effects of spirulina algae on growth, survival and coloration demasoni fish (pseudotropheus demasoni)

the successful aquaculture depends on different criteria, among them, selection of suitable food with required potential is of particular importance. in this study, effects of four diet trial including control diet (without spirulina algae) and three diets containing spirulina algae were investigated on the growth indices and skin color of flower horn (pseudotropheus demasoni). a total number of 180 two-month specimens were randomly allocated to 12 aquaria. they were fed for eight weeks with the experimental diets. the biometric characteristics of the specimens were measured including total length (cm), weight (g), sgr (g) and fcr (g/day). total carotenoid quantity of the fish was measured spectrophotometrically at the end of the experiment. according to the results, all three treatments that were fed a diet containing spirulina algae showed an increase in weight (p < 0.05). the amounts of algae had no significant effect on length (p > 0.05). feeding different amounts of algae had significant effects on the color parameters such as l* and a* (p < 0.05). therefore, the present study showed that the use of spirulina algae in the diet of fish had positive effects on growth and coloration in demasoni fish.