Substitution of Soya Bean (Glycine max) with Chia Seed (Salvia hispanica) Meals in the Diets of African Catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of substituting toasted soybean meal with fermented chia seed meal in the diets of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings. Five iso-nitrogenous diets were formulated at 40% crude protein using Pearson’s square method. Chia seed meal (CSM) was used to replace toasted soybean meal progressively at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% respectively. A total number of one hundred and fifty fingerlings of C. gariepinus were procured. The fish were allowed to acclimatize for a week. A complete randomized design (CRD) was adopted. Ten fish were randomly assigned to a 1m Hapa net, a total of 15 Hapa nets were used in an outdoor earthen lined pond of 10×7m2 with a depth of 1.5m, and the five formulated diets were fed to the experimental fish at 5% body weight twice daily and the pond water was monitored. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks. Highest value of mean weight gain of 73.88g was recorded in the fish fed 75% level of inclusion followed by 69.22g in the fish fed 25% inclusion which were significantly different (P≤0.05), the least mean weight gain of 46.66g was recorded in the fish fed 50% inclusion level. The highest of feed conversion ratio was recorded in the 50% inclusion level with a value of 0.83 while the least (0.75) was recorded in the diet with 25%, 75% and 100% inclusion level. This study revealed that toasted soybean meal can be substituted with chia seed meal up to 75% inclusion level in C. gariepinus diets without any negative effects on the growth and nutrient utilization.