Effect of Varying Dietary Protein Level and Stocking density on Growth Performance, Survival and Feed Utilization of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus - Burchell, 1822)

A 2 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted to determine the effect of varying stocking density and crude protein level on growth performance of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fry reared in (1 × 1 × 1 m3 , L × W × H) tanks for 40 days. African catfish fry weighing 0.01 g/fish were randomly distributed into 12 tanks at either 80 fish/m3 or 120 fish/m3 . The fry were fed on diets containing either 38.8% or 52.5% crude protein (CP) respectively at 10% body weight of the fish four times daily. ANOVA was performed on growth, survival and feed utilization parameters in SPPS (16). Mean body weight, percent weight gain, survival rate, and daily growth rate were positively affected by protein level and inversely affected by stocking density (P<0.05), but not affected by their interaction (P>0.05. Results showed that growth performance of fry and overall production of fingerlings of the African catfish increased when fry are stocked at 80 fish/m3 and fed on 52.5% CP diet