Utilization of canola oil and beef fat coated commercial diets by African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juveniles

The objective of the present study was to investigate the utilization of canola oil and beef fat as lipid from different sources by African catfish Clarias gariepinus. The fish were fed plant oil (canola oil) and animal fat (beef fat) coated commercial extruded diets for 40 days. The catfish were reared in a fresh water flow through system (0.5 ml/min) at 30°C and 0.2-0.4 ppt temperature and salinity, respectively. The feed was coated with lipid sources at three different concentrations viz. 20% canola oil, 20% beef fat, and 10% canola oil plus 10% beef fat. The control diet was not sprayed with any lipid sources. Three replicates were maintained for each treatment. The fishes were fed to satiation, three times a day at 0900, 1300 and 1700 hrs. The highest specific growth rate (SGR; 1.33%d^-1) and the best food conversion ratio (FCR; 0.94) were obtained when the fish were fed a 20% canola oil coated diet. Feeding this diet the survival was 86.6%. The SGR of juveniles fed 20% canola oil coated commercial diet was statistically significant (P<0.05) compared with the growth rate of juveniles fed 20% beef fat and 10% canola oil plus 10% beef fat coated commercial diets.