PERFORMANCE OF RAINBOW TROUT (Oncorhynchus mykiss) FED ON DIFFERENT DIETARY PROTEIN WITH FIXED ENERGY RATIO

An experiment was conducted on rainbow trout(Oncorhynclus mykiss) for eight weeks to investigate the growth performance of the fish fed with different dietary protein with constant diet energy of $20kJg^{-1}$. Four diets containing 25, 30, 35 and 40% crude protein were used. The highest mean final weight was obtained for the fish fed with diet having 35% protein. Growth performance in terms of Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) and Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) were calculated for each diet. There were no significant differences in SGR but the highest value was exhibited by fish fed with 35% protein diet. Significant differences were found among FCR of different diets. Diets with 35 and 40% crude protein gave better FCR value than that of 25 and 30% crude protein. Although significant differences were not found between PER of different diets but PER of diet with 35% protein was found to be better than PER of both high and low protein diets (diets of 40 and 30% crude protein). It is concluded that diet having 35% protein with protein energy ratio of $17.53mgkJ^{-1}$ was suitable for rainbow trout (O. mykiss) among the protein spectrum used.