Optimization of Practical Feeds in Tilapia Farming

1. Introduction Tilapia are grown in inland aquaculture in Israel in various kinds of facilities and production strategies. Much of the tilapia is grown extensively in poly-culture but more and more intensive monoculture systems are being used where the pelleted feed is the only source of energy and nutrients. Thus, successful fish culture depends upon the provision of diets containing adequate levels of energy and nutrients to sustain the best possible growth. In addition there is a need to prevent feed waste, as this is costly to the farmer and problematic for the environment. This study is a joined project of the National Center of Mariculture and the Intensive Fish Culture Station at Ginossar where the actual trials took place. The methodology used for this kind of study has been successfully applied at NCM to develop commercial feeds for fish like the gilthead seabream, European seabass and white grouper. The general assumption is that the energy and protein requirements of a growing fish are the sum of the needs for maintenance plus growth. The requirement for maintenance is mainly a function of the size of the fish and water temperature, and is proportional to the metabolic body weight in the form of a body weight (kg)b, where a is a constant, characteristic of a certain fish species at a set temperature and b is the exponent of the metabolic body weight which in fish is b = 0.80. The requirement for growth is dependent on the amount and the composition of the weight gain, including the cost of energy to deposit the new growth. Daily energy requirements can therefore be quantified as: Digestible energy needs (kJ) = a body weight (kg)0.80 + c energy gain (kJ) Where c = cost of production in units of dietary energy to deposit energy as growth. The same approach is used for the quantification of protein, except for the use of a different exponent of b = 0.70 for metabolic body weight. Digestible protein needs (g) = a body weight (kg)0.70 + c protein gain (g) Where c = cost of production in units of dietary protein to deposit protein as growth. The significance of this approach is, that protein and energy needs are expressed primarily in terms of absolute demand per fish body mass and anticipated weight gain. As energy and protein consumption is the product of feed intake and feed composition the voluntary maximum feed intake as well as the composition of the feed have to be considered. Feeds can then be formulated and feeding tables established which are based on daily requirements for energy and protein dependent on anticipated growth.

2. Material and Methods 2.1 Maintenance Requirement To determine the maintenance requirement and efficiency for growth tilapia were fed increasing levels of a feed with a known digestible energy (DE) and digestible protein content (DP). Feeding levels included zero groups (no feed) up to maximum voluntary intake and energy and protein gain were determined by comparative carcass analyses. Two growth trials with tilapia of 115g and 300g initial weight were performed during the summer 2005 during which the water temperature ranged between 27 - 280C. Tilapia were graded and 1m3 tanks each stocked with 40 fish. The feed used in the trials was formulated from fish meal, wheat meal and fish oil, to contain 40% protein and 9% lipid (Table 1). Feeds were produced as floating pellets by the Zemach feed meal. Daily feed amounts were estimated initially as zero, low, high and maximum relative to body weight. Feed was given once a day at the low feeding level increasing to up to 4 times daily at the high feeding level to ensure equal distribution of the food pellets among the fish. Table 1: Formulation and composition of diet Diet Ingredients (g / kg) Fish meal Soybean meal 47% Corn gluten Wheat meal Fish oil Vitamin mix Analysis ( per kg) Dry matter (DM), g Crude protein, g Crude lipid, g Ash, g Gross energy, MJ Digestible energy (DE)*, MJ Digestible protein (DP)*, g
*

309 252 80 295 58 6 930 389 94.3 75.0 20.02 15.02 328

According to digestibility values determined for tilapia (Sklan et al. 2004)

2.2 Growth and Feed Intake To asses the growth potential and the feed intake of tilapia at various temperatures additional growth trials were performed in the Ginossar experimental unit. This system is equipped to keep constant temperatures of 22, 24, 26 and 290C in parallel tanks throughout the 112 day trial. 70 Tilapia of 25g initially were stocked in 1m3 tanks, fish were hand fed and feed was given four times a day, any left over feed was collected and weighed. The feed used in the trials was the same diet as described in Table 1. The daily feed intake and growth was monitored at each temperature by monthly weighing. Furthermore, to determine the effect of temperature on energy and protein maintenance requirements, tilapia of various sizes were stocked alongside the growth trials for about 30 days without being fed. Fasting fish underwent the same temperature regime (220C, 240C, 260C and 290C) as the fed fish.

2.3 Composition of Weight Gain The composition of the weight gain is an additional factor determining the subsequent energy and protein requirement. To determine the body composition of tilapia of different sizes along the growth cycle, fish were sampled at the start and the end of the growth trials as well as each month at weighing time.

3. Results 3.1 Requirement for Maintenance The results of the trials where tilapia were fed increasing feed amounts are presented in the following tables and figures. Feed intake, growth performance and FCR are shown in Table 2. Table 2: Growth parameter of tilapia fed at increasing feeding levels after 52 (or 32) days of experiment. Treatment Tilapia of 100g Starvation Maintain Low Medium Maximum Tilapia of 300g Starvation Maintain Low Medium Maximum Weight initial g 114 110 105 113 112 311 309 315 312 306 Weight final g 101 138 169 196 205 279 337 377 416 437 Gain g / day -0.39 0.54 1.25 1.59 1.80 -1 .01 0.53 1.35 2.00 2.52 Feed ratio % 0.00 0.57 1.07 1.41 1.68 0.00 0.36 0.68 0.88 1.13 FCR Days of growth 32 52 52 52 52 32 52 52 52 52

1.32 1.14 1.32 1.41 2.18 1.76 1.59 1.63

The comparative slaughter technique was used to determine energy and protein gain for the different groups of tilapia at each feeding level. Feeding tilapia graded levels of digestible energy (DE) resulted in a linear response (Figure 1). The relationship between daily DE intake (x) and energy gain (y) on a metabolic weight basis of kg0.80 can be described by the following linear equation: y = - 31.63 + 0.60 x r2 = 0.96 (1)

80

/day)

60 40 20 0 -20 -40 -60 0

100 g Tilapia 300 g Tilapia

Energy gain (kJ / kg

0.80

20

40

60

80

100
0.80

120

140

160

180

200

DE fed (kJ / kg

/ day)

Figure1. Daily energy retention per unit metabolic weight of kg0.80 in tilapia of two size groups fed increasing levels of DE. Maintenance requirement (DEmaint) can be found where energy gain equals zero (y = 0) and the efficiency of DE for growth is defined by the slope of the line which amounts to 0.60 (equation 1). The required energy intake is calculated as DEmaint = 52.72 kJ BW (kg) 0.80. This can be considered the daily maintenance requirement for tilapia at 270C. The relationship between dietary DP intake and protein retained in g / BW (kg) 0.70 was linear as well (Figure 2) and the relationship is described by the following equation: y = - 0.33 + 0.48 x r2 = 0.95 (2)

In the case of protein the efficiency of utilization can again be defined by the slope of the line and amounts to 0.48 and the daily maintenance requirement for protein can be calculated as DPmaint = 0.69g BW (kg) 0.70.

1.50 100 g Tilapia

Protein gain (g / kg0.70 / day)

1.00

300 g Tilapia

0.50

0.00

-0.50

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

DP fed (g / kg0.70 / day)

Figure 2. Daily protein retention per unit metabolic body weight of kg0.70 in tilapia of two size groups fed increasing levels of DP. To estimate the maintenance requirement at increasing water temperatures, the same relationships between DE intake and energy gain were established for temperatures between 220C to 290C. Figure 3 depicts the relationship between daily DE intake (x) and energy gain (y) on a metabolic weight basis of kg0.80

140

/ day)

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 -40 -60 -80 0

220C 240C 260C 290C

Energy gain (kJ / kg

0.80

50

100
0.80

150

200

250

DE fed (kJ / kg

/ day)

Figure 3: Daily energy retention per unit metabolic body weight of kg0.80 of fed and non fed tilapia fed at various water temperatures.

The relationship between daily DE intake (x) and energy gain (y) on a metabolic weight basis of kg0.80 can be described by the linear equations following below. In addition the maintenance requirement - DEmaint - where energy gain y = 0 can be determined at increasing temperatures: At At At At 220C 240C 260C 290C y y y y = = = = - 21.19 - 27.84 - 31.89 - 43.81 + + + + 0.54 x 0.63 x 0.62 x 0.68 x DEmaint = DEmaint = DEmaint = DEmaint = 39.24 kJ (kg)0.80 44.19 kJ (kg)0.80 51.43 kJ (kg)0.80 65.39 kJ (kg)0.80 (3) (4) (5) (6)

The same data set can also be used to establish the relationship between protein intake (x) and protein gain (y) referring to a metabolic body weight of kg0.70. This defines the requirement of protein for maintenance and the cost in terms of dietary protein needed to deposit protein as growth. At At At At 220C 240C 260C 290C y y y y = = = = - 0.17 - 0.25 - 0.30 - 0.42 + + + + 0.40 x 0.46 x 0.48 x 0.53 x DPmaint = DPmaint = DPmaint = DPmaint = 0.43 g (kg)0.70 0.54 g (kg)0.70 0.62 g (kg)0.70 0.79 g (kg)0.70 (7) (8) (9) (10)

2.0 220C

/ day)

1.5

24 C 0 26 C 29 C
0

0.70

1.0

Protein gain (g / kg

0.5

0.0

-0.5

-1.0

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5
0.70

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

DP fed (g / kg

/ day

Figure 4. Daily protein retention per unit metabolic body weight of kg0.70 of fed and non fed tilapia fed at various water temperatures. The efficiency of energy utilization for growth above maintenance or in other words the cost to produce new growth seems to increase with increasing temperatures. This is quite unusual and here tilapia might behave differently from other fish species where efficiency above maintenance is independent from feed intake and

temperature. One of the explanations could be, the digestibility especially of the carbohydrate fraction would decrease at lower temperatures. Until further trials will confirm this assumption an average slope of 0.62 for energy utilization and 0.47 for protein utilization is determined and used in further calculations. In the range between 22 to 290C the relationship between maintenance requirement both for energy and protein and temperature is linear and can be well described by following equations: Maintenance requirement for energy in kJ/day/fish: DEmaint = ( - 39.02 + 3.48 T 0C ) (kg)0.80 Maintenance requirement for protein in g/day/fish = (- 0.634 + 0.048 T 0C) (kg) 0.70 DPmaint 3.2 Requirement for Growth 3.2.1 Growth prediction and voluntary feed intake A necessity for estimating the feed requirement is a prediction of the maximum growth potential of tilapia. In Tables 3 through 6 feed intakes, growth performance and FCR for the tilapia grown at the different temperatures are shown. Table 3: Growth performance of tilapia first segment 35 days Treatment 220C 240C 260C 290C Weight initial g 30.14 1.54 29.64 1.62 29.93 1.11 28.83 1.08 Weight final g 48.33 1.58 56.79 1.51 63.34 0.88 67.33 1.97 Gain g / day 0.52 0.02 078 0.05 0.95 0.06 1.10 0.04 Feed ratio % 2.01 0.10 2.45 0.18 2.61 0.14 2.98 0.10 FCR 1.48 0.03 1.30 0.01 1.19 0.03 1.19 0.03 r2 = 0.92 r2 = 0.88

(11)

(12)

Table 4: Growth performance of tilapia second segment 29 days Treatment 220C 240C 260C 290C Weight initial g 48.03 1.74 55.98 0.76 63.02 1.09 67.41 2.37 Weight final g 64.52 1.72 80.63 3.72 105.42 10.48 117.41 0.57 Gain g / day 0.57 0.05 0.85 0.11 1.46 0.35 1.72 0.08 Feed ratio % 1.55 0.12 1.74 0.06 2.02 0.11 2.19 0.12 FCR 1.53 0.14 1.38 0.10 1.16 0.17 1.13 0.08

Table 5: Growth performance of tilapia third segment 32 days Treatment 220C 240C 260C 290C Weight initial g 65.61 2.32 81.34 5.04 105.18 12.83 117.22 1.86 Weight final g 88.19 2.87 123.71 12.36 167.85 14.33 195.88 6.68 Gain g / day 0.71 0.08 1.32 0.27 1.96 0.13 2.46 0.26 Feed ratio % 1.43 0.20 1.66 0.16 1.83 0.15 1.91 0.18 FCR 1.54 0.09 1.28 0.13 1.24 0.14 1.18 0.01

Table 6: Growth performance of tilapia fourth segment - 16 days Treatment 220C 240C 260C 290C Weight initial g 90.36 3.70 124.03 14.02 165.49 16.83 195.23 6.07 Weight final g 102.17 7.41 150.40 13.42 198.28 22.71 239.18 0.66 Gain g / day 0.74 0.16 1.65 0.06 2.05 0.37 2.75 0.41 Feed ratio % 1.66 0.14 1.64 0.03 1.56 0.15 1.55 0.18 FCR 2.31 0.56 1.36 0.18 1.40 0.24 1.25 0.32

From this data set absolute weight gain as well as feed intake per day was calculated for the period between two successive weighings. The corresponding body weight for the period was the geometric weight of the fish during that period. Thus together with the growth data from Table 2 a data set of daily weight gain as well as daily feed intake at different water temperatures has been obtained with tilapia. Daily weight gain in relation to fish size ranging between 20 and 400g at various temperatures are presented in Figure 5.

4.5 4.0

Daily weight gain (g/fish)

3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0 100 200 300 400 500
Temp 290C Temp 260C Temp 240C Temp 220C

Fish weight (g)

Figure 5: Daily weight gain of tilapia for sizes between 20 and 400g at various temperatures.

The equation defining the relationship between daily weight gain, fish size as well as temperature appears below. Weight gain (g) = 0.0113 BW (g) 0.547 exp 0.090 Temp For W = Weight (g) of fish for weights between 20 and 400 g. T = Temperature between 22 - 290C By rearranging this equation we can also predict the weight of fish after t days (W t) given the initial weight W0 at t0. Wt = [W 0 0.453 + 0.00512 exp 0.090 Temp days] 2.207 (14) (13)

The daily feed intake depending on fish size and temperature can be described with the same general equation: Feed intake (g) = 0.0156 BW (g) 0.600 exp 0.085 Temp (15)

3.2.2 Composition of weight gain An additional goal was to determine changes in body composition of fish relative to their weight or age. Results of the analysis of the whole body composition of tilapia at various sizes (3 450 g) including results from former trials are plotted for protein, lipid, moisture and energy in Figure 6. As it is obvious from Figure 6 no large changes in energy and lipid content relative to fish size can be observed. This is in

contrast to other fish species where lipid and energy increase significantly with increasing fish weight while moisture decreases. The following values describe the composition of tilapia for increasing weights along the growth cycle. Protein (%) Ash (%) Energy (kJ / g) Lipid (%) Moisture (%) = = = = = 16.02 0.56 (mean std) 4.28 0.42 (mean std) 5.98 BW (g) 0.041 5.87 BW (g) 0.095 75.40 BW (g) -0.016

(16) (17) (18)

Where BW = body weight in g

100 90
Moisture Energy Protein Lipid

16 14 12

Composition (g / 100g fish)

80 70 60 50 40 30 4 20 10 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 2 0 10 8 6

Fish size
Figure 6: Body composition of tilapia at increasing sizes

Energy content (kJ / g fish)

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4. Practical Applications The results of this study provide us with the tools to quantify the daily protein and energy needs of tilapia at any fish size within the water temperatures of 22 - 29C as calculated in Table 7. Table 7: Recommendations for supply of digestible energy (DE) and digestible protein (DP) to tilapia grown at two different water temperatures (230C and 28C) Body weight, per fish Water temperature Weight gaina, g / day 230C 0.76 50g 280C 1.19 0.091 5.32 8.38 13.49 18.81 0.123 0.087 0.191 0.407 0.494 230C 1.84 0.330 13.53 13.76 22.16 35.69 0.379 0.178 0.377 0.804 0.626 250g 280C 2.88 0.330 19.27 21.58 34.75 54.02 0.379 0.269 0.461 0.982 1.251 400g 230C 2.37 0.480 19.71 18.15 29.22 48.93 0.527 0.247 0.380 0.810 1.057 280C 3.72 0.480 28.07 28.46 45.82 73.89 0.527 0.374 0.596 1.270 1.644

Energy requirement, kJ / fish / day Metabolic BW, kg0.80 0.091 DEmaintb, 3.73 Energy gainc 5.34 DEgrowthd, 8.60 DEmaint+growthe 12.33 Protein requirement, g / fish / day Metabolic BW, kg0.70 0.123 DPmaintf, 0.058 Protein gaing 0.121 DPgrowth h, 0.259 DPmaint+growth i, 0.317
a b

Predicted weight gain for tilapia at 23C respectively 280C , equation (13) Digestible energy required for maintenance = (- 39.02 + 3.48 T 0C) BW (kg)0.80 c Expected energy gain = weight gain energy content of gain, equation (16) d Digestible energy required for growth = expected energy gain 1.61 (or 1 / 0.62 cost in units of DE to deposit one unit of energy as growth) e Total DE required for maintenance and growth f Digestible protein required for maintenance = (- 0.634 + 0.048 T 0C) BW (kg)0.70 g Expected protein gain = weight gain protein content of gain (160 mg/ g) h Digestible protein required for growth = expected protein gain 2.13 (or 1 / 0.47 cost in units of DP to deposit one unit of protein as growth). i Total DP required for maintenance and growth The absolute daily protein requirement per fish is dependent on fish size and weight gain, regardless of DE content. Therefore, as demonstrated in Table 8, the protein level expressed as a percentage of the feed will change according to the selected DE content of 12 or 16 MJ /kg. Omnivorous fish like the tilapia could thus be fed lower energy and protein diets assuming they are able to consume all the feed to acquire the energy and protein needed for maximum growth. In this case the FCR would be greater as shown in Table 8.

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Table 8: Feed formulations including required feed intake for growing tilapia (at 280C), when preparing feeds alternatively with predetermined energy or protein contents. Body weight, per fish Weight gaina, g /day Feed intakeb, g /day DE needc, kJ /fish/day DP needc, g/fish /day DE content of feed Required feed intake, g/ fish/ day Resulting DP content, g / kg FCR DP content of feed Required feed intake, g /fish /day FCR DP/DE ratio in feed, g / MJ
a b

50g 1.19 1.76 18.81 0.494 12 MJ 1.57 315 1.32 250g 1.97 1.65 26.2 16 MJ 1.18 419 0.99 350g 1.41 1.18 26.2

250g 2.88 4.63 54.02 1.251 12 MJ 4.50 278 1.56 250g 5.00 1.74 23.1 16 MJ 3.38 370 1.17 350g 3.57 1.24 23.1

400g 3.72 6.14 73.89 1.644 12 MJ 6.16 267 1.65 250g 6.58 1.77 22.2 16 MJ 4.62 356 1.24 350g 4.70 1.26 22.2

Predicted weight gain for tilapia at 28C , equation (13) Predicted voluntary feed intake at 28oC, equation (15) c see Table 7 Combining these protein and energy needs with digestibility data on locally available feed ingredients then allows us to formulate feeds and set up proper feeding tables as demonstrated in Tables 9 and 10. Table 9: Proposed diet formulation (per kg feed) and corresponding practical feeding table for tilapia during the whole growing period (at 28C). Weight range (g) 10 - 50 Feed composition Weight gain g /fish /day 0.83 Feed intake g /fish /day 1.00 Days of growth 48 FCR

1.20 400 g CP*, 18 MJ GE* 50 g Lipid 50 - 100 370 g CP, 18 MJ GE, 1.47 1.96 34 1.33 50 g Lipid 100 - 200 350 g CP, 18 MJ GE, 2.13 3.07 47 1.44 50 g Lipid 200 - 300 350 g CP, 18 MJ GE, 2.86 4.24 35 1.48 50 g Lipid 300 - 400 320 g CP, 18 MJ GE, 3.45 5.58 29 1.62 50 g Lipid * assuming digestibility of protein of 85% and of energy between 70 and 75% depending upon source (carbohydrate or lipid)

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Table 10: Proposed feeding table for tilapia at various temperatures ( in % feed ratio of biomass per day) Water temperature Fish size Protein content g of kg feed* 10-25 400g 25-50 400g 50-75 370g 75-100 370g 100-150 350g 150-200 350g 200-300 350g 300-400 320g 400-500 300g
*

20-220C

22-240C

24-260C

26-280C

28-300C

2.62 1.83 1.54 1.33 1.22 1.06 0.95 0.87 0.82

3.15 2.20 1.86 1.60 1.47 1.28 1.14 1.04 0.99

3.79 2.64 2.23 1.92 1.76 1.52 1.35 1.25 1.19

4.52 3.15 2.67 2.29 2.10 1.81 1.60 1.48 1.42

5.37 3.74 3.16 2.72 2.49 2.14 1.88 1.75 1.68

According to the formulations specified in Table 9

Using this approach to quantifying energy and protein demands in tilapia, it is thus possible to calculate the biological and economical efficiency of different feeds and optimize the feeding regime for various culture systems.

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