Zaki et al., 1994. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 7 (2): 183-189

Two experiments were made. In experiment 1, four diets containing 0, 5, 15 and 25% washed seaweed meal were prepared to study the effects of incorporating seaweed meal instead of equivalent amounts of berseem leaf meal in fish feeds on growth performance and feed utilization of common carp. The results showed that average daily gain (ADG), specific growth rate (SGR%), dry matter (DM) and ether extract (EE) of the carcasses were decreased (p<0.05) with the increasing level of seaweed meal in the feeds. Inclusion of 5% seaweed meal in the diet gave the best feed conversion ratio (FCR) among all diets, however, protein productive value (PPV) and energy utilization (EU) were decreased (p<0.05) with increasing level of seaweed meal in the diet. In experiment 2, washed seaweed meal was either steam cooked or sprayed with NaOH (0.5% or 1% NaOH) and incorporated in the diets at the level of 25% instead of equivalent amount of berseem leaf meal. The results showed that steam cooked seaweed gave the best (p<0.05) growth performance, FCR and protein efficiency ratios, PER and PPV, for other treatments in descending order were NaOH treated seaweed, washed seaweed and unwashed seaweed.