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33April-June 2007
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
Asia-Paciﬁ c Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network Asia-Paciﬁ c Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
MagazineMagazine
Utilisation of local feed ingredients in tiger grouper grow
out moist diets
Usman
1
, Rachmansyah
1
, Neltje N. Palinggi
1
and Tauﬁ k Ahmad
2
1. Research Institute for Coastal Aquaculture, Jl. Makmur Dg. Sitakka, No. 129, Maros, Sulawesi Selatan, 90512, Indonesia,
E-mail: [email protected]; 2. Research Institute for Freshwater Aquaculture, Bogor, Jawa Barat, Indonesia.
The development of tiger grouper
(Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) culture
faces several problems, among which
is the reliance on trash ﬁ sh availability.
Compared to artiﬁ cial diets, the
availability of trash ﬁ sh is seasonal, it
quickly decomposes, and can be the
source of serious pathogens. Ideally,
commercial grouper culture should not
rely only on trash ﬁ sh but instead have
a continuous supply of good quality feed
throughout the year. In practical terms,
a continuous supply of good quality feed
can only be assured by using pelleted
feed that is well accepted by the ﬁ sh
and that provides all of the nutrients
necessary for rapid growth and develop-
ment at least cost.
Commercially-manufactured dry pellets
for groupers are available but they
may not always be the best alternative
to feeding trash ﬁ sh. Because of their
cost, including both manufacture and
freight, farmers may ﬁ nd the commercial
dry pellets to be too expensive to
use. Morever, wild-caught and less
well-adapted hatchery-bred tiger
grouper fry may not readily accept
dry pellets. Fortunately, tiger grouper
will readily accept and grow well on
appropriately formulated moist pellets
where most of the ingredients can be
sourced locally. Being a carnivorous
ﬁ sh, tiger grouper requires a diet with
a high protein content of 45-50% on a
dry matter basis. While imported ﬁ sh
meal is an excellent source of protein,
it is expensive and its sometimes
limited availability mean that locally
available protein alternatives should be
considered as they may provide a more
assured source of supply.
Digestibility of selected
feed ingredients for tiger
grouper, Epinephelus
fuscoguttatus
Apart from considerations of palatability
and anti-nutritional factors, the apparent
digestibility of an ingredient determines
how much of the nutrients it contains
can be utilized by the animal. The
higher the digestibility of the ingredient,
the more of its nutrient content will be
available to support growth and other
metabolic functions. Consequently,
the digestibility of an ingredient is an
important measure of its nutritional
quality.
The most commonly available alterna-
tive sources of protein in Indonesia are
poultry offal, golden snail, green mussel
and mysid meal. Yellow and white corn
meal, rice bran and sorghum meal
are carbohydrate sources that are in
plentiful supply in Indonesia. Therefore,
an experiment was carried out to
determine the apparent digestibility of
these feed ingredients because of their
potential as ingredients in cost-effective
dry or moist feeds for tiger grouper. The
ﬁ ndings from the work are summarized
in Table 1.
Tiger grouper digested the animal
feed ingredients more efﬁ ciently than
plant feed ingredients with DM, CP,
TL and energy ADCs generally being
signiﬁ cantly higher. Of the animal
meals, golden snail meal was the least
digestible while the ﬁ ber-rich rice bran
had the lowest DM, CP and energy
digestibility of the plant meals. However,
the lipid digestibility of the rice bran was
comparatively high, much higher than
all other plant meals and equivalent
to that of golden snail meal. The low
ADCs of these plant ingredients were
probably due to their high content of
nitrogen free extract (NFE), particularly
the complex carbohydrate components
of seeds, which are poorly digested by
piscivorous ﬁ sh.
The study has shown that tiger grouper
efﬁ ciently digest animal feed ingredi-
ents, indicating that the ingredients have
potential to be used as dietary replace-
ments for ﬁ sh meal. Some caution is
advised for golden snail meal since its
overall digestibility was inexplicably
poor, perhaps indicating that unknown
factors may be affecting its nutritional
value. While the plant meals were not
easily digested, nevertheless, they are
an integral part of compounded diets
and data on their digestibility are impor-
tant when formulating diets to satisfy

34 Aquaculture Asia Magazine
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
the animals requirements for digestible
nutrients. However, steam conditioning
of these meals prior to pelleting or using
hot extrusion manufacturing procedures
may increase their digestibility for tiger
grouper. The high digestibility of green
mussel suggests its polyculture with ﬁ sh
may provide an additional local source
of protein for the ﬁ sh while helping to
alleviate nutrient output from farms.
Until more eco-friendly pelleted feeds
become commercially available, such
integrated systems may be an effective
way of reducing the environmental
impacts of cage aquaculture.
Substitution of ﬁ sh meal
with golden snail meal
(Pomacea sp.) in tiger
grouper grow-out diets
Golden snail, considered a pest in
paddy ﬁ elds, is a potential ﬁ shmeal
replacement; it contains 50-54 % protein
on a dry matter basis with essential
amino acid index (EAAI) about 0.84.
(Table 2). Golden snails are plentiful
and meals made from them are a
potential ﬁ sh meal substitute in ﬁ sh
diets. Collecting golden snails in paddy
ﬁ elds also provides additional social and
economic beneﬁ ts through provision of
additional job opportunities. Because of
these potential advantages, the use of
golden snail meal as a source of protein
for ﬁ sh diets was assessed.
Snails were collected from a rice ﬁ eld
in Maros Regency, boiled at 100ºC for
about 15 minutes, sun dried until they
contained less than 10 % water and
then pulverized to produce the golden
snail meal. The proximate composition
(% DM) of golden snail meal was: crude
protein 56.9%; lipid 5.2%; ash 11.2%;
and crude ﬁ ber 2.8%. Test diets were
prepared containing ﬁ ve different levels
of golden snail meal (0%, 10%, 20%,
30% and 40% ) substituting for a similar
amount of ﬁ sh meal protein. The test
diets were made as moist pellets (42%
water content) and all had the same
protein (45% DM) and energy (19.8
MJ/kg) content. Trash ﬁ sh was used at a
constant inclusion rate in all diets.
Increasing the amount of golden snail
meal in the diet resulted in a slight
curvilinear deterioration in growth rate,
FCR and nitrogen retention with the
adverse effects most noticeable at inclu-
sion rates greater then 20% (Fig. 1).
Survival rates were high (> 94%) on all
treatments. There were no differences
between treatments in the chemical
composition of the ﬁ sh at the end of the
experiment. Golden snail meal contains
less methionine than tiger grouper
carcass (Table 2) and this may be why
high inclusion rates of the meal resulted
in reduced growth of the ﬁ sh. However,
other unknown anti-nutritional factors in
golden snail meal may have contributed
to the poorer performance of the ﬁ sh fed
the high golden snail meal diets. This
experiment has shown that golden snail
meal can be used at inclusion rates
of up to 20% of the DM content of the
diet to replace ﬁ sh meal protein without
adversely affecting the performance of
tiger grouper.
Tiger grouper fed moist pellet in ﬂ oating net cage.

35April-June 2007
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
Utilization of poultry offal
silage meal (POSM) in tiger
grouper
Being a piscivorous ﬁ sh, tiger grouper
have a relatively short digestive tract
and low digestive enzyme capacity
for carbohydrate-rich food. Thus, they
grow best when fed on formulated diets
that contain high amounts of protein
>45% but only moderate amounts of
lipid (<15%). To meet this high protein
speciﬁ cation, diets typically contain 50%
ﬁ sh meal. At an FCR of about 2.5:1 and
a 4:1 conversion of low-value ﬁ sh into
ﬁ sh meal, some 6 kg of low-value ﬁ sh
is required for every 1 kg weight gain
of the cultured ﬁ sh. Clearly, this is not
a very efﬁ cient or appropriate use of a
limited resource. Replacement of ﬁ sh
meal with more sustainable terrestrial
feed ingredients is a high priority for all
aqua feeds. An alternative ingredient,
which has potential to replace ﬁ sh meal
in grouper feeds, is poultry by-product
meal (PBM), also known as poultry offal
meal (POM). In South Sulawesi, raw
poultry waste product is available but
there is no commercial manufacture
of this material into POM. At a farm
scale, poultry waste product can be
ensiled with organic acids to produce
a poultry offal silage meal (POSM).
POSM is produced by acidifying (3%
formic acid and a similar amount of
propionic acid) chicken viscera and
other abattoir waste to activate the
endogenous proteolytic enzymes in
the material. In turn, this results in a
partially digested product that is rich in
protein, polypeptides and free amino
acids. The acidity of the product aids in
retarding microbial growth. The product
can be incorporated as wet product for
moist diets or conventionally dried for
dry pellet formulation. Typical analysis
(% dry matter) of the POSM is: crude
protein 65.6%; total lipid 18.1%; crude
ﬁ bre 0.2%; ash 4.7%, nitrogen free
extract 11.4%; and gross energy 24.57
MJ/kg. To assess the extent to which
POSM could replace ﬁ sh meal in diets
for groupers, ﬁ ve diets with the same
crude protein (45%, dry matter) and
energy (20 MJ/kg, dry matter) content
were formulated in which POSM was
included at 0%, 5%, 10%, 15 or 20% of
the diet as isonitrogenous substitutes of
ﬁ sh meal. All dry ingredients were mixed
Farm-made moist pellet. Golden apple snail and other alternative feed
ingredients.
Res
p
onse
2 R = 0.95
R 2 = 0.99
R 2 = 0.93
0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
2 .0
2.4
0 10 20 30 40
GSM inclusion (%)
ADG (g/d)
FCR (g:g)
NR (decimal)
2 R = 0.95 2 R = 0.95 R = 0.95
R 2 = 0.99 R 2 = 0.99
Figure 1. Effect of dietary inclusion level of golden snail meal (GSM) on tiger grouper average daily gain (ADG), feed
conversion ratio (FCR) and N retention coefﬁ cient (NR).

36 Aquaculture Asia Magazine
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
Essential amino acids Fish meal
(CP: 61.7%)
Golden snail meal
(CP: 56.9%)
Whole body of tiger
grouper (CP: 62.2%)
Arginine 3.96 3.67 3.63
Histidine 1.77 1.05 1.02
Isoleucine 2.86 2.60 2.42
Leucine 5.00 4.31 3.99
Lysine 5.03 3.14 3.77
Methionine + cysteine 1.36 0.32 0.47
Phenylalanine 2.71 2.19 2.04
Threonine 2.97 2.35 2.47
Valine 3.20 2.61 2.64
Tryptophan na na na
Note: na=non-analysed
Table 1. The dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), total lipid (TL) and gross
energy (GE) apparent digestibility of the test feed ingredients.
Essential amino acids Fish meal
(CP: 61.7%)
Golden snail meal
(CP: 56.9%)
Whole body of tiger
grouper (CP: 62.2%)
Arginine 3.96 3.67 3.63
Histidine 1.77 1.05 1.02
Isoleucine 2.86 2.60 2.42
Leucine 5.00 4.31 3.99
Lysine 5.03 3.14 3.77
Methionine + cysteine 1.36 0.32 0.47
Phenylalanine 2.71 2.19 2.04
Threonine 2.97 2.35 2.47
Valine 3.20 2.61 2.64
Tryptophan na na na
Note: na=non-analysed
Table 2. Essential amino acid composition of ﬁ sh meal, golden snail meal and
whole body of tiger grouper (% dry matter).
Response trait Poultry offal silage meal levels (%)
0 5 10 15 20
Initial weight (g/ﬁ sh) 63.8 63.6 64.2 65.1 64.3
Final weight (g/ﬁ sh) 262.3 253.9 261.0 256.0 261.6
Weight gain (%) 311.3 299.2 306.5 293.2 306.8
Survival rate (%) 97.9 95.8 97.9 95.8 97.9
Daily growth rate (%/d) 1.02 1.00 1.02 0.99 1.02
Daily feed consumption (%/d) 3.75 3.88 3.89 3.85 3.82
Feed conversion ratio 3.4 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.5
Protein efﬁ ciency ratio 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Protein retention (%) 20.13 18.9 19.2 18.4 19.7
Differences between treatments were not signiﬁ cant (P > 0.05) for all traits.
Table 3. Biological responses of tiger grouper fed different levels of poultry
offal silage meal (POSM) in diets.
ADC Poultry offal silage meal levels (%)
05101520
Dry matter (%) 79.0 77.9 74.2 66.5 62. 5
Crude protein (%) 92.3 92.0 92.2 91.5 89.4
Total lipid (%) 95.9 95.4 94.5 92.6 91.2
Table 4. Apparent digestibility coefﬁ cient (ADC) of diets containing different
levels of POSM when fed to tiger grouper.
together after which the minced raw
trash ﬁ sh and oil were added to produce
a dough of approximately 40% moisture.
Survival rate during the 20-week
experiment was high for all treatments,
averaging 97%. Fish grew well on all
diets with biomass gains averaging
303% of initial weight. There were
no signiﬁ cant differences between
treatments for any of the measured
biological traits (Table 3). Thus, the
addition of POSM at dietary inclusion
rates of up to 20% and equivalent to a
37% replacement of ﬁ sh meal protein
was well accepted by the ﬁ sh without
any adverse effects on ﬁ sh productivity.
Compared to ﬁ sh meal, POM contains
lower amounts of the essential amino
acids methionine, histidine and lysine.
A digestibility experiment (Table 4)
showed only a slight decrease in dry
matter, protein and lipid apparent
digestibility as the amount of POSM
increased. The progressive decrease
in dietary digestibility with increasing
POSM inclusion is most likely due to the
higher content of poorly digested poultry
feather ﬁ bre.
Locally available sources of protein
such as GSM and POSM can be
cost-effective substitutes for ﬁ sh meal
in tiger grouper diets. However, careful
handling of the raw ingredients during
collection, storage and processing is
critical to ensure that only the best
quality product is used in grouper feeds.
Further, it is not proﬁ table to produce
moist pellets on a large scale because
they have to be used on the same day
of manufacture unless cold storage
is available to extend their shelf life.
Developing on farm-moist feed pellet
production is a real need for the grouper
farmers to help develop a sustainable
tiger grouper farm. The use of small
scale feed production machinery would
help tiger grouper farmers to become
more self sufﬁ cient in on-farm moist
feed production.

37April-June 2007
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
Optimal nutrition for marine ﬁ sh
Dr. Arjen Roem, Skretting Asia
Traditionally marine ﬁ sh farmers have
used locally caught trash ﬁ sh as a feed
for their ﬁ sh, often ground into a moist
pellet. The advantages have been the
(daily) availability of trash ﬁ sh, good
palatability and the low price per kg.
Current trash ﬁ sh prices can range from
0.2-0.4 USD per kg depending on the
region. On the other hand there are also
a number of disadvantages to using
trash ﬁ sh:
• The price of a kg feed or trash ﬁ sh is
not a good parameter for ﬁ sh farm-
ing. Instead one should calculate
what is the production cost per kg
farmed ﬁ sh or even better what is the
total proﬁ tability. Feed conversion
ratios (kg feed/kg weight gain) are
typically 8-10 for trash ﬁ sh feeding
which is very high.
• Feeding trash ﬁ sh or moist pellets
leads often to lower water quality
(dirty water). Moist feeds do not bind
so well, integrate easily and give a
high organic load in and around the
farm. That increases the risks for
oxygen depletion and/or outbreak of
diseases when water currents are
low.
• Fisheries for trash ﬁ sh are seldom
well regulated and may not be sus-
tainable in the future. There are great
worries about global overﬁ shing and
catching large volumes of often small
juvenile ﬁ sh for use as feed, and this
practice may be banned in the com-
ing years in some parts of the world.
However, the most important reason
to consider dry extruded feeds for
marine ﬁ sh has to do with providing
optimal nutrition. Fish have a high
requirement for protein and at the
same time for energy. Trash ﬁ sh is
normally low in energy content. A high
protein-to-energy ratio can only be
provided by modern dry feeds made
with extrusion technology. The extrusion
process is optimal for ﬁ sh nutrition.
The combination of high temperature,
high pressure and high shear forces
gelatinise the carbohydrates (starch) in
the formulation. Thereby, a very stable
pellet is formed which minimises the risk
for feeding losses and water pollution.
Moreover, the gelatinised starch is more
digestible and available to the ﬁ sh, so
more energy is accessible for growth.
The open porous structure of the pellet,
which is a protein-starch matrix, allows
for the pellets to be coated with oils.
Both ﬁ sh/animal oil and vegetable oils
can be used for this coating. Oil is the
best energy source for marine ﬁ sh and
has the highest energy concentration
(calories/gram). The end-result is an
extruded pellet with the optimal protein-
to-energy ratio for ﬁ sh. Research has
shown that this optimal protein/energy
ratio leads to better growth rates, lower
feed conversions and contributes to
farm economy.
Skretting has invested a lot in R&D to
deﬁ ne the optimal protein-to-energy
ratios for marine ﬁ sh species for
different sizes and under different
environmental conditions like salinity
and temperature. Moreover, crude
protein is not always digestible protein.
The REAL dietary requirement of ﬁ sh is
for amino acids which are the building
blocks of protein (rather than for protein
per se). This has led to new insights
in replacing ﬁ sh meal with alternative
protein feedstuffs like soya, glutens and
animal proteins. Skretting called this
the AminoBalance
TM
concept. It means
that all diets have been formulated to
meet the digestible amino acid require-
ments of a particular ﬁ sh species and
particular size class and temperature for
maximum growth and feed efﬁ ciency,
topped with the right energy level.
Recently, Skretting have launched a
complete feed range for marine ﬁ sh in
Asia.
Starter diets
Perla is a starter diet for juvenile marine
ﬁ sh. It comes in eight sizes: ﬁ rst four
extruded crumbles for weaning them
from live feeds like rotifers, copepods
and Artemia. Perla contains high
protein levels are especially suited
for this lifestage. Phospholipids have
been included to improve larval
development, quality and survival.
Thereafter, four minipellets are available
for pre-growing. The minipellets come
with Aquasoft
TM
technology. Aquasoft
stands for a new form of extrusion
that allows for fast water absorption.
In 10-15 minutes these minipellets will
absorb up to 100% or more water. The
pellets become more soft and spongy
which improves the weaning process.
Another advantage of Aquasoft is that it
is possible for the farmer to add special
ingredients on-site. Farmers can simply
add them to the water that is mixed
and absorbed by the feed. Aquasoft is
proven technology from Japan. All Perla

PL3 PL6 PL9 PL12
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Survival. %
Malformation, %
Higher inclusions of phospholipids in starterfeeds improve larval survival
and reduce the rate of deformities (Ifremer, 2000).

38 Aquaculture Asia Magazine
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
sizes contain special immunostimulants
to support health status and produce
robust ﬁ ngerlings for on-growing.
Grower diets
After Perla farmers have a choice in
grower diets depending on the ﬁ sh
species and other demands:
1. Marine is a grower feed designed
for species like pompano, croaker
and some grouper species. Like all
grower diets the protein-to-energy
ratio is adapted according to ﬁ sh size
(pellet size) to reﬂ ect that larger ﬁ sh
have a lower requirement for most
nutrients compared to smaller ﬁ sh.
2. Marine Red is a grower feed de-
signed for red snapper, red seabream
and some grouper species like the
coral trout. All those species are
valued for their (red) skin condition.
Marine Red contains a special blend
of pigments for enhanced coloration.
3. Excel is a high energy feed designed
for species like seabass and cobia.
These species are fast-growing, es-
pecially cobia which can grow up to
several kg per year, and this requires
an even higher protein-to-energy ra-
tio compared to other species. Excel
is a ﬂ oating feed for easy feeding
and feed management. Use of this
feed requires a ﬂ oating collar on the
surface to prevent feed from dispers-
ing/ﬂ oating out of the cages.
4. Active is a grower diet for turbot,
ﬂ ounder and other ﬂ atﬁ shes. Most
ﬂ atﬁ shes are very sensitive to senso-
ric qualities of the feed. This means
that ﬁ sh meal freshness and raw
material quality require special atten-
tion from a feed supplier. Palatability
agents can improve feed intake and
the performance of ﬂ atﬁ sh signiﬁ -
cantly.
Together these diets provide a complete
range of modern dry extruded feeds for
marine ﬁ sh species commonly farmed
in Asia. These modern diets are better
for the ﬁ sh, better for the environment,
better for the farm economy and better
for farmers.
For more information on ﬁ sh nutrition or
one of Skretting diets you can contact
the author at arjen.roem@skretting.
com or our sales managers Hiro in
South East Asia hiroyoshi.matsumoto@
skretting.com (+60 88 251302) and Tie
in North East Asia tie.tecklok@skretting.
com (+81 90 31874239).
SEAFDEC tests its feed formulations
for marine ﬁ shes
Feeds and feed management are
important issues that these can spell
the success or failure of an aquaculture
venture, typically accounting for 60-70%
of the recurring cost of a ﬁ sh farm. Good
feed formulation and feed management
can also be seen as an opportunity,
providing a window to reduce this
recurring cost signiﬁ cantly.
Researchers working on nutrition and
feed development must ﬁ rst ﬁ nd a
balance between cost reduction and
a formulation designed to comply
with the nutritional requirement of
the cultured stock. Then, they must
lay out a feed management scheme
that has minimal environmental
impacts. The experiences of the tiger
shrimp industry has taught farmers
prudence and responsibility, lessons
that the marine ﬁ sh industry must take
into consideration. Accordingly, the
Aquaculture Department (AQD) of the
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development
Center (SEAFDEC) located in Iloilo,
west central Philippines ensures that its
feed development program incorporates
environmental considerations.
What feeds, and what is
unique about these?
In developing feeds for marine ﬁ shes,
SEAFDEC/AQD has evaluated the
nutrient requirements of seabass
(Lates calcarifer), grouper (Epinephelus
coioides), snapper (Lutjanus argen-
timaculatus), and milkﬁ sh (Chanos
chanos) (Tables 1a and 1b ). On the
basis of these requirements, diets for
carnivorous species (grouper, snapper,
seabass) were formulated (Table 2a).
In addition, feed requirements of the
rabbitﬁ sh Siganus guttatus have also
been studied, and formulated feeds for
different life stages of the brackishwater
milkﬁ sh have been made available
(Table 2b).
The following formulated feeds are now
being veriﬁ ed by SEAFDEC/AQD:
• Seabass, grouper, and red snapper
diets for pond grow-out at AQD’s
brackishwater station in Dumangas,
Iloilo;
• Seabass, grouper, red snapper, and
milkﬁ sh diets for larviculture in the
AQD hatcheries in Tigbauan, Iloilo;
• Grouper diet for grow-out at AQD’s
marine station in Igang, Guimaras
island;
• Milkﬁ sh diet in marine grow-out
cages in Bolinao, Pangasinan, in
cooperation with the private sector;
and
• Mud crab diet for pond grow-out at
Dumangas.
What is unique in these feeds? The
feed proﬁ les have been developed to
match the nutritional requirements of
each species, increasing the possibility
of the feed ingredients being effectively
utilized by the stock. Also, locally
available ingredients were selected,
where possible, to make it easy for
farmers who may opt to make their own
feeds on farm.
Fish do not feed when the temperature
and dissolved oxygen are too low, or
when temperature is too high. Stock
should not be fed during transportation.
As unconsumed ﬁ sh feed can cause
eutrophication, which leads to the
rapid increase of plankton populations
followed by die-offs and oxygen
depletion as they decompose, wastage
of feed should be avoided in order to
reduce the risk of stress, disease and
mortality of the stock.
Pellet production.

39April-June 2007
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
Nutrient Requirement by dry weight? Reference
Protein
1
43% for juvenile VR Alava, personal communication
50% protein : energy MR Catacutan, unpublished
Essential amino acids
2
RM Coloso et al., unpublished
Arginine 3.6%
Lysine 4.5
Methionine 2.35 (cystine, 0.7)
Tryptophan 0.5
Lipid
1
10% MR Catacutan, unpublished
Essential fatty acids
1
0.5% n-3 PUFA
Borlongan & Parazo (1991) Israeli Journal of Aquaculture
(Bamidgeh) 43 (p 95-102)
0.5% n-6 PUFA
Carbohydrate
1
20-25% MR Catacutan, unpublished
1. Requirement as percent of dry weight; 2. Requirement as percent of protein
Table 1a. Summary of known nutrient requirements of seabass Lates calcarifer. From Feed Development Section.
1994. Feeds and Feeding of Milkﬁ sh, Nile Tilapia, Asian Sea Bass, and Tiger Shrimp. Aquaculture Extension Manual
No. 21, SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department, Iloilo, Philippines. 97 pp.
Species Nutrient requirement Reference
Grouper 40-50% protein
1 n-3 HUFA
Teng et al. 1978 Aquaculture 15 (p 257-271); Millamena & Golez
1999 Aquaculture Asia 4 (1) p 47
Red snapper 44% protein Catacutan et al. 2001 Aquaculture Research 32 (p 811-818)
Milkﬁ sh 30-40% protein; 24% protein for milkﬁ sh
raised in ponds
7-10% lipid
25% carbohydrates
2,500-3,500 kcal/kg of digestible energy
1-1.5 n-3 PUFA
Lim et al. 1979 Aquaculture 17 (p 195-201); Pascual 1989 Proceed-
ings of an IFS Seminar on Aquaculture (p 228-236)
Table 1b. Summary of known nutrient requirements of grouper Epinephelus coioides, red snapper Lutjanus
argentimaculatus, and milkﬁ sh Chanos chanos.
Igang Mariculture Park.

40 Aquaculture Asia Magazine
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
Ingredients Grouper Snapper Rabbit ﬁ sh Seabass
Grow-out
(offshore cages)
Grow-out
(cages in ponds)
Grow-out Broodstock

Nursery Grow-out
Fish meal - - - 100 145 420
Chilean ﬁ sh meal 80 200 - - - -
Peruvian ﬁ sh meal - - 430 - - -
Meat and bone meal, local 200 - - - -
Meat and bone meal, imported 320 - - - - -
Shrimp meal (Acetes sp.) - - 54 - 145 100
Squid meal 10 10 80 100 134 50
Shrimp meal 100 100 - 100 - -
Soybean meal 60 60 - 80 - 90
Defatted soybean meal - - 80 - - -
Blood meal 80 80 - - - -
Corn gluten meal - - - 80 - -
Wheat germ - - - 80 - -
Wheat ﬂ our 150 150 - - - -
Brewer’s yeast - - - 60 - -
Cellulose - - - 187.3 28.5 -
Bread ﬂ our - - 200 22.5 376 77.5
Rice bran 70 70 58 - - -
k-carrageenan - - - - 50 -
Cod liver oil 60 60 38 100 71 -
Soybean oil - - - 15 - -
Cod liver oil / soybean oil (1:1) - - - - 57.5
Soybean lecithin - - 5 45 - -
Vitamin mix 40 40 - 20 30 40
Mineral mix 30 30 - 10 20 20
Vitamin and mineral mix - - 50 - - -
Butylated hydroxytoluene - - - 0.2 0.5 -
DHA-Selco - - - - - -
Dicalphos - - 5 - - -
Ascorbyl monophosphate - - 0.2 - - -
Celluﬁ l - - - - - 145

Proximate composition (% dry matter):
Crude protein 44 44 44 38.4 39.2 43.2
Crude fat 11.5 11.5 10 17.4 9.9 9.3
Crude ﬁ ber 1.8 1.8 - 13.1 5.5 -
Nitrogen-free extract 25.8 25.8 - 23.6 37.8 -
Ash 16.9 16.9 - 7.5 7.6 -
Carbohydrate - - 26.5 - - -
Energy (MK/kg diet) - - 18.9 - - -
Table 2a. Formulated diets (g/kg dry diet) for grouper (Epinephelus coioides), red snapper (Lutjanus
argentimaculatus), rabbitﬁ sh (Siganus guttatus), and seabass (Lates calcarifer). From OM Millamena et al. (eds). 2002.
Nutrition in Tropical Aquaculture. SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department, Iloilo, Philippines. 221 pp.
Generally speaking, the larger the ﬁ sh
the lower is their protein requirement.
For this reason, ﬁ sh in the fry and
ﬁ ngerling stages are in the most need
of “quality” protein sources, while ﬁ sh
in the grow-out stage can make do with
feedstuffs that contain a lower protein
content.
And then there’s the question of
delivery: to ﬂ oat or not to ﬂ oat?
Generally speaking, sinking feeds are
appropriate for crustaceans and bottom
feeders, while ﬂ oating feeds are more
suitable for ﬁ sh; however, ﬂ oating
feeds are not usually used for marine
species. Furthermore, the same species
raised in different environments, e.g.,
marine cages and ponds, must also
have different feed types in their diets.
The feeding habit (surface, pelagic or
bottom) and digestive physiology of
ﬁ shes also inﬂ uence the most appro-
priate diet type.
Feed ingredients have to meet certain
criteria, which include their nutritional
content, digestibility, absence of anti-
nutritional factors, cost and availability.
With these in mind, SEAFDEC/AQD
researchers have formulated feeds that
are composed mostly of ﬁ sh meal, squid
meal, and soybean meal as protein
sources. Other ingredients include
rice bran, cod liver oil, soybean oil,
and wheat ﬂ our, bread ﬂ our, cellulose
and/or κ-carageenan as binders. AQD
researchers never stop looking for alter-
natives, substituting leaf meals such as
cassava, swamp cabbage, sweet potato
for ﬁ sh meal, or cowpea meal and feed
pea for the more-expensive soybean
meal.
Bloodmeal, poultry by-products, and
snail meat have the potential to partially
replace ﬁ sh meal as a protein source.
One ingredient that did not make the list
was the formerly popular meat and bone
meal, now shunned due to the scare of
mad cow disease.

41April-June 2007
Marine Finﬁ sh Aquaculture Network
Ingredients Broodstock Larval Fry
(freshwater)
Fry
(seawater)
Growout
Fish meal 200 330 566 300 110
Soybean meal 430 180 114 200 308
Squid meal - 100 - -
Shrimp meal (Acetes sp.) - 120 90 - -
Shrimp head meal - - - 160 -
Soybean meal - - - - -
Corn gluten meal - - - - -
Copra meal - - - - -
Ipil-ipil meal - - - - -
Rice bran 255 87 115 492
Bread ﬂ our 40 66.9 150 50
Cassava ﬂ our - - - - -
Sago palm starch - - 50 - -
Starch - - - - -
k-carrageenan 50 - -
Cod liver oil 20 80 25 30 20
Soybean oil 25 - 20
Vegetable oil - - - - -
Lecithin - 10 - - -
Vitamin mix 15 30 6.9 10 -
b-carotene - 2.5 - -
DL-a-tocopherol acetate - 0.1 - -
Mineral mix - 30 36 35 -
Vitamin-mineral mix - - - - -
Dicalcium phosphate 40 - - - -
Butylated hydroxytoluene - 0.5 0.4 - -

Proximate composition
(% dry matter)
Crude protein 37.6 46.3 43.9 37.6 26.7
Crude fat 8.7 11.4 10.3 8.7 10.9
Crude ﬁ ber 3.9 5.6 3.6 3.9 8.4
Nitrogen-free extract 36.4 27.3 16.8 36.4 45.1
Ash 13.4 9.4 16.2 13.4 8.9
Table 2b. Formulated diet (g/kg dry diet) for milkﬁ sh (Chanos chanos) at
various stages of culture. From Millamena OM et al. (eds). 2002. Nutrition in
Tropical Aquaculture. SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department, Iloilo, Philippines.
221 pp.
Whatever the main ingredient, all ﬁ sh
should be provided with protein, lipids,
carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals,
which are essential to promote growth,
and according to their particular
requirements.
SEAFDEC/AQD assists ﬁ sh farmers to
formulate feeds based on ingredients
readily available to them. All they need
to do is send in samples of their raw
ingredients to have their proximate
composition analyzed; and from there,
the formulation can be done. Feed
milling may also be requested at AQD
which operates a feed mill located in
Tigbauan, Iloilo, of 1 ton capacity per
day.
Live feed substitutes in the
hatchery
Of course, in a culture environment, ﬁ sh
do not live on formulated diets alone.
This is particularly true among ﬁ sh in
the early stages of development, and
over-reliance on live feed results in
increased costs, especially due to the
maintenance cost of more facilities in
the hatchery.
SEAFDEC/AQD conducted studies to
ﬁ nd substitutes, or at least shorten the
need for brine shrimp Artemia and the
rotifer Brachionus, two expensive live
feed types given to marine ﬁ sh larvae.
The freshwater cladoceran Moina
macrocopa is an acceptable live food
that can replace Artemia in the larval
rearing of seabass. It is used as feed
immediately after weaning from Artemia
and prior to feeding minced ﬁ sh or
formulated diets.
Another species found to be viable
for this purpose is the brackishwater
cladoceran Diaphanosoma celebensis,
noted for its high population growth
rate, and high crude protein and crude
fat contents. Both Moina and Diaph-
anosoma are viable options to partially
or completely replace Artemia as feed
for seabass larvae. These species are
collected and cultured like Brachionus,
but at a lower cost.
Further, SEAFDEC/AQD is doing mass
culture of copepods and mysids in
earthen ponds as alternative live food
for seabass, grouper, and snapper fry.
Finally, another alternative to reduce
the dependence on live food in the
hatchery is the development of artiﬁ cial
larval diet(s). Microbound larval diets
are ﬂ aked in a drum dryer, ground and
passed through a graded series of
sieves to obtain particles sizes, and
then fed to larvae at increasing sizes as
the ﬁ sh grow.
Collaboration
Continuing research and application,
and collaboration of stakeholders hold
the key for a more productive aquacul-
ture sector. SEAFDEC/AQD wishes to
put out a call to partners who can help
commercialize its feed formulations
under mutually acceptable terms.
For more information about SEAFDEC/
AQD’s feed development R&D for
marine ﬁ shes visit the SEAFDEC/AQD
website at www.seafdec.org.ph, or
contact:
• Dr. Neila Sumagaysay-Chavoso
([email protected]),
Head of Technology Generation Divi-
sion; or
• Dr. Joebert Toledo (jdtoledo@aqd.
seafdec.org.ph), Chief of SEAFDEC
Aquaculture Department.