Use of Biochemically Improved Shrimp Industry Waste in Fry Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus, Linnaeus 1758) Diets: Effects on Growth Performance and Carcass Composition

To evaluate the nutritional quality of the shrimp by-products four approximately isonitrogenous (32 ± 2%  crude protein) diets containing different types of  shrimp waste meal were fed to duplicate groups of ten fry with an initial mean weight 1.43 ± 0.22g /fish for forty two (42) days. Fishes fed with diet D had the highest mean weight gain (MWG) and specific growth rate (SGR) and those fed with the control diet A had the lowest MWG and SGR. There were no noticeable change in food conversion ratio (FCR) of the fishes fed with diets B, C and D which are significantly different from the FCR of those that fed with control diet A.  The survival of fry tilapia ranged from 70 to 100%, being 70% for D, 80% for B, 90% for C and 100% for A. There were no significant differences in body protein content among the fish fed with diets B, C, D and the initial fish. The lowest body protein was obtained in the fish fed with control diet. The tilapia fed with control diet had the highest body lipid content as compared to the initial fish. However, there were no significant differences in body lipid content among the fish fed test diets B, C and D as compared to the initial fish. The variations in body ash content of initial fish and those fed with test diets were significantly different. The initial fish had the highest body ash content.