Enhanced biodiversity of gut flora and feed efficiency in pond cultured tilapia under reduced frequency feeding strategies

GraphPad Prism 6 (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Jolla, CA), or R 3.6.3 [42]. Significance was assigned at an α of 0.05. Venn diagrams were produced using InteractiVenn [43]. Results Effect of feeding frequency on tilapia growth performance and production There was no significant difference in weight gained, specific growth rate, survival or yield of Nile tilapia between groups fed daily with (T1) or without (T5) pond fertilization and those fed on alternate days with pond fertilization (T2; Fig 1; Table 1). These treatments had the highest fish growth and net production followed by those fish fed every third day in fertilized ponds (T3; Table 1). There were also no significant differences in length (Fig 1a) or weight (Fig 1b) Fig 1. Mean lengths (a) and weights (b) of Nile tilapia in reduced-feeding regimes throughout the study (error bars have been removed for clarity; see Table 1). � = P < 0.05. �� = P < 0.01. ND = No Difference. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236100.g001 Table 1. Growth and production performances of Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) subjected to reduced-feeding regimens. Fed Daily with Fertilization (T1) Fed Alternate Days with Fertilization (T2) Fed Every Third Day with Fertilization (T3) Fertilization Only (T4) Fed Daily Only (T5) Initial Weight (g) 3.55±0.90 3.55±0.90 3.55±0.90 3.55±0.90 3.55±0.90a Final Weight (g) 127.63±2.75a 120.17±5.44a 85.10±11.13b 43.15±4.28c 129.53±8.59a Weight Gain (g) 124.08±2.75a 116.62±5.44a 81.55±11.13b 39.60±4.28c 125.98±8.59a SGR (%/day) 3.14±0.02a 3.09±0.04a 2.78±0.12b 2.19±0.09c 3.15±0.06a

FCR (Feed Conversion Ratio) 1.64±0.10c 0.93±0.09b 0.68±0.15a - - 1.61±0.10c Survival Rate (%) 93.44±6.26a 91.66±8.00a 90.70±9.74ab 76.79±2.68b 97.71±2.11a Total Yield (kg/ha) 6,282.09±354.52a 5,837.84±527.83a 4,179.08±640.07b 1,950.35±233.89c 6,578.53 ±461.41a Values are mean ± SD. Values with different letters are significantly different (P < 0.05). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236100.t001 PLOS ONE Enhanced biodiversity of gut flora and feed efficiency in pond cultured tilapia PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236100 July 23, 2020 7 / 23