Applying Nano-technology in tilapia Nutrition: influence of Iron and Zinc nanoparticles as dietary supplementary on biological performance and body composition of Oreochromis niloticus fry

Abstract

A 102 day feeding trial were conducted to compare the effect of three levels of iron (nFe2O3) and zinc (nZnO) nanoparticles with the same levels of Fe (Fe2O3) and Zinc (ZnO) bulk particles as feeding additive on growth performance, feed efficiency, chemical body composition and tissue accumulations of Nile tilapia Oreaochromis niloticus fry. Fry with an initial weight of 1.66 g were reared in cement pond (0.8m3). The basal diet was formulated to be containing 30% CP and mixed with the mineral additives according to the tested treatments. The fish were fed twice daily at (8, am) and (4, pm), with a rate of 5% of biomass. The obtained results showed a significant differences(P≤0.05) between treatments in growth parameters, feed efficiency , body chemical composition and tissue accumulation from Fe and Zn. Fry fed a diet containing (20 mg Nano iron oxide + 20 mg Nano zinc oxide) achieved the best values of each growth performance and feed conversion ratio (FCR). On the other hand, the addition of nanoparticles (Fe+Zn) in supplemented feed resulted a high accumulation in fry whole body compared with the bulk form of (Fe+Zn).