Oral administration of garlic powder (Allium sativum) on growth performance and survival rate of Carassius auratus fingerlings

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of different levels of garlic (Allium sativum) on growth survival and nutritional characteristics of goldfish (Carassius auratus). For this purpose, 180 goldfish with an average initial weight of 1.18 +/- 0.08 g were introduced randomly into 12 aquaria (50x30x40 cm) in 4 groups, with 15 fish in each group. Treatments were fed on a basal diet for one week, followed by experimental diets for eight weeks. Garlic powder was added at levels of 0 (Control), 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mg kg(-1) to commercial diet. At the end of the experiment, growth and survival rates and feed performance were evaluated. There was no significant difference in growth rate and feed efficiency between treatments, although they were better in the 0.5% level. The highest survival rate was achieved in the 0.5% treatment that showed a significant difference compared to the control diet (p<0.05). The best growth performance and feed efficiency were obtained in fish fed the 0.5% garlic powder diet.