Feeding algae to fish

Aquarium-held bigmouth buffalo Ictiobus cyprinellus (Valenciennes) were fed the blue-green alga Spirulina platensis (Nordstedt) at a daily rate of 29 g dry weight/kg body weight for 28 days. Daily growth was 14 g/kg body weight, and food conversion was 2.0. Tilapia aurea (Steindachner) also was fed this blue-green alga; growth and food conversion were similar to those found for bigmouth buffalo. Fresh Spirogyra sp. fed to grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella Valenciennes resulted in poor growth, and food conversion was about 10.