Digestibility of a Commercial Fish Feed, Wet Algae, and Dried Algae byTilapia niloticaand Silver Carp

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Abstract
We stimulated growth of microbial food in ponds by silage grass enrichment and investigated the digestibility by fish of a harvestable mat of biomass produced in this way. Synthetic ponds, enriched with silaged grass, produced a high-protein microbial bloom (19–24% dry weight), which attached to the silage forming a slimy matrix at the pond surface. Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and Nile tilapia (Tilapia nilotica) were fed rations of the microbial mat, and digestibility of fresh and dried samples was compared with that of commercial fish feeds. The fresh microbial mat was 81% digestible by Nile tilapia and 75% digestible by silver carp. The dried form was significantly less digestible by both species. Fresh microbial mat compared favorably with commercial catfish feed in digestibility by Nile tilapia.