Abstract

BACKGROUND: A six-week long feeding trial was performed with fifteen rectangular glass aquaria (35 L capacity) containing 180 fish (average weight 1.02 ± 0.3 g) to evaluate the effects of probiotic supplementation on the growth performance of Thai silver barb, Barbonymus gonionotus fry. METHODOLOGY: The fry were fed twice-a-day at 8-10 % of their body weight. Three available commercial probiotics were added with commercial crumbled feed in three forms; i) feed + 3% ‘Biofav aqua’ (T1), ii) feed + 3% ‘NavioPlus’ (T2), iii) feed + 3% ‘Eskalina’ (T3), whereas, water additive probiotic ‘ARIAKE3’ (T4) was added directly to water and feed without probiotics was control (T5). Water quality parameters were monitored weekly using portable instruments. KEY FINDINGS: Results revealed that net weight gain (3.46 g), percent weight gain (361.67%), (SGR) (3.63%) and survival (100%) were significantly higher (P

Key words: Thai Silver barb; Growth performance; Probiotics; Bacillus; Water quality