Effect of brood stock weight in the quality of eggs and survival percentage of fries of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus B.)

Abstract

Aquaculture is one of the food sources in the Philippines. One product of aquaculture is catfish. Currently, the main problem encountered is inefficient catfish breeding. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the effect of brood stock weight on the quality of eggs and survival percentage of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus B.). This was conducted on December 2 to 9, 2019 at Central Philippine University, Research and Development Building, Catfish Hatchery, Jaro, Iloilo City. The treatments were the different weight of female brood stock which were 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 kilogram. These were laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) and replicated three times. The experimental catfish were obtained from CPU- Zarraga Farm, Zarraga, Iloilo. Results revealed that percent fertilization and percent hatchability of eggs of catfish increases as the body weight increases from 0.5 to 1.5 kg then decreases beyond 1.5 kg. Survival percentage of catfish fry was found to decrease as the weight increases from 0.5 to 1.5 kg then increases when brood stock weight is more than 1.5 kg. However, statistical analysis showed no significant differences (P>0.5) among treatments. This indicates that whatever the weight of the female catfish, it can still be used for reproduction. This excessive mortality on catfish fry may be due to high ammonia content which means that the ammonia content on the water should be minimized to ensure high survival percentage of catfish fries.