Effects of brewers’ spent grain on fecundity and gonad development of Clarias gariepinus

Abstract

The rising cost of fish feed has made farmers to search for cheaper protein sources that could be used in feeding fish without negative impacts. This study was carried out for 120 days to evaluate the effects of brewers’ spent grain (BSG) on the fecundity and gonad development of Clarias gariepinus. Six tarpaulin tanks (100 x 80 x 100 cm3) were stocked randomly with twenty (20) healthy post fingerlings of C. gariepinus with a mean initial bulk body weight of 300.20 ± 1.56 g and total length of 11.24 ± 0.18 cm. Two isonitrogenous diets (42% CP) were formulated and used to feed the fish. Diet A (control) was formulated with fishmeal as the protein source while Diet B was formulated with brewers’ spent grain (BSG) as the protein source. Water parameters of the culture systems were monitored using standard procedure. Results showed that mean fecundity of fish fed Diet A (control) (30,368 ± 428.02 eggs) was not significantly different (p>0.05) from fecundity of fish fed Diet B (30,296 ± 275.28 eggs). Also, mean GSI of fish fed the two diets were not significantly different (p> 0.05). Results obtained for mean egg diameter of fish fed Diet A (1.29 ± 0.02 mm) was not significantly different (p>0.05) from that of fish fed Diet B (1.30 ± 0.01 mm). Inference from the present study revealed that brewers’ spent grain (BSG) did not impact negatively on the fecundity, egg diameter and gonad development of C. gariepinus and is therefore recommended for possible use in aquafeed production.