Sorghum in diets for silver catfish Rhamdia quelen

Abstract

With the study we had aimed to verify the possible effects of replacing corn by low tannin sorghum in diets for silver catfish Rhamdia quelen on productive performance, carcass chemical composition, size and density of the villi. The experiment was conducted at the Instituto de Pesquisa em Aquicultura Ambiental – InPAA in Toledo - PR. We used 600 fingerlings with average initial weight and length of 4.49 ± 0.80 g and 8.68 ± 0.62 cm respectively, distributed in 24 cages with a capacity of 1m3 of useful volume. We used a completely randomized design with six treatments and four replications, being each experimental unit consisted of a tank with 25 fish. The treatments consisted of six diets with increasing levels of 0; 20; 40; 60; 80 and 100% of sorghum to replace corn. During 114 days, the fingerlings were fed three times a day until apparent satiation. Productive performance, chemical composition, size and density of the villi showed no significant differences (P > 0.05) due to the result replacement of corn by sorghum. Thus, we can concluded that the partial or total replacement of corn by sorghum in diets for silver catfish is feasible because it does not modify the productive performance, the chemical composition of the carcass and the size and density of the intestinal villi.