Dietary Nanozeolite Powder to Reduce Water Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN) and Improve Growth Performance and Plasma Biochemical Indices of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

The effects of nanoscale synthetic zeolite powder (NZeP) levels in diet on water quality, growth performance, muscle proximate composition, and some blood biochemical indices of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings were evaluated in a 60-day experiment. One hundred eighty fish with an average weight of 5.91 ± 0.45 g were distributed in three different groups of control (basal diet without NZeP), NZP_0.5% (basal diet + 0.5% NZeP), and NZeP_1% (basal diet + 1% NZeP) with triplicate. The zeolite particles were characterized via field emission scanning electron microscopy coupled with X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (FE-SEM/EDS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The results revealed that the total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentration in the NZeP dietary groups decreased compared to the control group after the 20th day of the experiment (p  < 0.05). The TAN concentration in the NZeP_1% group was lower than in the NZeP_0.5% group on days 50 and 60 (p  < 0.05). The final weight, weight gain, and average daily gain parameters were lower in the fish fed on NZeP_1%-supplemented diet than in other dietary groups (p  < 0.05). The feed conversion ratio value decreased in the NZeP dietary groups compared to the control (p  < 0.05). The lowest FCR value was recorded in the NZeP_1% dietary group (p  < 0.05). The muscle crude protein content increased in the fish fed on diet supplemented with NZeP_1% in comparison to the control (p  < 0.05). The aspartate aminotransferase (AST) concentration decreased in the plasma of fish fed on NZeP-supplemented diets compared to the control (p  < 0.05). The plasma glucose concentration was lower in the NZeP_1% dietary group than the control (p  < 0.05). In conclusion, the adding nanozeolite powder at a level of 1% to diet had positive effects on water quality, the growth performance, and muscle proximate composition of Nile tilapia fingerlings.