Growth and feed conversion of rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus Park, 1797 at differen density
H Y Azis1, Y Fujaya1, S Aslamyah1, Tresnati1,2, A Tuwo2,3, A D Bestari2

1Fisheries Department, Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia.
2Multitrophic Research Group, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia.
3Marine Science Department, Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia.

Abstract

The rapid increase in population and environmental degradation that impacts food security is a central issue that will continue to strengthen in the future. One of the efforts that can be made to improve food security is the development of environmentally friendly cultivation, such as multitrophic cultivation. Feed is an essential input in cultivation. In multitrophic cultivation, this feed input is substituted with natural feed. Thes study aims to examine whether there are differences in growth and feed conversion of rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus reared at different densities in controlled tanks fed natural food such as seaweed Gracilaria changii. Parameters observed were growth and feed conversion at three density levels (5, 3.5, and 1.5 rabbitfish per m2) with nine replications, using 27 tanks of 2 x 2 x 1 m. The results showed the significant differences between densities in total and relative length growth, and the total and relative weight. Feed conversion was not significantly different in all densities. Although there are differences in growth in length and weight, this difference is probably not caused by dietary factors. It is suspected that this difference is caused by the size of the rabbitfish, which is quite diverse, and/or other biological factors

Keywords: Density, seaweed, Gracilaria changii, controlled tank, feed efficiency

Topic: Sustainable Aquaculture (International)