Proximate composition and microbial quality of three imported aquarium fish feeds in Bangladesh

Proximate composition and microbial quality of three aquarium fish feeds commonly found in Bangladesh were collected from fish feed market of Dhaka city. Significantly higher moisture content (2.12 ± 0.06%) was found in Super Nova TM fish feed while similar moisture content was detected in other two feeds (p<0.05). On the other hand ash content detected in Optimum TM and Osaka 2000 TM aquarium fish feed was significantly higher than that of Super Nova TM (10.67±0.19%) (p<0.05).Protein content found in Optimum TM (42.21 ± 0.12%) was significantly higher than that of Osaka 2000 TM and Super Nova TM (p<0.05). However, similar lipid content was found in Optimum TM (1.06 ± 0.03%) and Super Nova TM (1.13 ± 0.01%) aquarium fish feed which were significantly higher than that of Osaka 2000 TM (p<0.05). The Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were found in all feeds. However Vibrio sp was not found in any feed. Total bacterial count was significantly higher in Osaka 2000 TM feed than that of others (P<0.05). However S. aureus was significantly higher in Super Nova TM than that of others while E. coli count was significantly higher in OptimumTM fish feed than that of others (p<0.05). Nutritional quality of the aquarium fish feed was qualified to some extent to meet the minimum requirement of the aquarium fish while microbial quality indicates some degrees of deterioration which may cause diseases of the aquarium fishes. Thus proper storage condition, hygienic handling and processing should be maintained to prevent the microbial contamination in aquarium fish feeds. There should be a monitoring cell from the government to assess the quality of this expensive imported feeds for aquarist. Bangladesh J. Zool. 42 (2): 283-294, 2014