Effects of Dietary Natural Zeolite (Clinoptilolite) on Growth and Some Blood Parameters of Rainbow Trout (Onchorynchus mykiss, Walbaum 1792)

Abstract

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of adding different levels of natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) to juvenile rainbow trout (Onchorynchus mykiss) diets about growth performance and some biochemical blood parameters. The experimental system was designed as a semi-recirculating aquaculture system and 20 rainbow trouts which weigh 7.91±0.03 g distributed randomly for each tank (300 L). Fish were fed to apparent satiation with diets containing 45% crude protein and 14% crude fat for 70 days which included no zeolite (Control), 0.5% zeolite (Z05), 1% zeolite (Z1), 2.5% zeolite (Z25) in triplicate. Finally, blood samples were collected from all fish tanks to analyze some biochemical blood parameters like cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL, and VLDL. At the end of the experiment, Z25 group showed negative results in final body weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate (p<0.05). Although Z05 group showed no significant difference, it showed the best results in final body weight, weight gain, specific growth rate, feed intake, feed conversion rate, and protein efficiency. In terms of blood parameters, all the groups had similar values with no significance (p>0.05) compared to the control group. As a result, there was a tendency towards decreased growth and feed utilization due to the addition of zeolite higher than 1% in diets. It could be concluded that limited usage of clinoptilolite in rainbow trout diets might have beneficial effects on growth parameters.

The Effect of Zeolite (Clinoptilolite) as a Feed Additive and Filter Material for Freshwater Aquariums

“…Similar to this study, Ibrahim et al (2016) evaluated the effect of natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) as a feed additive in fish diets on the growth performance, genetic characteristics and health status of freshwater Nile tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus L.). In the study, in parallel with the amount of zeolite added to the feed, an increase was determined in the ash values in the feed, similar to the previous studies (Ibrahim et al, 2016;Tekeşoğlu & Ergün, 2021;Al Amir et al, 2022). The amount of ash is related to the mineral matter content, and the zeolite (clinoptilolite) also has mineral substance content.…”

Fındık Küspesi ve Zeolitin Gökkuşağı Alabalığı (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Diyetlerinde Kullanım Düzeylerinin Araştırılması

“…Yeme yüksek oranda zeolit eklenmesi büyümeyi olumsuz yönde etkilediğinden yeme eklenecek zeolit miktarını belirlerken bu etkinin göz önüne alınması gerekmektedir. Balık yemlerine belirli miktarlarda zeolit katkısı balık çiftliklerinde ortama bırakılan amonyak miktarının azaltılmasıyla sürdürülebilir yetiştiriciliğe katkı sağlayacaktır (Tekeşoğlu, 2010).…”