THE EFFECTS OF VARYING LEVELS OF YEAST (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) ON THE GROWTH AND BODY COMPOSITION OF Heterobranchus longifilis FINGERLINGS

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of yeast on the growth and body composition of Heterobranchus longifilis. Fingerlings of Heterobrachus longifilis (mean weight 31.89 ± 0.4 g) were stocked ten fish in 35L of water in 54L capacity aquaria and fed varying levels of yeast in floating diets for 56 days. Four treatments having 1.0 g, 2.0 g, 3.0 g and 4.0 g yeast/100 g respectively with a control diet, were investigated in triplicates. The diets had 42.56 %, 43.32 %, 43.69 %, 43.86 % and 43.98% crude protein. The fish fed 4 g yeast /100g and 16.99 g wheat offal/100 g diet showed the best growth. All growth parameters varied significantly (p < 0.05). The carcass composition of the fish showed that the protein and the lipid content were highest with the fish fed the control diet. The survival of the fish was high and it varied significantly (p < 0.05).