Preliminary Study of Various Intervals and Administration of Feed Enriched with Turmeric and Garlic on the Growth Performance of Catfish

Abstract

As a food ingredient, turmeric curcumin increases appetite and increases the effectiveness of digestive organs function, while garlic increases fish growth. The combination of the two ingredients is believed to increase growth and survival rate of catfish. This study aimed to determine growth performance, Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) and Survival Rate (SR) of catfish seeds in high density fish farming based on biofloc, and supplemented with turmeric and garlic for feed. The research methodology was a complete randomized design, and treated with T1: turmeric and garlic given once a week; T2: turmeric and garlic were given twice a week, and T3: turmeric and garlic were given three times a week. Fish weight was recorded every week, then data were analyzed for fish growth using regression. The study was conducted in 4 weeks. The results showed that the best weight growth performance was obtained at T1 with the regression equation YT1 = −1.07 + 17.92. This equation provides predictions that fish harvesting can be carried out within 6 weeks, with the average weight of fish measured at 100 grams and FCR = 0.91 ± 0.016 and SR = 88.45 ± 8.89%.