Author(s): Dakum YD, Audu BS, Ujah ME, Ombugadu A, Ngwamah JS, Damla FU, Olakunle DE and Adokwe JB

Abstract: A 56-day growth research was carried out to assess the suitability of adding processed micemeal (Mus musculus) as the protein source in the diet of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings (average weight 2.05±0.11). Ten fish were placed in circular pools with a capacity of sixteen liters each and designated as treatments one to five, with one replication for each treatment. Four test diets were created with micemeal inclusion levels of 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100%, respectively, replacing equal proportion of fishmeal from the control diet with 35% crude protein. Standard procedures were used to determine water quality parameters such as temperature, pH, total alkalinity, free carbon dioxide, and dissolved oxygen. Except for dissolved oxygen, which ranged from 4.10 to 4.37 mg/l, all metrics fell within an acceptable tolerance range for fish culture. The fingerlings accepted the experimental meals. Significant differences (p<0.05) were seen in the test diets (D2-D5) and the control diet (D1). When compared to other treatments, fish fed the control diet showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in live weight gain. As micemeal content in the food rose to 100%, live weight gain decreased. According to the study, compared to other percentages, a diet containing up to 30% micemeal produced superior live weight gain. Consequently, micemeal at 30% inclusion offers a potential to be added to Clarias gariepinus diets as a fallback when diets prepared with fishmeal are unavailable.

DOI: 10.22271/fish.2025.v13.i2a.3046

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