The use of dry fish and dry bread in feeding common carp, Cyprinus carpio L. cultivated in floating cages

Abstract

A cage culture trial was conducted in floating cages located in Shatt Al-Arab River near Hartha, Northern Basra for the cultivation common carp, Cyprinus carpio. The aim was to investigate the ability of using dry bread (DB) and dry fish (DF) as feed for two stocking densities of these fish. Eight cages were used in this experiment, four of them (two for high density and two for low density) were fed on 25% DF & 75% DB, while the other four cages were fed on 40% DF & 60% DB. A feeding ratio of 5% of live fish weights was used for both rations, separated into early morning and afternoon meals. The average fish weight was measured at the beginning, after 23 days, and at the end of the experiment, after 56 days. Results of the current experiment revealed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) between growth criteria for fish fed on the two different rations at two different feeding densities, except for the DGR values, which showed significant differences (P≥0.05) between fish fed on 25% DF & 75% DB reared at high and low densities. The results of growth and food conversion rates are not promising compared with other local feeding practices. The average food conversion rate was around 6 in both feeding trials. From the point of view of economics, it is not recommended to use DF and DB alone in feeding common carp reared in floating cages.