Waste Output and Loading in Prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii De Man) Culture at Different Sizes and Feeding Frequencies

Abstract

The waste from freshwater giant prawn cultured water were evaluated after feeding with diet of 7.09±0.04 % moisture, 32.60±0.14 % protein, and 4.80±0.13 % fat. The leaching from formulated feed at 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 hours showed soaking period affected on the nutrient leaching and feed stability (p<0.05). Leaching rates were highest in the 0.5 hour (20.97±0.06 g/100 g feed/h), but continued for 3 hours. The highest dry weight lost of 15.92±0.08 % was found at 3 hours. Protein was significant lower but fiber was significantly higher (p<0.05) in longer soaking period feed. The Digestibility and feces leaching of different size prawns (medium size, 100.97 g and large size, 146.56 g) at different feeding frequency (2 and 3 times/day) were also examined. The results showed that prawn sized and feeding frequency were not affected on the daily feed intake. However, the large size prawn had feeding digestibility of 90.61-93.33 % which were higher than medium size prawns (85.05-87.44 % feeding digestibility). The highest nitrogenous waste loaded were found in large size prawn fed 3 times/day.