The effect of formulated and supplementary feeds on water quality parameters in concrete ponds stocked with fresh water fish

A study on the effect of formulated and supplementary feeds on water quality parameters of fresh water fish (Oreochromis shiranus) culture was conducted at Bunda Fish Farm for three months. The objective of this study was to determinethe effect of formulated and supplementary feeds on water quality parameters in concrete ponds stocked with Oreochromis shiranus. There were four different types of treatments replicated three times: commercial feed A (31% CP) (Treatment1), maize bran (9.82% CP) (Treatment 2), chicken manure (20% CP) (Treatment 3) and commercial feed B (22.64% CP) (Treatment 4). Water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity and pH were measured twice a day in the morning at 6.00 a.m. and in the afternoon at 2.00 p.m. on daily basis by using multi-probe water checker (Model YSI Pro20). Phosphorus content was determined once per three weeks in the laboratory using ascorbic acid method. Total ammonia nitrogen was also determined to calculate unionized ammonia. Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS Version 20. The pH ranged from 7.1 - 9.0 in the morning (6.00 a.m.) and 8.2 - 9.4 in the afternoon (2.00 p.m.). Temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, unionized ammonia and phosphorus ranged from 25.13°C to 25.24°C, 6.59 mg/L to 6.31 mg/L, 310 μSe/cm to 320 μSe/cm , 0.01 mg/L to 0.02 mg/L and 0.38 mg/L to 0.57 mg/L respectively among the treatments. The results indicated that all water quality parameters were within recommended range for culture of fresh water fish, O. shiranus. Further, the formulated and supplementary feeds did not affect the water quality parameters in concrete ponds stocked with O.shiranus.