1Fisheries and Marine Departement, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Tadulako University, Palu, Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia
Abstract
The striped snakehead (Channa striata Bloch, 1793) is a valuable freshwater fisheries commodity. Development of striped snakehead aquaculture has been driven by increasing demand due to the health benefits of consuming this fish, mainly due to its high albumin content. Probiotics are increasingly used to improve the health of cultured fish, promoting growth and increasing survival. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of using probiotics at different rates on the growth and survival of juvenile striped snakeheads. The research was conducted over 5 weeks during November-December 2021 at the Water Quality and Aquatic Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Tadulako University, Indonesia. The study applied four probiotic (EM4) treatments (0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 ml/L) with 10 replicates. The highest probiotic concentration (3.0 ml/L) gave the highest growth with the best water quality. However, analysis of variance showed that the addition of EM4 probiotic at the rates used did not result in a significant difference in growth (increase in length or weight gain) or in survival rate (100% under all treatments) although it may have a limited beneficial effect.
Keywords: probiotics, Channa striata, growth, water quality
