Investigating the effects of Echinacea and Garlic powder on some growth performance in beluga (Huso huso Linneaus, 1758)

Nowadays, with the growth of the world population and the need for people to achieve healthy variety of protein sources, aquaculture plays an important role in providing the required protein. In this research, 135 beluga with an average weight of 1.15±20.82 kg obtained from culturing and reproduction sturgeon center of Shahid Rajai and maintained from July to September 2012. The fishes were distributed in Echinacea (E), Garlic (G), and control(C) group with three replicates. The fish were fed a diet containing garlic and Echinacea for 60 days. The results of this study indicated that the fish in treatments E and G had the highest final length and weight with significant differences in comparison with the control group (P≤0.05). Also, food conversation rate, special growth rate, body weight increase, average daily growth, condition factor and velocity of weight showed a significant difference between Echinacea and Garlic, compared to control group (p≤0.05).The findings of the present study indicates that adding Echinacea and Garlic in beluga diet can induce positive impact on growth performance and feed efficiency in beluga and can be a good complement for begula’s diet.