A.Q. Siddiqui, A. R. Al- Najada and A.R. Al-Najada
Two fish feeds, one locally produced and the other imported, were investigated for pellet durability, water absorption and water stability and then evaluated as tilapia diets in intensive culture. Pellets of both feeds did not differ in durability, water absorption and water stability, though the loss of imported feed packed in wire netting bags and immersed in water was more than the local feed (P < 0.05). Large-size tilapia reared on large pelleted local feed showed better growth and feed conversion efficiency than tilapia reared on imported feed ( p < 0.05). For medium size tilapia no difference was found in the growth rate and feed conversion efficiency reared on two types of feeds (P < 0.05), though the performance of tilapia reared on local feed was better. Small size tilapia reared on two types of feeds also did not show any significant difference in the growth rate and feed conversion efficiency (P > 0.05), but the imported feed gave better growth and feed conversion ratio. For all size-classes of tilapia no difference was found in the condition factor (K) (P > 0.05), except for medium-size tilapia where the condition factor of tilapia reared on local feed was higher than the tilapia reared on imported feed (P < 0.05). Survival rate in all the treatments was 100%. Based on a FCR of 2, the production cost of 1 kg tilapia will be SR 2.80 (US $ 0.75) with the local feed and SR 6.00 (US $ 1.6) with the imported feed excluding other costs.