Food consumption and digestion of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, in pond culture | |
| Author | Nguyen Van Tu |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. AE-91-33 |
| Subject(s) | Tilapia Fishes--Feeding and feeds |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Two experiments were carried out in aquaria and in hapas suspended in a fertilized earthen pond to estimate the food consumption and digestibility of monosex Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) to natural food. Two methods were used to estimate food consumption in experiment 1. The direct method conducted in aquaria revealed the need for correct acclimation of fish and appropriate construction of aquaria to measure food consumption based on the differences of total suspended solids (TSS) and phytoplankton biomass between inlet and outlet water. The indirect method conducted in hapas produced higher values for food consumption compared to other methods used by Moriarty and Moriarty (1973), Elliott and Persson (1978) and Sainsbury (1986). There was a multi-linear relationship between the daily food ·intake and fish weight and pond phytoplankton biomass. Using hydrolysis- resistant organic matter (BROM) as a reference, experiment 2 showed that the digestion of all food nutrients was nearly completed when food had passed one-third of the way through the length of the intestine. The stomach contents of the fish were similar to suspended solids in pond water and attached material on algal composition but were different from the latter on chemical composition. The experimental fish consumed natural food by filtering combined with grazing but the former was more important than the latter. |
| Year | 1991 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Yakupitiyage, Amararatne; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Edwards, Peter;Knud-Hansen, Christopher F.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | DAAD (Federal Republic of Germany); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1991 |