Effects of commercial Bactocell and D-Pro probiotics on growth performance, survival and carcass composition of giant freshwater prawn postlarvae Macrobrachium rosenbergii

This research evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation of commercial Bactocell and D-Pro probiotics on growth performance, survival and carcass composition in giant freshwater prawn Marcrobrachium rosenbergii postlarvae (PL) in a 60 day feeding trial. A total of 600 PLs with mean initial weight of 0.090± 0.004 g were assigned to five treatments each with three replicates in a completely randomized design experiment with 40 PL in each 50 L tank. . Experimental groups including control diet (without probiotic), 0.3 g Bactocell (treatment 1), 0.6 g Bactocell (treatment 2), 0.4 g D-Pro (treatment 3) and 0.8 g D-Pro per kg diet (treatment 4). After feeding trial, growth indices, dietary factors and proximate compositions were analyzed. The results showed that final weight, weight gain, condition factor, survival, specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio were significantly higher in prawns fed with probiotics compared to control (p<0.05). The highest level of growth parameters and the lowest level of feed conversion ratio were observed in treatment 4. Proximate composition was significantly different among treatments. The highest levels of protein and lipid were observed in treatment 4. According to the results, the application of diets supplemented with Bactocell and D-Pro probiotics can promote growth and dietary factors and proximate composition in cultured giant fresh water prawn PLs.