Effects of honey on survival and growth performance of Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) fingerlings

Abstract

Effects of honey on survival and growth performance of C. gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) fingerlings were investigated. The experiment constituted of T1 (0ml/g): Control; T2 0.1ml of honey/g of feed); T3 0.2ml of honey/g of feed; T4 0.3ml of honey/g of feed; T5 0.4ml of honey/g of feed and three replicates using complete randomized design (CRD). Data collected analyzed using one-way analysis of variance to test for significant difference (P<0.05) on survival and growth performance, means separation was done by Duncan's Multiple Range Test. The results showed that treatment T2 (0.1ml/g) had the highest mean survival rate (95.33 %) and was significantly different (P<0.05) compared to control (T1). Similarly, T2 (0.1ml/g) was significantly different (P<0.05) from T4 (0.3ml/g) and T5 (0.4ml/g) at (P<0.05). Survival rate of fingerlings decreased with increased honey concentrations. Growth parameters such as weight gain (2.26g), percentage weight gain (80.74%), specific growth rate (1.01%), SLI (6.38cm) showed that treatment T2 (0.1ml/g) had the highest growth performance and  was significantly higher than that of control (T1) (0ml/g) at (P<0.05). This study showed that honey in fish diets improved survival and growth performance of C. gariepinus fingerlings. Therefore, recommended that honey can be incorporated in fish diets in aquaculture.