Effects of different feeding ratio on waste excretion of lionhead goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Abstract

Lionhead Goldfish (Carassius auratus), is one of the popular ornamental fish not only in Malaysia but also in the world. New hobbyist will tend to take this goldfish as their pet because they attracted to the colour and varieties species of the goldfish. However, they do not know the quantity of food that suitable for the goldfish so that the water quality in their aquarium will maintain in a good condition. This study was conducted to study the effects of different feeding ratio on waste excretion of C. auratus and to determine the most suitable feeding ratio for the C. auratus. This will be a guideline for a new hobbyist in the concept of husbandry in ornamental fish. The study was conducted in three weeks period, which in that particular time, one week been used to adapt and stable the fish in 12 aquariums with the surrounding environment, one week for acclimatized the fish with three feeding ratio which are 2%, 3% and 4% of BW/day, while in last week, the water sample from the aquariums were taken every 4 hours for 72 hours. The water sample were analyzed for concentration of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, TN feces and total suspended solid (TSS). It shown that there was significance different (P<0.05) between the treatment which feeding ratio of 4% of BW/day gave a higher concentration of ammonia and also in TSS. While there was no significance different in TN feces between the three treatments (P>0.05). The feeding ratio of 2% of BW/day should be chosen as it had given a positive impact in maintaining a good water quality in the aquarium. While the most suitable time to change the water was at 16 hour after feeding even the food given were 2%, 3%, or 4% ofBW/day.