Abstract:
The present study is aimed at determining the best feeding frequency for
Snakehead (Channa striata) fry fed with commercial pellets in term of
survival rate, growth performance and body proximate composition.
Sampling and measurement were carried out in the Fish Hatchery Center
of Sungai Batang located in Kapuas District of Central Kalimantan,
Indonesia. A total of 432 wild Snakehead fry (3-5 cm total length and
0.38-1.15 g weight) subjected to different feeding frequencies were
investigated in 12 glass aquaria. A completely randomized design was
used as the experimental design with four treatments and three
replications. The treatments A: 3 times a day (control), B: 4 times a day, C:
5 times a day, and D: 6 times a day. The results revealed that the best
performance for the fry was given by treatment D in term of survival rate
(99.07 1.60%), daily length growth (14.90 0.03%), daily weight
growth (14.89 0.20%), feeding efficiency (41.20 ± 1.23%), feed
conversion ratio (2.34 ± 0.07), protein retention (7.92 ± 1.44%) and fat
retention (1.77 ± 1.23%). The Snakehead fry grew negatively allometric (b
= 1.43) and the condition factor ranged of 0.93-1.09, indicating the fry
were in good condition. Water quality parameters were in tolerance
range for the fry rearing period: temperature was 28.2 - 28.5 ºC, pH 6.3 -
7.5, DO 4.3 - 5.5 mg L-1, and Ammonia 0.00 - 0.01 mg L-1
. The outcome of
research could be beneficial for better feeding management strategy.
Key words: Feeding frequency, Snakehead fry, survival rate, growth
performances.
