Growth performance of the African Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus) fed soaked ripe plantain peel meal (Musa Paradisiaca)

Abstract

A Feeding trial was conducted to access the replacement value of soaked ripe plantain peel meal (SRPPM) as dietary replacement of maize in the diet of Clarias gariepinus. All diets were prepared containing (35% crude protein, 4% crude fiber, 11% Ash, 3% Lipid and 9% moisture). Soaked ripe plantain peel meals were used to replace maize meal at the rate of 0% for (Tank₁), 25% for (Tank₂), 50% for (Tank₃), 75% for (Tank₄), and 100% for (Tank₅). The performance of fish fed varying levels of soaked ripe plantain peel meal based diets were compared to fish fed maize based diets. Each treatment had 3 replicates using 10-catfish fingerlings per replicate with mean initial body weight of 15-78 g the fingerlings were fed at 5% of body weight/day for 56 days. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in mean weight gain (MWG), specific Growth rate (SGR), feed consumption rate (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER).The lowest MWG was recorded in fishes fed in Tank₃ (41.80 g) and highest in Tank₅ (53.44 g).The lowest SGR was in fishes in Tank₃ and Tank₅ (2.5%/day) and highest in Tank₄ (2.68%/day) lowest FCR was recorded in Tank₄ (1.90) and highest in Tank₅ (2.11) the lowest PER was recorded in Tank₅ (1.12) and highest in Tank₂ (1.26).The study indicated that soaked plantain peel meal can favorably replace maize up to 100% in diets of Clarias gariepinus   for optimal growth performance.