TILAPIA STOCKING IN BIOFLOC

An experiment was conducted for six months to demonstrate the suitability of biofloc technology in farming system of mono-sex GIFT tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. The experiment was carried out with four treatments and three replicates of each. Three supplemental feeds such as commercial tilapia feed (CF), wheat bran (WB), biofloc technology (BFT) and rice bran + wheat bran (50:50) (RWB)were designated for this experimentation. The stocking density was 125 fingerlings/decimal with a mean initial weight of 2.80±0.03 g of each. Fish were fed at the rate of 6% of fish body weight at the beginning. The feeding rate was gradually reduced to 2% in the third month and finally increased to 3% for rest of the period. After 6 months of rearing, mono-sex GIFT tilapia in CF attained a significantly (P 0.05) higher mean final weight (150.61±7.47 g) and specific growth rate (3.32±0.05) than those of WB, BFT and RWB, respectively. However, there was no significant (P 0.05) difference in survival rate of fish among the treatments. Although overall production was the highest in CF (3803 kg/acre/6 months) receiving commercial tilapia feed, but the net profit was highest (Tk. 99,453.3/acre/6 months) in BFT receiving periphyton due to the lower cost for the production of periphyton. Based on the results of the study, the use of periphyton as feed is more economically profitable than wheat bran and even commercial tilapia feed for the culture of monosex tilapia in ponds.►►Watch