Evaluacion de diferentes niveles de harina de lenteja de agua (Lemna minor) en la alimentacion de tilapia roja (Oreochromis sp) en la etapa de alevinaje.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate different levels (T2 = 15%, T3 = 20%, T4 = 25%) of duckweed meal (Lemna minor) in the diets of red tilapia fingerlings (Oreochromis sp) compared to control diet (T1 = 0% of duckweed meal) fed with balanced diets (38% of protein) for 75 days. A total of 320 fingerlings (0.59 cm and 1.55 g) were placed in groups of 20 individuals in 16 ponds of 0.70 m3 of water. The fingerlings were subjected to an adaptation phase for 15 days before starting the experimental stage. The fish were fed with a rate of 5% of the existing biomass in each pond. ADEVA (P<0.05) was used to analyze data, and when there were significant differences, the Tukey test was used to compare means among treatments. The results obtained during this study for the variables were as follows: the highest meal consumption was obtained in T2 (650 g per fish); the highest weight gain was observed in T2 (231.29 g per fish). The best average length was obtained in T2 (14.09 cm per fish). Finally, the best feed conversion was observed in control group (1.40). It is concluded that with the use of different levels of duckweed meal, the productive parameters evaluated in this study obtained excellent results decreasing the production time with the expected weights. It is recommended to use duckweed meal in diets for tilapia in different stages as unconventional feed to improve production time.