S.M. Rahman, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B.

Tareque and
Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23
M.M. Hasan / Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23

Growth Performance of Mirror Carp (Cyprinus carpio var.

specularis, Lacepde, 1803) Fry Fed with Varying
Protein Content Feeds
S.M. Rahman*, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B. Tareque
and M.M. Hasan
Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh.
*E-mail: mustafizfmrt@yahoo.com
Abstract
An experiment was conducted in aquaria for seven weeks to examine the effect of
varying dietary protein level on growth, FCR (food conversion ratio) and survival of
mirror carp fry. Similar weight (2.29 0.08g) and length (4.21 0.05 cm) of mirror
carp fry were stocked in the aquaria (1 fry/L) and fed laboratory prepared feeds
containing 25% (T1), 30% (T2), 35% (T3), 40% (T4), and 45% (T5) protein. In terms
of growth and FCR, diet containing 30% protein performed significantly (p<0.01)
better than those of other tested diets. Survival rate, on the other hand, dropped
significantly (p<0.01) when the stocks were fed diets containing over 30% protein.
These findings suggest that about 30% protein in diet appears to be sufficient for
obtaining optimum growth of mirror carp fry.
Key words: Mirror carp, protein, growth, FCR and survival.

Introduction
Protein is the major dietary nutrient
affecting performance of fish (Lovell,
1989). It provides the essential and
nonessential amino acids which are
necessary for muscle formation and
enzymatic function and in part provides
energy for maintenance (Yang et al., 2002).
It is also important to minimize the amount
of protein used for energy, because protein
is usually the most expensive major
constituents in a diet. Insufficient as well as
excess level of protein in feed is not
desirable; the former results in poor growth,
while the later would be wasted by diverting
for energy. On the other hand, the most
crucial stages of larval development of fish
are the first feeding stage of larvae when
hatchlings start to feeding from yolk

materials until absorb or external sources.

Since it is a transitional period and the
protein levels vary according to the stages,
the fishes require time to adapt to its new
feeding habit. Mass mortality of the fry
often occurs at this stage due to failure of
adoption. Hence, dietary protein level in fish
feed needs to be optimized accurately for
particular fish and its stages.
Several experiments have been
conducted to determine the optimal level of
protein for various fish species (Ogino and
Saito, 1970; Dabrowski, 1977; Hepher,
1990; De Silva and Anderson, 1995;
Pramanik el al., 1997). Optimum dietary
protein requirement of mirror carp fry,
however, remains poorly understood. Mirror
carp is a suitable species for culture in

17

S.M. Rahman, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B. Tareque and
M.M. Hasan / Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23
Bangladesh because it grows in any water
bodies especially in shallow water and
exhibits remarkable growth performance
within short time and minimum effort.
Although fry of mirror carp are successfully
reared with live feed, there are several
unavoidable problems associated with
natural live food organisms. Availability of
live
food
organism
depends
on
environmental factors, as a result they have
not been found round the year and their
collection from natural habitat is laborious
as
well
as
time
consuming.
Artificial/supplementary diets could be
alternative food for large scale operation. In
this context, the present study was
undertaken in the aquaria to evaluate the
growth and survivability of mirror carp fry
fed with different protein content feeds
(25%, 30%, 35%, 40% and 45%) prepared
from different local feed ingredients (rice
bran, wheat flour, rice polish, mustard oil
cake, and fish meal). This study also
addresses the issue of FCR (food conversion
ratio) under various experimental diets.

and determined the protein level (in percent)

following AOAC (1990). Protein ratio of
each ingredient and the amount (g) of each
ingredient for each diet are presented in
Table 1. Five types of diets were prepared
by adjusting these ingredients in such a way
to obtain 25%, 30%, 35%, 40% and 45%
protein (according to Pearson, 1976) and
named as T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5, respectively.
Pegabind, a synthetic binder was used as a
binder of fish feed while fish meal and
mustard oil cake were used as basal
ingredients. All ingredients were mixed with
required water (in semi-moist form) and
passed through an electrical extruder pellet
machine to obtain pellet. Pellets were then
sun dried for three days and kept in
refrigerator until use. Protein level of each
prepared diet was also determined.
Experimental System
The experiment was conducted for seven
weeks (49 days) in the laboratory of
Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology
Discipline, Khulna University. Collected fry
were reared with continuous aeration in
aquaria (503030cm3) containing 15 liter
of water at a stocking density of 1 fry/L.
The fry were fed twice daily (morning and
evening) at the rate of 5% of their total
biomass. Each treatment was conducted
with the replication of three. About onethird water from each aquarium was
replaced with clean water every day before
feeding. Uneaten feed and feces in each
aquarium were removed by siphoning and
the dead fry (if any) were removed and
recorded in the morning and in the evening
prior to feeding. Adhered dirt inside the
aquarium walls was cleaned twice a week.
Weight (g) and length (cm) of about 10
fry were measured every week from each

Materials and methods

Fry collection and maintenance
One thousand hatchery-reared mirror carp
fry of uniform size (weight, 2.29 0.08g
and length, 4.21 0.05 cm) were collected
from local hatchery and held in three tanks
for seven days to acclimatize them to
laboratory-rearing conditions. During the
period of acclimatization, the fish were fed
laboratory prepared diet that contains 25%
protein.
Diet preparation
Feed ingredients like fish meal, rice bran,
wheat bran, wheat flour, and mustered oil
cake were collected from the local market

2
18

S.M. Rahman, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B. Tareque and
M.M. Hasan / Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23
tank using electric balance (B303-S, Metler
Toledo) and simple measuring scale,
respectively. Weight gain, length gain,
specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion
ratio (FCR) and survival rate were
calculated in accordance with the following
formula:

N
acid used (0.1N)

= normality of standard

Statistical analysis
Data was analyzed with Microsoft excel to
evaluate the growth performance with the
changes of time. ANOVA test was done at
95% significant level.

Weight gain (g)

= Mean final weight
mean initial weight.
Length gain (cm)
= Mean final length
mean initial length.
Specific growth rate = {(Ln final weight
Ln initial
weight)/cu
lture
period}
100
Feed conversion ratio = Dry weight of
feed/ Wet weight gain
Survival rate
= (Number of live
fish/Total number stocked fish) 100

Results and discussion

Growth performance was indicated by
absolute growth, percentage increase in live
weight, SGR and survival rate when subject
to analysis of variance revealed significant
influence of protein level (Table 2). The
average initial and final weight of mirror
carp fry for treatments T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5
were between 2.29 to 4.02g, 2.29 to 5.26g,
2.29 to 4.56g, 2.29 to 3.89g, and 2.29 to
3.26g, respectively. The treatment, T2
differed significantly (P<0.01) from other
treatments (T1, T3, T4, and T5) while no
significance (P>0.01) differences were
observed within the treatments of T1, T3, T4,
and T5. The highest weight gain (g) of fish
was observed for diet containing 30%
protein followed by 35%, 25%, 40%, and
45%.
Present findings indicated that fish fed
with diet having 30% protein (T2) reflected
the best growth in terms of live weight gain
(129.7%) with the specific growth rate
being 1.71%. Similarly to this study, Singh
et al., 2006; Rahman et al., 2006 and
Tareque et al., 2009 reported 30%
incorporated protein in diet resulted better
results with respect of growth and SGR for
Labeo rohita, Cyprinus carpio Var. Nudus
and Puntius gonionotus, respectively. This
experiment further revealed that protein
content over 30% did not increase the
growth even in some case drastically

Water Quality Parameters

Water quality parameters such as
temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH,
and alkalinity were recorded daily
throughout the experimental period but the
results are presented in weekly basis.
Temperature and DO of each tank were
recorded by a mercury thermometer and DO
meter (Lutron DO-5510), respectively. The
pH was determined with the help of pH
meter (Hanna ISO 9001). The alkalinity of
the water sample was determined with
neutralization titration method and total
alkalinity was assessed by the following
equation:
Alkalinity (mg CaCO3/l)
= A x N
50000/ml of sample
Where, A= ml standard acid used
(H2SO4)

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S.M. Rahman, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B. Tareque and
M.M. Hasan / Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23
reduced the growth. For instant, diet
containing 45% (T5) had showed lower
growth performance compared to fish fed
only 25% (T1) protein.
In contrast, Dabrowski (1977) found
the highest gain in body protein in grass
carp at the optimum dietary protein level
(45.56%) while Pramanik et al. (1997)
reported that maximum growth of Cirrhina
mrigala was observed when the fish fed at
35% protein content feed. They further
noticed that gradual decrease of fish growth
appear when the protein content of the feed
decrease or increase from the optimum
level. The tendency of such growth pattern
was also observed in this study (Fig. 1).
Excess protein results in high level of
ammonia production, which might affect
voluntary feed intake and growth of fish
(Kaushik and Medale, 1994). Working with
other common carp species, Ogino and
Satio (1970) noted that fish feed containing
38% protein is suitable for growth. Level of
protein requirements of carp fry reported by
Dabrowski (1977) and Pramanik et al.
(1997) are not consistence with the present
findings. Species specific difference might
be a major cause for the variation of growth.
SGR was found as 1.14, 1.71, 1.28,
0.94, and 0.72% for T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5,
respectively (Table 2). The highest SGR (%
per day) value was found at 30% and the
lowest was observed at 45% protein level
feeds. SGR (% per day) values obtained in
this study were varied between 0.72 to 1.71
where lower values (0.08 0.53) were
obtained by Rahman et al. (2006) for the fry
of Cyprinus carpio Var. Nudus. The higher
weight gain of fish observed in the present
study than that of Rahman et al. (2006)
works might be due to the better utilization
of prepared diet by the fish.

Fig. 2 represents the relationship

between absolute growth and feed
conversion ratio (FCR). Absolute growth
was found as 1.73, 2.96, 2.27, 1.7 and 0.98
for T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5, respectively. On
the other hand, FCR was found as 8.06,
4.31, 6.8, 7.76 and 12.7 for T1, T2, T3, T4,
and T5, respectively. The highest absolute
growth was observed for treatment T2 where
minimum feed were utilized by fish while
opposite results were obtained for T5.
Treatment, T2 differed significantly
(P<0.01) with other treatments (T1, T3, T4,
and T5) and no significance differences
(P>0.01) were observed among the
treatments of T1, T3, T4, and T5.
The food consumption and wet weight
production play an important role in the
increase or decrease of FCR. FCR is a
measure of diet efficiency. The more
suitable the diet the less feed is required to
produce a unit weight gain i.e. lower FCR.
The FCR values of the present study are
comparable to the findings of Rahman et al.,
2006; Tareque et al., 2009 for other
common carp species but not satisfactory
for Indian major carps (Singh et al. 2006;
Pramanik et al., 1997) and grass carp
(Dabrowski, 1977), need further study.
After 49 days of culture, fish in T2
(99%) showed the lowest survival rate
followed by T1 (93%), T3 (90%), T4
(83.34%), and T5 (68%). No significant
differences (P>0.01) in the survival rate
were observed between the treatments T1
and T2 but differed significantly (P<0.01)
between T3, T4 and T5 (Table 2). The highest
survival rate were obtained in the diet
containing 30% protein level might be due
to the comparatively favorable culture
condition prevailed in the aquaria. The
survival rate of fish fed with different feeds

4
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S.M. Rahman, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B. Tareque and
M.M. Hasan / Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23
ranged from 70 to 93%, which is line with
the findings of Rahman et al. (2006) and
Tareque et. al. (2009). Lowering the
survival rate in treatment T5 could be due to
the fact of access ammonia production

induced by maximum protein incorporation

in diet, as discussed previously. It is known
that there is a direct relationship between
ammonia and pH. In this experiment, we did
not quantify the ammonia production in

Table 1. Protein content (%) of each ingredient and the formulation of different levels of protein rich feed from
the various feed ingredients (Dry weight basis).
Ingredients
Protein (%)
Amount of ingredients (g)

Fish meal
Mustard oil cake
Wheat flour
Rice bran
Rice polish
Total

45.96
10.10
4.69
3.91
3.50

T1 (25%)

T2 (30%)

T3 (35%)

T4 (40%)

T5 (45%)

22.95
7.65
41.64
13.88
13.88
100

30.84
7.65
34.53
13.88
13.88
100

40.74
7.65
24.41
13.88
13.88
100

46.63
7.65
18.29
13.88
13.88
100

56.12
18.71
15.10
5.03
5.03
100

Table 2. Growth performance and survival rate of mirror carp fry fed on different formulated diets. Dissimilar
superscripts in the same row exhibited significant difference (P<0.01, ANOVA test). Each value represents mean
SD.
Parameters
Treatments
T1 (25%)

T2 (30%)

T3 (35%)

T4 (40%)

T5 (45%)

Initial weight (g)

2.29a0.1

2.29a0.08

2.29a0.08

2.29a 0.08

2.29a0.08

Final weight (g)

4.02a0.1

5.26b0.35

4.56a0.20

3.89a 0.18

3.26a0.05

Absolute growth (g)

Relative growth (%)

1.73 0.9
75.55

2.96 0.15
129.26

2.27 0.36
99.13

1.7 0.18
74.24

0.98a0.05
42.79

SGR (% day-1)

1.14ab0.2

1.71b0.16

1.28ab0.14

0.94ab0.09

0.72ab0.02

Survival Rate (%)

93.33 1.2

93.33 1.7

90.00 4.7

83.34 3.5

70.00a4.7

bc

Table 3. Water quality parameters under different treatments during the study period (mean SD)
Parameters
Treatments
Temperature (C)
pH
DO (mg/l)
Alkalinity (mg CaCO3 /l)

T1 (25%)
29.50.03
8.80.04
4.70.02
166.70.4

T2 (30%)
29.70.01
8.60.01
6.80.06
186.40.6

21
5

T3 (35%)
29.50.09
8.60.1
6.20.3
191.70.8

T4 (40%)
29.60.03
8.50.08
6.50.04
200.10.4

T5 (45%)
29.60.07
8.70.2
5.20.1
178.10.7

S.M. Rahman, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B. Tareque and
M.M. Hasan / Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23
5.5

T1 (25%)
T2 (30%)

Weight gain (g)

T3 (35%)

4.5

T4 (40%)
T5 (45%)

4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1

Weeks

3.5

14

12

2.5

10

1.5

0.5

Feed conversion ratio

Absolute growth (g)

Figure 1. Effect of different levels of protein on weight gain of mirror carp fry throughout the experiment.

0
T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

Treatments
Figure 2. Relation between absolute growth and feed conversion ration under different treatments.

culture media but we measured the pH value

in each treatment. During the study period,
we did not find any abnormal changes of pH
(Table 3) and all values were suitable
recommend
by
several
authors
(Renukaradhya and Varghese, 1986;

Hossain et al., 1998). Comprehensive but

isolating experiment is needed to explore
such paradox in future.
In conclusion, experimental diet
containing 30% protein resulted in good
weight gain, specific growth rate, feed

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S.M. Rahman, M.A.A. Shahin, M.A.H. Chisty, M.M. Rahman, A.M.H.B. Tareque and
M.M. Hasan / Our Nature (2012) 10: 17-23
conversion ratio and survival rate for the fry
of Mirror carp.
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