Evaluation of growth performance and breeding habits of fighting fish (Betta splendens) under 3 diets and shelters

There are various factors affecting the fighting fish larval survival including nutrition, substrate, water quality, pathogen and stress. Experiments were conducted to study the effect of substrate and live feed on larval survival of fighting fish fry. Nine small glass aquaria (60 cm × 30 cm × 30 cm) were used as breeding tanks. Equal pieces (80 cm2) of rigifoam (T1), polythene (T2) and banana leaf (T3) were placed on the tank surface to facilitate the male to form the bubble nest under it. Thirty days of feeding trial was conducted with three different live feeds (Artemia, Moina and Bread worm) as treatments with triplicates. The bubble nest area was significantly wider (p<0.05) under rigifoam (71.85±2.02 cm2) and polythene (32.45±1.36 cm2) than banana leaf (24.10±1.62 cm2). Survival of fry was significantly higher under banana leaves (96%) and rigifoam (95%) than polythene (94%). Feeding trial, final lengths of fry were 1.65, 1.23 and 1.07cm for Artemia, Bread worm and Moina respectively whereas final weights were 0.05, 0.03 and 0.02g.Better survival rates were observed among treatments with no significant difference (p>0.05).Water quality parameters recorded in different treatments during the experimental period were pH (7-7.5), temperature (26-28 0C), and dissolved oxygen (5mg/L).