Replacing fish meal with a blend of alternative plant proteins and its effect on the growth performance of Catla catla and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Intensive fish culture practices generated a demand for an efficient,balanced and economical diet. the purpose of this study was to evaluate an alternate plant proteins as a replacement for fish meal in diets for catla catla,and hypophthalmichthys molitrix and to use the results to develop and test cost effective alternate plant protein blends in diets for freshwater fish species. the plant protein feed (35 % crude protein) was formulated from five different ingredients. the feed was fed at the rate of 0.15 g nitrogen per 100 g of wet fish weight daily for one year. fish were fed two times per day by dusting. however,the control pond remained without any additives. catla catla,and h. molitrix performed in a curvilinear manner at different water temperatures. h. molitrix comparatively performed better with the feed supplementation compared to catla catla. in catla catla and h. molitrix weight gain at the completion of the study,expressed as a percentage of the weight over the control pond computed as 436.53 and 330.37 percent,respectively,with the effect of feed prepared from plant sources by replacing the fish meal. copyright © 2014 zoological society of pakistan.