaculture systems

This work determined the nitrogen inputs, outputs and accumulation in compartments of stagnant earthen ponds for the monoculture and integrated multi‐trophic aquaculture (IMTA) of the Amazon river prawn (Macrobrachium amazonicum) and tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), using recycled hypereutrophic water. A completely randomized experiment was designed with four treatments and three replications: PM–monoculture with 30 prawns/m², FM ‐ monoculture with 3 fish/m², IMTA ‐ polyculture with 30 prawns/m² and 30 fish/m² free, POLY‐CAGE ‐ polyculture with 30 prawns/m² free and 40 fish/m³ in net‐cages. Animals, rain, water, feed, soil, gas, accumulated sludge, and suspended sediments were collected throughout the experiment to determine their nitrogen contents and to calculate the nitrogen budget. Results showed that much of the nitrogen available escapes to atmosphere as N₂ (~40%–56%) after denitrification or accumulated within bottom sludge (~14%–42%). The remaining nitrogen was converted in animal biomass (~5%–21%) or was discharged to receiving waterbodies in the outlet water (~11%–13%). Feed management appeared to influence the major biological processes in the aquatic nitrogen cycle, such as photosynthesis and denitrification. The fish‐prawn IMTA systems converted approximately 53%–75% of feed nitrogen into harvestable products, which is more efficient than the 19%–46% of feed nitrogen converted in the monocultures. However, a large amount of nitrogen is accumulated in the pond bottom in all systems. An increased prawn density or the addition of a mud‐feeder species to the culture may enhance the incorporation of this material in harvested biomass, improving the efficiency of the systems.     

Effect of fishmeal replacement with Artemia biomass as a protein source in practical diets for the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

A 30-day feeding experiment was conducted in 160-L plastic tanks to evaluate the potential use of Artemia biomass as a protein source in practical diets for postlarval Macrobrachium rosenbergii (initial mean weight of 12.12–12.29 mg). Nine isoenergetic and isonitrogenous experimental diets (approximately 40% crude protein) were formulated by replacing levels of the fishmeal (FM) protein difference either with dried or frozen Artemia (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%). The 0% Artemia treatment, in which Peruvian FM was the only main protein source, was considered to be the control diet. The results showed that prawn postlarvae (PLs) fed the FM control diet had a lower survival (46%) compared with all Artemia diets. Significant differences ( P <0.05) were, however, only found at 75% and 100% Artemia protein inclusion levels (survival of 68–77%). A gradual increase in growth performance (live weight gain, specific growth rate and total length) of the prawns was achieved on increasing dietary inclusion of Artemia protein. Additionally, the size distribution exhibited the same response as growth performance. However, prawns fed the frozen Artemia diets showed a better performance than the ones fed the dried Artemia diets. It can be suggested that Artemia biomass may totally replace FM in practical diets for PLs of the freshwater prawn M. rosenbergii .     

Effects of Two Densities of Caged Monosex Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, on Water Quality, Phytoplankton Populations, and Production When Polycultured with Macrobrachium rosenbergii in Temperate Ponds

The effects of different densities of caged Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, on water quality, phytoplankton populations, prawn, and total pond production were evaluated in freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, production ponds. The experiment consisted of three treatments with three 0.04‐ha replicates each. All ponds were stocked with graded, nursed juvenile prawn (0.9 ± 0.6 g) at 69,000/ha. Control (CTL) ponds contained only prawns. Low‐density polyculture (LDP) ponds also contained two cages (1 m³; 100 fish/cage) of monosex male tilapia (115.6 ± 22 g), and high‐density polyculture (HDP) ponds had four cages. Total culture period was 106 d for tilapia and 114 d for prawn. Overall mean afternoon pH level was significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) in polyculture ponds than in CTL ponds but did not differ (P > 0.05) between LDP and HDP. Phytoplankton biovolume was reduced in polyculture treatments. Tilapia in the LDP treatment had significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) harvest weights than in the HDP treatment. Prawn weights were higher (P ≤ 0.05) in polyculture than prawn monoculture. These data indicate that a caged tilapia/freshwater prawn polyculture system may provide pH control while maximizing pond resources in temperate areas.