February 15-18, 2009 Washington State Convention Center Seattle ...

GROW-OUT PERFORMANCE OF NILE TILAPIA (Oreochromis niloticus L.) FINGERLINGS
FROM DIFFERENT HATCHING SYSTEMS
Remedios B. Bolivar, Eddie Boy T. Jimenez, Roberto Miguel V. Sayco, Reginor Lyzza B. Argueza,
Hernando L. Bolivar and Russell J. Borski
Freshwater Aquaculture Center - College of Fisheries
Central Luzon State University
Science City of Muñoz
Nueva Ecija 3120, Philippines
rbolivar@mozcom.com
Tilapia hatcheries in the Philippines use various techniques in fry production that includes ponds, hapas and tanks. This study
was conducted to evaluate the growth performance of Nile tilapia (Oreochomis niloticus L.) fingerlings in earthen ponds that
were produced from three hatching systems, artificial incubation units, hapas and ponds. Treatments used in the study were
based on the source of the fry. Treatments were the following: I –artificial incubation-hatched fry, II – hapa-hatched fry, III
– pond-hatched fry and IV – combination of hatched fry by stocking 33.3% from each hatching source. Each treatment was
replicated three times. Twelve (12) 500 m 2 ponds were used for rearing and each was stocked at 4 fish m -2 or 2000 fingerlings
pond -1 . Fingerlings for treatments I, II, III and IV had an average body weight of 0.292 g, 0.308 g, 0.320 g and 0.307 g,
respectively. The average body length measured were 2.56 cm, 2.63 cm, 2.66 cm and 2.50 cm for Treatments I, II, III and IV,
respectively. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference among groups with respect to initial size.
After four months of rearing in ponds, final weight and length did not differ among treatments (P>0.05). Total harvested fish
per replicate per treatment were counted for determination of percentage survival. Treatment IV had the highest survival with
59.30% followed by Treatment II with 58.63%, Treatment I with 56.63% and Treatment III with 56.30% survival. There
were no significant differences in survival among groups. Artificial incubation-hatched fry had the highest extrapolated yield
(kg/ha) with 3890.67 kg/ha followed by hapa-hatched fry with 3797.49 kg/ha, combination of hatched fry with 3488.96 kg/ha
and pond-hatched fry with 2995.15 kg/ha. However, these differences were not statistically insignificant. It is concluded that
fingerlings reared from different hatching systems (artificial incubation units, hapas and ponds) do not significantly affect final
length and weight, survival and yield of Nile tilapia during pond growout.
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