Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) as a pond input for Nile Tilapia culture | |
| Author | Lim, Choon Kwang |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.AE-85-28 |
| Subject(s) | Water-hyacinth Tilapia |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Different forms of water hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) were used as pond inputs in a 120-day experiment for the cultivation of the Nile Tilapia, Orecochromis niloticus: whole, freshly chopped and composted plants compared with commercial pellets and a pond which received no inputs as a control. Although there were considerable variations within treatments, including a mass mortality of fish in one duplicate of the treatment with freshly chopped water hyacinth, equivalent dry matter loadings of the various forms of water hyacinth of 200 kg dry matter/ha/day produced total fish yields similar to those with commercial pelleted feed, in the range of 5 to 6 tons/ha/yr. Food conversion rations (FCR) with the various forms of water hyacinth were similar, ranging from 10.4 to 12.3 (except for one duplicate of the treatment with whole plants in which water quality was poor in the early stage of the experiment) but were much higher than the FCR of 1.4 with commercial pelleted feed. Much of the fish harvest comprised small fish, particularly with water hyacinth inputs, so control of breeding should be attempted in future studies. Studies on the stomach content of the experimental fish revealed that phytoplankton was the main source of food consumed. A Considerable amount of detritus was eaten but zooplankton accounted for only a minor part of the food consumed. |
| Year | 1985 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Edwards, Peter |
| Examination Committee(s) | Wee, Kok Leong ;Colman, John.A |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | DAAD |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1985 |