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A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to test the e¡ect of partial replacement of ¢shmeal by ¢sh-o¡al (FO) in the diet for the freshwater cat¢sh Heteropneustes fossilis. Three isonitrogenous (31.4% CP) diets were formulated to include a reference diet (T1) with 40% ¢shmeal (FM) and 0% FO and two supplementary diets: one (T2) containing 25% FM and 25% FO and another (T3) containing 20% FM and 30% FO. The FO was fermented along with mustard oil cake and rice bran before using it as an ingredient in the preparation of feed. Two separate trials were conducted with these three diets: a growth trial and a digestibility trial. H. fossilis fed the diets containing FO showed better growth and proximate composition of carcass than those fed the reference diet. Fish fed T3 diet showed maximum feed conversion, protein utilization and growth. Apparent protein digestibility (APD) was also signi¢cantly higher in the T3 diet as compared with the T1 diet. The results of the trial indicated that using microbial fermentation, FO could be included up to a 30% level as a partial (50%) replacement of ¢shmeal in the formulation of diet for H. fossilis.

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