Large scale hatchery production of Penaeus monodon using natural food and artificial diets

Abstract

Natural food in combination with either SEAFDEC formulated or other commercial larvae diets was tested for large scale production of Penaeus monodon postlarvae. Two trials of 3 treatments each, 2 replications of each treatment, were conducted in 10 m3 circular concrete tanks. Shrimps were reared from nauplii to postlarvae. Dietary treatments for trial I included:(a) natural food (NF) alone, (b) NF+ commercial plankton substitute (PS) and (c) NF+ SEAFDEC diet (SD).For trial II, commercial powder diets SP or SMP were added:(a) NF + SP, (b) NF + PS + SP + SMP and (c) NF + SD + SP + SMP. Larvae survival was significantly higher in treatments containing the SEAFDEC diets than in the treatments receiving natural food alone (trial I) or natural food in combination with SP (trial II). Larval development was faster in the group fed the SEAFDEC diet; larvae in these groups metamorphosed into postlarvae an average of 1-2 days earlier than groups fed other diets. The presence of either SP or SMP did not improve the efficiency of the feeds. Results showed that larvae performance was affected by the nutrient composition of the diets and that by using proper feeding techniques and management of water quality, large scale hatchery production of P. monodon using natural food in combination with the SEAFDEC diet or plankton substitute is possible.