Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

ENHANCEMENT OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MICROPARTICULATE FEEDS USING THREE AMINO ACIDS: AN INVESTIGATION INTO FIRST FEEDING OF Betta splendens

 Travis G. Knorr*, Casey  A.  Murray,  Olivia  I.  Markham,  and Matthew  A.  DiMaggio

Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory

 Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences

University of Florida/IFAS

Ruskin, FL 33570

travis.knorr@ufl.edu

 



Artemia spp. are a common live feed in aquaculture. While  feeding Artemia  cysts can be convenient due to  the long shelf life and  the  short time  necessary  for hatching and preparation, other issues remain. Cost  and availability  can vary significantly based on supply or lack thereof; this variability cause s fluctuations in production expenses. In recent years, microparticulate feeds have gained popularity due to availability, cost, enhanced nutritional profiles, and incremental size ranges  appropriate for  a variety  of mouth gape sizes.  However, concern s persist regarding larval feeding rate s  in  delicate  nursery systems. Aside from degrading water quality, uneaten feeds  represent wasted money. M icroparticulate feeds need to be recognized by larvae and  effectively  ingested  to provide a cost advantage over Artemia nauplii . Poor feeding performance with microparticulate feeds may be due to the absence of visual or olfactory cues inherent to live prey organisms. To better characterize  larval feeding incidence  of microparticulate diets , a series of trials were conducted with the freshwater ornamental species Betta splendens , evaluating three feed attractants (alanine, betaine, and tryptophan) . Feed attract ants were top-dressed onto commercially available microparticulate diets at three concentrations (0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0% ) and fed over the course of a 14-day experiment.  At the end of the experimental period s urvival, standard length, and weight were recorded. Samples were also preserved for  analysis of digestive enzymes and RNA /DNA ratios as a proxy for larval quality. Results from these experiments will provide insights into the efficacy of amino acid use as feed attractants in larviculture scenarios.  Subsequent economic analyse s will be performed to determine cost effectiveness at current price points of Artemia, microparticulate feeds, and amino acids given  realized gains in survival and growth. This information will ultimately be used to  revise and optimize larval production protocols for B. splendens .