Effect of replacement of soy meal by guar meal on growth, nutrient utilization and survival of Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus, 1758) spawn

Abstract- One of the major points of discussion of the current era is the growing population and the need to meet their nutrition. Fish production is a vital resource towards poverty reduction and food security for poorer households (FAO, 2010). The present study was to check the efficacy of guar meal as a suitable feed ingredient, to find out the commercial feasibility of such a substitution and to draw initial observations on guar meal for catering to the aquaculture industry. Guar is an annual legume plant and is commonly known as cluster bean. Eldaw (1994) stated that Cyamopsis tetragonolobus comprises of hull (13.4-14.1%), germ (43.3-44.2%) and endosperm (36.0-40%). One day old common carp spawn were reared in indoor tanks with five different feeds, including control. Five iso-nitrogenous (30% CP) and iso-caloric feed (5% lipid) were prepared with graded replacement of soy meal with guar meal. The experiment was carried out in 20 rectangular tanks made of an inert material with 20 litre capacity. The duration of the experiment was 30 days. Treatment having 30% guar meal (T-3) showed better results as compared to other treatments. Final survival rate was in the range of 68-84%. All the growth parameters were recorded higher in treatment 3 (30% guar inclusion) followed by treatment 2 (20% guar inclusion). The results of the conducted experiment were subjected to completely randomized design (CRD) with four treatments and one control (four replications each). Treatment means were compared with post HOCS test, Duncan‘s multiple range test. Results of this study indicate that the effective replacement of guar meal by soy meal up to 30% replacement does not have any significant effect on growth and survival of common carp larvae.