Study on the effects of feeding diets on growth of climbing perch

(Anabas testudineus) cultured in garden ditches

Nguyen Thanh Phuong(1), Pham Thanh Liem(1), Vo Thanh Toan(1),

Tran Thi Thanh Hien(1) and Le Van Tinh(2)
(1)
College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University, Vietnam.
(2)
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Can Tho Province, Vietnam.

Abstract
An experiment on culture of climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) in garden ditches using different
protein level diets was conducted to assess the potential of using such garden ditches for climbing perch
culture and to find the appropriate feeding diets the intensive culture of this fish. The experiment was
carried out with 4 treatments in 12 garden ditches having area of 50 m2. Treatment 1 fish were only fed
pellet containing 30% of protein (P30); treatment 2 fish were fed various protein diets including P30 for
the first month, P25 for the second month and P20 from the third month onward; treatment 3 fish were
fed P20; and treatment 4 fish were fed home-made feed. The results showed that culture of climbing
perch in garden ditches has the potential to improve the income of small-scale farmers in the Mekong
Delta. Pellet that contains 30% protein resulted in the best growth, survival, FCR and fish yield, and can
be recommended for the intensive culture of climbing perch.

Introduction
Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) is a potential culture species in the Mekong Delta (MD) with high
economic value and commonly consumed by many people. The fish can sustain in many types of water
body like pond, field, cage, etc. especially in light acid sulphate soil areas. During recent years,
propagation techniques have been successfully practiced (Trieu and Long 2000; Yakupitiyage & ctv.
1998 and Doolgindachabaporn 1994). Fish fingerling production from hatcheries is gradually increasing
and may satisfy the farming demand. For culture this species, Doolgindachabaporn (1994) practiced in
pond by using by-products form agriculture. In Can Tho province, intensive culture in ponds has been
applied to this fish with food resources such as by-products of processing plants, trash fish/prawn/crab,
rice bran and broken rice, etc.

However, the culture of climbing perch in the Mekong Delta mainly relies upon the use of various and
unstabilized food resources such as by-products of processing plants or trash fish/prawn. Future
development of climbing perch culture not only in ponds but also in other water bodies will be
necessary to establish culture techniques and to produce appropriate pellets that meet the nutritional
requirements of the fish and ensure fast grow. This experiment therefore attempts to investigate the
potential of climbing perch culture in garden ditches and develop suitable pellets for this fish.

Materials and Methods

Fish and facilities
The experiment was conducted in the garden ditches located in Tan Phu Thanh Village, Chau Thanh
district, Can Tho Province from February to May 2002. The experiment system included 6 canals,
which were divided into 12 units with area of 50 m2 per unit (2x25 m). Water level was maintained at 1-
1.2 m. Each unit had separate water inlet and outlet.

Experimental fish were obtained from hatchery having a size of 5-6 g/fish (2 months old). Uniform in
size and disease-free fish were selected and acclimatized to the experimental condition for one week.
Stocking density for all treatment was of 25 fish/m2.

During the culture period, 30% of total water volume was exchanged bi-weekly in order to maintain
good water quality. Water temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH were monitored bi-weekly. They

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ranged from 27.4 to 28.0oC; 4.46 to 6.70 mg/l and from 6.4 to 6.8, respectively. Total ammonium and
nitrite were monitored one a month and varied from 0.96-2.57 mg/l and 0.01-0.05 mg/l, respectively.

Feed and feeding

Fish was fed with 4 different diets including 3 diets having protein levels of 20, 25 and 30% and 1
home-made moisture feed. Each diet was a treatment with three replicates. Ingredients and composition
of experimental diets were shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Fish were fed twice a day with feeding rate of
10% body weight, then reduced 1% body weight every 15 days. Home-made feed was fed at double rate
of pellet.

Table 1: Composition of experimental diets

Ingredients (%) Pelleted diets (% protein) Home-made feed
P20 P25 P30
Fish meal 16.0 22.0 30.0
Soybean meal 8.0 11.0 15.0
Cassava meal 30.0 20.0 21.0
Rice bran 43.0 44.0 31.0
Vitamin 2.0 2.0 2.0
Squid oil 1.0 1.0 1.0
By-product of catfish from
processing factory 26.8
Trash fish 62.5
Rice bran 8.9
Flour of kapok leaves 1.8

Table 2: Proximate composition of experimental diets (dry master)

Proximate analysis Pelleted diets (% protein) Home-made diet
P20 P25 P30 (dry weight basic)
Crude protein 20.6 24.7 30.1 30.9
Crude lipid 11.6 12.0 10.4 38.4
Ash 12.3 13.8 15.3 13.1
Crude fiber 4.6 4.3 3.8 2.1
NFE 31.8 20.3 9.9 15.5
Energy(Kcal/g) 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3

Sampling and data analysis

The experiment was designed using a completely randomized design (Table 3). Thirty fish from each
treatment were measured and weighed at the start and every two weeks for growth measurement.
Feeding rates was adjusted accordingly.

Table 3: Experimental design

Treatment Dietary
T1 P30
T2 P30 for 1st month + P25 for 2nd month and P20 for 3rd month onward.
T3 P20
T4 Home-made feed

Survival rate, weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), food conversion rate (FCR), were
calculated using the as following formulas:

Survival rate (%) = 100* (final number of fish/initial number of fish)

Mean daily weight gain (MWG) (g/day) = (Wf-Wi)/∆t
Specific growth rate (SGR) (%/day) = 100*(LnWf-LnWi)/∆t
Feed conversion ratio (FCR) = Fd/(Wf - Wi)

Where: Wf: final weight

Wi: initial weight

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 ∆t : duration (days)
Fd: feed used

Data collected were subjected to one-way ANOVA analysis, and then to Duncan multiple range test
(p<0.05) to compare differences in treatments using SPSS software.

Results and Discussions

Growth and survival

Results from fig. 1 showed that

protein in diets affected on the
T1
growth of climbing perch. The
30 T2
fast growth was observed in
fish fed pellet and home-made T3
25 T4
feed in the first 45 day.
Body weight (gram)

However, fish fed pellet grew

20
faster than that of fed home-
made feed. The best growth
15
was observed in treatment 1 (T
1) with fish fed dietary that
10
contained 30% protein. Results
from table 4 showed that fish
5
fed P30 grew with the weight
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105
gain of 0.22 g/day and SGR of Day of culture
1.52%/day that were significant
higher (p<0.05) compared to
other treatments. The Figure 1: Growth of climbing perch fed different diets
significant lower growth was
observed in fish fed home-made feed (treatment 4) that the growth rate and SGR were 0.13 g/day and
1.14%/day, respectively. There was no significant difference between treatment using pellet P20 (T 3)
and treatment using the combination of P30, P25 and P20 (T 2).

The best result in treatment using pellet P30 in this experiment is in agreement with the report of
Yakupitiyage et al (1998) in which he estimated required dietary protein level for climbing perch ranged
from 25-35%. Doolgindachabaporn (1994) also recommended that the feed containing 30.6% protein as
the best feed formula in term of growth and survival for Anabas fry. Except treatment using home-made
moisture feed, growth rates of fish ranging from 0.19-0.22 g/day is higher than results obtained by
Potongkam (1972) that climbing perch cultured in 50 m2 tank grew at the rate of 0,15 g/day. However,
it is lower than those of climbing perch in the trial conducted by Mangklamanee (1986), he indicated
that fish can achieve a rate of growth from 0.5-0.9 g/day when culture in earthen pond.

After 105 days of culture period, fish in treatment 3 (T 3) showed the lowest survival rate that was
80.7%. Survival rates of climbing perch in other treatment had no significant difference and varied from
92.0% to 95.0%. High survival rate of climbing perch also reported by Potongkam (1972) and
Sangrattanakhul (1989). These indicated that climbing perch is an excellent candidate for aquaculture
perhaps more so than other culture species.

Table 4: Survival rate (SR), daily weight gain (DWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and food conversion
rate (FCR) of climbing perch after 105 days of culture.
Treatment SR (%) DWG (g/day) SGR (%/day) FCR
T1 93.3 (5.5) a 0.22 (0.007) a 1.52 (0.04) a 4.06 (0.51) a
T2 92.0 (3.6) a 0.19 (0.010) b 1.39 (0.07) b 5.46 (0.78) b
b b b
T3 80.7 (6.0) 0.19 (0.003) 1.41 (0.03) 6.13 (0.30) b
a c c
T4 95.0 (2.6) 0.13 (0.012) 1.14 (0.06) 8.81 (0.73) c

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Feed conversion ratio (FCR)
FCR were higher in the diets with the lowest protein content. In this experiment fish fed home-made
moisture feed had the highest FCR that is 8.81 (Table 4). Fish fed P30 pellet performed the lowest
(4.06), and no significant differences were found in treatment 2 and treatment 3 (p<0.05). FCR in this
experiment was extremely higher than in other trials. Potongkam (1972) reported that FCR of climbing
perch fed on trash fish and pellet were 2.07 and 1.89, respectively. Yakupitiyage (1998) recommended
that FCR of climbing perch fed on pellet feed ranging from 1.2-2.5. There were some explanations,
firstly in other trials that have been conducted on small size of fish (2g) and ended when fish reach to
the size of 10-12g, with bigger size of climbing perch may be resulted in higher FCR. Secondly, most of
fish in present experiment matured from the 3rd month that caused slow growth. Maturation of climbing
perch is a critical in commercial farming.

Productivity (yield)
Size and yield of climbing perch after 105 days of culture period was shown in Table 5. The highest
yield and biggest size of harvested fish were found in treatment using pellet feed P30. There was no
significant difference in yield of fish between treatment 2, 3 and 4. However, fish fed home-made
moisture feed resulted in the smallest size. This result indicated that pellet feed P30 would be a suitable
diet for culture climbing perch and it can replace the moisture home-made feed that currently applied in
the culture of climbing perch.

Table 5: Productivity of climbing perch culture in garden-canal using different protein diets
Treatment Production (kg/1,000 m2) Size (g)
a
T1 747 29.2 (0.9) a
b
T2 587 26.1 (1.0) b
b
T3 530 26.0 (0.2) b
b
T4 497 20.2 (1.3) c

In all treatment, the growth of fish was slow; most of fish did not reach the market size after 3 months
of culture; and the FCRs were high. These may be caused by maturation of climbing perch in the early
spawning season. However, the productivity of climbing perch culture in garden-canal system is quite
high, varying from 497 to 747 kg/1000m2, compared to yield of other system such as polyculture of
silver barb, common carp and tilapia in garden-canal, ranging from 74-158 kg/1000 m2 (Long and Liem,
1998). Therefore, this model can be applied in the Mekong Delta to improve the income of farmers.

Conclusions
Base on results of this experiment, it can be concluded that the culture of climbing perch in garden-
canal system using pellet and home-made feed can be applied in order to improve the income of farmers
in the Mekong delta. The pellet that containing 30% protein resulted in the best growth, survival, FCR
and yield of climbing perch, which can be recommended for the culture of climbing perch.

References
Doolgindachabaporn, S., 1994. Development of optimal rearing system for Climbing perch, Anabas
testudensis. Doctoral Thesis, University of Manitoba, Canada. 189pp.
Long, D.N., and Liem, P.T., 1998. Technology and economic benefit of aquaculture in the VAC
systems in the Mekong Delta. Proceeding of the National workshop on Aquaculture (September
29-30, 1998). p 317-322.
Mangklamanee, C., 1986. Culture strategies of Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) by local farmers at
the southern part of Thailand. J.Thai Fisheries 1(6):31-32.
Potongkam, K., 1972. Experiment on feeding Climbing perch, Anabas testudineus with ground trash
fish and pellets. Department of Fisheries Annual Report, Bangkok, Thailand.
Sangrattanakhul, C., 1989. Effects of pelletized diets containing various level of protein on growth and
survival of Climbing perch, Anabas testudineus. Master degree Thesis. Kasetsart University.
Bangkok, Thailand. 74pp

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Trieu, N.V., and Long, D.N., 2000. Seed production technology of Climbing perch (Anabas tetudineus):
Preliminary results on the use of hormones for induced reproduction. Proceeding of the 2000
annual workshop of JIRCAS Mekong Delta Project. p 199-202.
Yakupitiyage, A., Bundit, J., and Guttman, H., 1998. Culture of Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus):
A Review. AIT AQUA OUTREACH, Working paper, New series No. T-8. http://www.agri-
aqua.ait.ac.th/AQUA/Outreach/Documents/Working Paper/WP-T-8.htm.

Ảnh hưởng của thức ăn có hàm lượng đạm khác nhau lên sinh
trưởng của cá rô đồng (Anabas testudineus) nuôi trong mương vườn

Nguyễn Thanh Phương(1), Phạm Thanh Liêm(1), Võ Thành Toàn(1),

Trần Thi Thanh Hiền(1) and Lê Văn Tính(2)
1
Khoa Thủy sản, Đại học Cần Thơ
2
Trung tâm Khuyến nông Cần Thơ
Tóm tắt
Thí nghiệm nuôi cá rô đồng (Anabas testudineus) trong mương vườn bằng các loại thức ăn có hàm
lượng đạm khác nhau được thực hiện nhằm đánh giá tiềm năng của mô hình nuôi cá rô đồng trong
mương vườn và tìm loại thức ăn thích hợp cho nuôi thâm canh loài cá này. Thí nghiệm được tiến hành
trong hệ thống gồm 12 mương vườn có diện tích mỗi mương là 50 m2, với 4 nghiệm thức khác nhau.
Nghiệm thức 1 cá được cho ăn thức ăn viên có hàm lượng đạm 30% (P30); nghiệm thức 2 cá được cho
ăn bằng 3 loại thức ăn bao gồm thức ăn viên P30 trong tháng đầu tiên, P20 trong tháng thứ 2, từ tháng thứ
3 trở đi cá được cho ăn thức ăn viên P20; nghiệm thức 3 cá được cho ăn thức ăn viên P20; và nghiệm thức
4 cá được cho ăn thức ăn tự chế dạng ẩm. Kết quả thí nghiệm cho thấy mô hình nuôi cá rô đồng trong
mương vườn là mô hình có tiềm năng lớn trong việc cải thiện thu nhập cho các nông hộ sản xuất với qui
mô nhỏ ở Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long. Thức ăn viện có hàm lượng đạm 30% cho kết quả cao về tăng
trưởng, tỉ lệ sống và năng suất với hệ số thức ăn thấp, loại thức ăn này có thể ứng dụng trong nuôi thâm
canh cá rô đồng.

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