Comparative Effect of Fairy Shrimp and Artemia in the Rearing of Blue Gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus, Larvae

A feeding experiment was conducted on larvae of blue gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus to evaluate the effect of two different live feed on growth and survival rate of the fish. Larval were fed thrice a day with Asian star feed powder and twice a day (morning and evening) with either Artemia or fairy shrimp nauplii as a supplementary feed for 45 days. Tests were run in triplicate and initial and final weights were recorded for all the treatments. Results indicated that the length and weight of fish fed with fairy shrimp nauplii was significantly (P<0.01) higher than those fed with Artemia nauplii. No significant differences (P>0.05) in specific growth rate was found between the two experimental diets. The mean of condition factor also showed higher CF value for fish fed with fairy shrimp. The survival of the fish was not affected by the dietary treatments.