Description of Freshwater Prawn Farming Freshwater prawns, Machrobrachium rosenbergii , or shrimp are currently popular with small scale aquaculturists in the southeasternUnited States. Pond acreage has been constructed in nearly all states, but particularly inKentucky,Mississippi,Texas,Tennessee,Georgia, andAlabama. Research atKentuckyStateUniversity has reported larger yields (T...
Dear Burtle, Very useful and informative article. My suggestion is that, instead of feeding organic and cotton seed meal before 60 DOC, I think better to fed with crumbles of commercial feed CP 32%. The disease problem are not reflected . The generally mortality occurs after 30 days of stocking with deformities of carapace and other problems. Even in 5 nos/ sq m stocking, the slow growth rate is noticed after 7-8 month peroid and what is the probable causes. Is it required to aeration more period in such low stocking density with cost factor. Now days all aquaculture ponds are practiced with probiotic mode of culture practice and results can obtained satisfactory with less chances of disease. Thanks
There is no M. rosenbergii in Nigeria, we only have Macrobrachium vollenhovenii which juveniles collected from the wild are grown in earthen ponds and tanks, but the growth is very slow. Any information on how to achieve faster growth shall be appreciated.
Feeds for prawns are important, however stocking densities also determine growth rate. For example, in one study by Marioghae and Ayinla in Nigeria with M. vollenhovenii, growth was about 10 percent with byproducts than with a 14% proteind diet.
Probiotics have the potential to improve production performance of aquatic animals. However, an associated cost is added to the feed cost. Therefore, careful evaluation of each probiotic for potential performance improvements should be made before recommending addition of the probiotic to production diets.
I have found that some probiotics are beneficial when I have had chronic bacterial infection in aquatic animals. So, in that case, a stressor was present which provided a condition where the probiotic mechanism improved animal performance.
Probiotics containing Lactobacillus sporogenes or Bacillus subtilus or a combination seem to benefit prawns when these are added to feed at 2 to 3% of the diet. Although sigificant improvements have been observed and elimination of certain gut bacteria has been observed, the economics of the additive must be evaluated when you obtain a quote for the cost of the probiotic. For example, if survival increased by 5%, would that improvement be worth the cost of the probiotic? Improvements in feeding efficiency and growth should also be used when evaluating cost-benefit.
Thanks Mr.Gary. Well as said the bacillus species mentioned by you will definitely improves the growth of prawns, in our study we found that by using Bacillus Calusii in the feed at least once in a fortnight will solve the gut problems in prawn culture.
