USE OF VERMICOMPOST AS A DIET FOR THE INDIAN CATFISH HETEROPNEUSTES FOSSILIS (BLOCH)BIBHAS GUHA, RANA BISWAS AND KAUSIK MONDALAbstract Vermicompost (VC) is considered as cheap and environmentally safe source of nutrient for use in agriculture and aquaculture. Experiments were designed in laboratory glass aquaria of 15 liter capacity to evaluate if VC is accepted by the Indian catfish Heteropneustes fossilis as a diet. Three different proportions of VC and a reference diet (32.50 % crude protein) were used as diets in this experiment: (i) Reference Diet (RD); (ii) 50% RD + 25% VC; (iii) 50% RD + 50% VC; and (iv) 100% VC. The results of the experiment indicated that H. fossilis accepted the diet containing 50% RD and 50% VC at significantly higher rate than the other diets. The implication of the study is that vermicompost can be used as a dietary ingredient in the diet of H. fossilis and cost of the diet can be reduced.
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