A 90 day feeding trial was carried out to investigate the effects of Moringa oleifera on the growth of Clarias gariepinus. A total of 80 juveniles of C. gariepinus were stocked in four concrete tanks measuring 9x4x2m3 with each tank containing 20 experimental fish arranged in duplicates. There was also another set of tank known as control where fish therein where fed diets containing fish meal. Plant based diet was formulated with Moringa oleifera leaves extract, unripe plantain powder, soybean meal and palm kernel cake. The experimental fish were fed twice daily at 5% body weight. Proximate composition of experimental diet included crude protein (35.68%), moisture (5.24%), crude lipid (15.64%), ash (4.92%), nitrogen free extract (24.83) and fibre (13.69%). Results of growth performance revealed the following: weight gain (7.51±1.22g), food conversion ratio (5.09±1.14gg-1), specific growth rate (0.28±0.02%), and condition factor (0.91±0.02). The present study shows that the growth of C. gariepinus fed diets containing M. oleifera have compared favourably (P>0.05) with those fed diets containing fish meal. The use of plant-based ingredients such as M. oleifera in fish diets can reduce the cost of feed production leading to increase fish production.
Keywords: African catfish, Growth Performance, Leaf Meal., Moringa oleifera
