PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE GROWTH AND SURVIVAL RATE OF GIFT TILAPIA AND PANGASIUS IN FLOATING CAGES AT POONDI RESERVOIR, TAMIL NADU
Cage aquaculture is an important technology to increase fish production in worldwide. Reservoir has enormous scope for enhancing productivity through cage farming. It contributes to the livelihood of people through employment, income generation, poverty alleviation and provision of low cost fish protein, ensuring food security.
This study was conducted in GI cages of 96 m3 (6mx4mx4m) in Poondi reservoir located in Thiruvallur district, 60 km distance from Chennai. The nursery reared GIFT Tilapia and Pangasius were stocked in ten cages each with the stocking density of 40 nos/m3 and 80 nos/m3. Fish was fed with a commercial floating pellet feed (30% crude protein, 3% fat and 7% fiber) at 5% of their body weight.
The water quality parameters were recorded during the culture period (Table 1). The GIFT Tilapia and Pangasius with the initial weight of 120.9 ± 2.51 g and 11.1 ± 0 g respectively was stocked in the cages. In a six months period of culture, the final weight obtained in GIFT Tilapia and Pangasius was at 611.88 ± 15.12 and 422.58 ± 14.57 g respectively. The growth related parameters of GIFT Tilapia and Pangasius were recorded in this study (Table 2). This study revealed that GIFT Tilapia and Pangasius could be reared in cages in Poondi reservoir successfully particularly during the period from December to June when the water level is relatively high.
