Effect of solar-induced water temperature on the growth performance of African sharp tooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus) (original) (raw)

The effect of solar-induced temperature on the growth performance of African sharp tooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus) was studied based on a completely randomized design (CRD). Fishes with an average initial weight of 4.07±0.58 g were cultured for 90 days in 3 treatments with 3 replications, outdoor plastic lining ponds (treatment 1), outdoor cement ponds (treatment 2) and indoor cement ponds (treatment 3). The study investigation revealed that water temperature was significantly different among treatments (p<0.05) and the highest value was observed in treatment 3 (30.91±1.60 o C), followed by treatment 1 (29.19±1.54 o C) and treatment 2 (27.58±1.58 o C), respectively. Results of the experiment further showed that the differences in temperatures affected the growth and survival rate of the fishes. After 90 days of culture, fishes in treatment 1 had significantly higher weight (298.75±4.32 g/fish), growth rate (3.32±0.05 g/day) and survival rate (95.0±2.0) than treatment 2 (198.40±5.25 g/fish, 2.20±0.06 g/day and 89.0±2.0) and treatment 3 (198.40±5.25 g/fish, 2.20±0.06 g/day and 87.6±2.1) (p<0.05). The results indicate that the application of plastic greenhouse to increase the temperature is an alternative that could be applied for aquaculture, especially during winter when temperature is unsuitably lower.