Low cost fish feed for aquarium fish: a test case using Colisa fasciata

A comprehensive trial was undertaken to assess the effect of various types of feed on biomass conversion rate as well as on gonad (ovarian) weight in Colisa fasciata, a dual-purpose fish for food and ornamental use. Three groups of juvenile fish (3.0±0.015 g; 10.00±0.75 mm) were fed with three different types of feed: dried earthworm feed, laboratory prepared feed (LPF) and market feed. The LPF made with dried earthworm powder, eggshell powder and plant rhizome (Commelina sp.) dusts proved to be the best and economical feed among the three feed tested. The LPF also increased gonad weight of the cultured fishes indicating a production of more fish offspringʹs from a single female fish. The plant rhizome possibly played a role in increasingly appetite among LPF cultured fish, which in turn influenced somatic as well as reproductive growth of those fish.