Joint production of Rotifers, Copepods and Cladocerans from the excrement of animals raised in Daloa, Midwest Côte d'Ivoire

Rotifers, Copepods, and Cladocerans are essential and irreplaceable food sources for successful fish larviculture. However, little is known about the production of these zooplankton organisms in fish farms in Daloa. This study aimed to provide information on zooplankton production in Daloa. Zooplankton organisms were cultivated in 12 plastic tanks for 40 days. Production was carried out in four environments, each with three replicates: an environment fertilized with dry broiler chicken manure mixed with rice husks, an environment with dry cattle manure, an environment fertilized with a mixture of these two fertilizers, and an unamended environment used as a control. All of these environments were seeded with phytoplankton and then zooplankton (296 ind./L). Physicochemical parameters were measured and zooplankton samples were taken daily. The results indicate that the highest zooplankton densities were obtained in the control environment (212,062 ind./L) and those fertilized with dry cow manure (197,515 ind./L). The environments fertilized with dry broiler chicken manure mixed with rice husks and those fertilized with a mixture of the two fertilizers, with densities of 67,478 ind./L and 44,716 ind./L, respectively, were the least productive. The structure of the zooplankton communities indicates a high abundance of Rotifers compared to Copepods and Cladocerans in all culture environments. The daily production of these organisms was not only abundant but also more consistent in environments fertilized with dry cow manure. Thus, cow manure proves to be a good fertilizer for the joint production of Rotifers, Copepods, and Cladocerans.