Typical anguillid eel diets in the nursery stage are primarily prepared as dough-type feeds. However, using dough-type feeds deteriorates the water quality and requires more intensive water management measures. Moreover, nutrient leaching is highly observed on dough-type feeds. Alternatively, dry feeds can be used for a more efficient eel culture due to ease of handling and are also reported to have positive effects on fish growth performance. However, as eels are not adept at consuming dry feeds, the introduction of a crumble diet during their early life stage can facilitate better weaning to pelleted feeds. Hence, this study evaluated the effect of different weaning strategies from dough to crumble of A. marmorata larvae.
Four different weaning strategies (25% and 10% daily replacement of dough by crumble, 100% dough, 100% crumble) were evaluated for the growth performance of A. marmorata elvers (ABW = 0.19g, mouth gape = 1.31mm). Crumble diet was sieved to a size of 0.5 mm. Treatments were done in triplicates in a completely randomized design (CRD). The study lasted for 14 days.
Results from the study showed that the highest specific growth rate (SGR) and percent weight gain (%WG) were recorded for elvers in treatment with 25% replacement of dough per day. Meanwhile, poorest SGR and %WG was observed for elvers fed with 100% dough. This indicates that earlier feeding of crumble is more efficient and utilization of crumble diet promotes higher growth in the brackishwater nursery culture of A. marmorata.