Author(s): Omweno Job Ombiro, Orina Paul Sawe, Getabu Albert and Outa Nicholus Otieno

Abstract: Aquaculture growth needs to be accelerated in order to bridge the gap in fish demand occasioned by the dwindling stocks in the inland fisheries in Kenya. The 84 days experiment was conducted to compare the growth performance of Jipe tilapia and Nile tilapia, using 180 fingerlings of each species stocked in 9m² wooden backyard ponds. Feeding was administered daily between 11.00hr and 15.00hr using floating pellets (30% CP) at 10% body weight. Total length and body weight were measured biweekly using measuring board (readability=0.01cm) and electronic balance (readability= 0.001g) respectively, while the survivals were counted during each sampling. All statistical analyses were performed using R software and observed differences considered statistically significant at p<0.05. Water temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen levels were significantly different (p<0.05) between the two treatments. The final mean weight (12.16±0.34) of O. jipe was significantly (p<0.05) lower than the final mean weight (29.79±0.91) of O. niloticus. Similarly, O. jipe exhibited a significantly (p<0.05) lower specific growth rate, weight gain and growth rate compared to O. niloticus. The study demonstrated that Nile tilapia outperformed Jipe tilapia, therefore we recommend further growth trials to be conducted in a controlled culture environment to establish optimal growth conditions for O. jipe growth.

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