A study on waste excretion of lionhead goldfish (Carassius auratus) fed with different feeding frequencies

Abstract

The total production of ornamental fish in Malaysia increases by 6.40% from 428 298 151 pieces in 2003 to 455 723 540 pieces in 2004. One of the most popular ornamental fish in Malaysia is Lionhead Goldfish (Carassius auratus). Many lovers tend to over-feed their fishes. Too much excess food in an aquarium tank can build up foul water or add to the risk of disease. The study of correlation between feeding frequencies and Lionhead Goldfish waste excretion is crucial in order to avoid a lot of problems and to ensure a flow of interests in keeping goldfish as hobby. The study conducted in order to study the effects of feeding frequencies on waste excretion of Lionhead Goldfish, C,auratus besides to determine the most suitable feeding frequencies for C.auratus between variables used in the study. The experiment conducted at Freshwater Hatchery of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for a period of 3 weeks. The fish was stabilized and acclimatized with feeding frequencies of 1 time per day for tank A, 2 times per day for tank B and 3 times per day for tank C for a period of a week. Then, the fish separated to 12 different aquariums and the water samples were collected every 4 hour for 72 hour with continuation of feeding. Water samples collected were analyzed for Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN), Nitrite (N02- N), Nitrate (N03-N), Total Nitrogen Feces (TNreces) and Total Suspended Solid (TSS). Analysis showed that Treatment A with once a day feeding frequencies gave out significant lower (P<0.05) concentration of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate than Treatment B and C with 2 and 3 times feeding frequencies respectively. TSS of Treatment A is significantly lower than Treatment C and there were no significant different (P>0.05) between treatments on percentage of TNreces· Thus, feeding C.auratus with once a day feeding frequencies is the best feeding frequencies.