Effect of dietary probiotic Biogen® supplementation as a growth promoter on growth performance and feed utilization of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (L.)

Probiotic microbial feed supplements are gaining wide acceptance in livestock production, and may be applicable to aquaculture production systems. The present study was conducted to examine probiotic treatment in the fingerling diet of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (L.). A total of 240 of Nile tilapia fingerlings (weight ranged from 22.96 to 26.40 g) were divided into five experimental groups. The experiment was conducted for 120 days. Experimental diets were identical in all, except for the variation in probiotic levels. A probiotic (Biogen (R)) was used at 0% (diet 1), 0.5% (diet 2), 1.5% (diet 3), 2.0% (diet 4) and 2.5% (diet 5) inclusion rates in the experimental diets. The growth performance and nutrient utilization of Nile tilapia including weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, protein productive value and energy retention were significantly (P <= 0.01) higher in the treatment receiving probiotic (Biogen (R)) than the control diet. No differences were observed for moisture, ash and protein content (P <= 0.01) among the experimental diets. The lowest gross energy and lipid contents were recorded for fish fed the diet containing 0.5% Biogen (R) (P <= 0.01). The production performance and subsequent cost-benefit analyses clearly indicated that the diets containing probiotic biogen recorded the highest net return and the lowest total cost compared with the control diet.