Effect of brine salt rich diets on growth performances and survival of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) juveniles reared in freshwater systems

The present study was conducted to study the effect of salt added diets on growth performance and survival of Asian sea bass juveniles reared in freshwater. The indoor experimental setup consisted of fifteen rectangular rearing tanks each of a 100-L capacity. The tanks were grouped into five separate systems. Fifty four-day-old juveniles of Asian sea bass were used for the 56 day experiment. Seventy fish were randomly stocked in each tank. The experimental salt added diets were prepared by adding salt to a commercial pelleted fish. Fish were hand-fed ad libitum three times daily. Survival and feed conversion ratio were monitored daily. Fish fed the 8% salt added diet attained the highest growth rate (P<0.05) followed by the fish group fed the 10% salt added diet and by the control group. Diets with 12% and 14% added salt promoted the lowest growth rates. An inverse relationship was noticed in survival, the higher the salt incorporated in the diet, the lower the survival rate. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that the addition of 8% salt to the pelleted fish feed of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer juveniles reared in freshwater is advantageous towards their growth and survival rates. But this study needs further research to find out the optimum level of dietary salt requirement for the juveniles Asian seabass.