Effect on water quality, growth performance and economics of giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii with partial feed in biofloc system

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the water quality, growth performance, body composition, length–weight relationship, condition factors and benefit–cost analysis of giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) cultured with biofloc system in pond conditions. The experiment was conducted in twelve (12) experimental ponds, each measuring 240 m². The control group was cultured without any biofloc (T₁), and biofloc-based three treatments were biofloc with 100% feed (T₂), biofloc with 90% feed (T₃) and biofloc with 80% feed (T₄). The biofloc-based treatments showed significantly higher floc volume, total suspended solids, total heterotrophic bacteria and plankton density than the control (p < 0.05). All the growth parameters were significantly higher in biofloc-based treatments (T₂, T₃ and T₄) than in the control (T₁). The lowest feed conversion ratio was found lowest in T₄ (1.40 ± 0.02) and highest in T₁ (2.13 ± 0.04), which was significantly different among the treatments (p < 0.05). The significantly highest production was obtained 939.02 ± 6.61 kg/ha in T₂, and the lowest was 779.67 ± 7.50 kg/ha in T₁. The length–weight relationship indicated positive allometric growth in all treatments. The condition factor ranged from 0.95 to 1.07, showing that the prawns were in good health throughout all treatments. The results of the present study indicated that M. rosenbergii can adapt to a biofloc-based aquaculture system, and the conventional feeding rations can be reduced up to 20% without affecting the growth and production.