Utilisation of house fly maggots (Musca domestica) as replacement for fish meal in the diets of Clarias gariepinus juveniles

Fish meal is widely used in commercial feed production because of its amino acids profile, and high protein content, however, its usage constitutes a major cost in fish feed production. It is therefore essential to source for a highly nutritious, cheap and readily available substitute which can supply the farmed fish with necessary dietary requirements for proper growth and development. The study utilised house fly maggots (Musca domestica) cultured from poultry waste at varying inclusion levels of 0 (no inclusion), 25, 50, 75 and 100% (maggot inclusions) to replace fish meal in the diets and replicated thrice. A total of 180 Clarias gariepinus juveniles catfish with initial average weight of 10.11±0.12 g were stocked at 12 fish per tank, acclimatised for 2 weeks and fed twice daily at 3% body weight for a period of 12 weeks. The proximate composition of wet maggots showed the presence of favourable amino acids similar to fish meal but had lower crude protein content (47.45%) with high ether extract (22.2...