A 6-weeks feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacement of rice bran with mushroom stalk (Pleurotus florida) an agriculture waste, on growth performance in tilapia fingerlings (Oreochromis niloticus). Three isonitrogenous (32% crude protein) diets were formulated. Rice bran was replaced with 100% (Diet 1), 50% (Diet 2) and 0% (Diet 3, control) mushroom stalk. Each dietary treatment was tested in triplicate group of 12 fingerlings per tank arranged in completely randomized design. The result of this study showed that there was no significant difference (p>0.05) among all diets in terms of growth performance and feed utilization. Diet 1 gave the best results in BWG, SGR, FCR and PER. An economic evaluation indicated that Diet 1 gave the lowest production cost at RM2.03/kg followed by Diet 2 (RM2.18/kg) and Diet 3 (RM2.38/kg). Taking all the factors into consideration, the best diet was Diet 1 with 100% replacement of rice bran with mushroom stalks which is also the cheapest diet. This shows that Pleurotus florida stalks can replace 100% of rice bran in practical tilapia diets.
A dietary study was conducted to assess the use of mushroom stalk (MM), Pleurotus sajor caju, an agriculture waste and
soy bean meal (SBM) as partial and complete replacement of fishmeal (FM) in tilapia fingerling diets. The study was
conducted for 56 days. The diets were processed into sinking pellets. The experimental diets were formulated to replace
fish meal protein at 0, 33, 67 and 100% (diet 4, 3, 2 and 1). In this experiment, Nile tilapia fingerlings weighing about
1.00 g were fed each of four isonitrogenous diet. They were randomly distributed into 12 plastic tanks with each tank
stocking 20 fish. The experiment was conducted in three replicates for each treatment. All the diets were well accepted
by the fish. No physical abnormalities were observed in all treatments. Good growth performance was shown in 33%
replacement (diet 3) of FM diet. However, diet 1 (100% replacement) gave the highest increment in crude protein level
and the best result of feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER). Furthermore, the 100% replacement
of FM (diet 1) was the best with a production cost of RM2.61/kg.
The effect of replacement of ricebran by mushroom stalk (Pleurotus florida), an agriculture waste on growth performance of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fingerlings was investigated for 42 days. Three isonitrogenous (32% crude protein) experimental diets containing 100% (Diet 1), 50% (Diet 2) and 0% (Diet 3) mushroom meal were formulated. Each diet was randomly allocated to triplicate groups of fingerlings in experimental tanks, with each tank stocking 12 fishes. The fishes were fed twice daily to apparent satiation for 6 weeks. Good survival rates were obtained from fish fed with Diet 1 (94%) and Diet 3 (94%). There was no significant differences in body weight gain (BWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) among all diets (p>0.05). The fish fed with Diet 1 showed the best BWG, SGR, FCR and PER compared with Diet 2 and Diet 3. An economic evaluation indicated that Diet 1 gave the lowest production cost at RM2.03/kg followed by Diet 2 and Diet 3 at RM2.18/kg and RM2.38/kg, respectively. This study showed that the best diet was Diet 1 with 100% replacement of rice bran with mushroom stalks costing RM2.03/kg, the cheapest among the three diets.