Floating Tilapia Starter (501)

First feeding Nile tilapia juveniles that do not have access to live food display morphological anomalies in their digestive system that reduces their ability to digest, absorb and assimilate nutrients efficiently, resulting in low weight gain that may persist through adulthood (Bishop and Watts, 1998). The use of live food can therefore reduce the time required to complete organogenesis and the early completion of a functional digestive system thereby maximizing the growth potential of the tilapia fry. The practise of rearing juveniles in smaller ponds or in hapas prior to ongrowing is universal. Natural productivity in nursing ponds or hapas provides the necessary live food for the growth of tilapia. Organic and/or inorganic fertilizers can be used to stimulate the production of phytoplankton which is the main live food consumed by tilapia during these early stages.