the presentation provides details regarding the natural and artificial feeds of fishes, purified and semipurified diets, feeds based on the moisture contents, the larval feeds including the most recent spray dried and vacuumdried feeds, microparticulate diets, the microencapsulated, the microcoated and the microbound diets, microextruded marumerisation, and particle associated rotated agglomeration

1. TYPES OF
FEED

2. Presented byAkhila S
Rabea Naz
MFSc Fish Nutrition and feed technology
Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies
Kochi
Kerala
2

3. Aquaculture
feeds
Natural feeds
○ Aquatic live feeds
○ Non aquatic live
feeds
Artificial feeds/
compound feeds
○ Purified or semi-
purified feeds
○ Practical diets
3

4. “
NATURAL FEEDS
4

5. Unicellular algae
Single celled plants; act
as major producers
Filamentous algae
Colonies of small algal
cells attached together
Lab – Lab
Bottom mixed algae; Milk
fish
Aquatic live
feeds
Lumut
Filamentous blue green
algae; mullet
Bacteria and fungi
Microbial organisms that
live on bottom detritus,
dead phytoplankton
cells,leaves, dead animal
tissue
Zooplankton
Rotifers,
copepods,cladocerans
5

6. Non – aquatic
live feeds
○ Mud eaters
○ Chironomids,
worms etc..
○ Other insect larvae
○ Living in water
6
Mosquito larvae

7. “
ARTIFICIAL FEED
7
Purified or semi-purified feeds
Practical diets

8. Stage of
the life
cycle
Uses in
farming
practice
Moisture
content
or form
Practical diets
8

9. Based on
moisture content
or forms
Non - dry feeds
○ Wet feed
○ Moist feed
○ Semi- moist feed
Dry feeds
○ Meal /Mash
○ Pellets
○ Crumbles
○ flakes
9

10. 1.WET FEEDS

11. WET FEED
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○ Feeds containing moisture levels in the
range of 45-70% are prepared from high
moisture ingredients such as trash fish,
fishery waste, slaughter house waste, etc.
○ These feeds are made at the farm shed on
a day-to-day basis and fed mainly to
carnivorous fish such as sea bass, sea
bream, eels, etc.

12. 2.MOIST FEEDS

13. Moist feeds
○ moisture level in the range of 25-45%
○ made from a mixture of high moisture
ingredients as in wet feeds, and dry pulverized
ingredients.
○ Wet ingredients : Usually prepared by adding
moisture and a hydro colloidal binding agent( eg:
Carboxymethylcellulose, gelatinized starch,
gelatin)
○ Or fresh tissue (Liver, blood, ground fish and fish
processing waste)

14. Moist feeds
○ Some moist diets do not require frozen storage
○ As they contain humectants like propylene glycol
and sodium chloride(lower water activity, bacteria
do not grow)
○ Also contain fungistats like propionic acid and
sorbic acid(retard mould growth)
○ Diets must be packed in hermetically sealed
containers, stored at low temperatures for best
storage life
○ Moisture enhances loss of vitamin C
14

15. “
Eel feeds are processed and stored dry but
are moistened just before feeding
15

16. Moist diets
Advantages
○ Many fish species
find soft diets
more palatable
than dry diets
○ A pelleting
machine is not
needed, a food
grinder will suffice
○ Heating and
drying are avoided
Disadvantages
○ Susceptible to
microbial and
oxidation spoilage
unless fed
immediately or
frozen
○ Should be heated to
destroy possible
pathogens and
thiaminase
16

17. Oregon moist pellet
Commercial moist feed developed for
salmon smolts(stored frozen)
17

18. Oregon moist
pellet
formulation
18

19. Semi moist feed
moisture content in
the range of 15 to
25% have a minor
contribution from
high moisture
ingredients.
19

20. 20
I. Wet, moist and semi-moist diets are considered to be more palatable to most
species because of the soft consistency, and good growth and feed
efficiency achieved.
The major disadvantage of these feeds are
I. The transportation and storage under refrigeration until use to prevent
spoilage
II. Irregular availability of fresh raw fish and other animal wastes in adequate
quantities
III. Introduction of pathogens, particularly from fishery wastes, if not
adequately pasteurized
IV. Improper transportation and storage damage certain labile vitamins and
lipids and favor propagation of fungi and bacteria in such feeds
V. Unconsumed feeds may affect the water quality.

21. 3. DRY FEEDS
21

22. Dry feeds
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○ contain moisture in the range 7-13%.
○ easy to manufacture, transport, store and convenient to dispense into the
culture systems.
○ advantages :
◦ include bulk purchase and storage of ingredients option to select a wide
variety of ingredients with specific nutritional characteristics.
◦ can be produced in different sizes to suit the specific needs of the larvae
to specialized diets for brood stock.
◦ permit production of specialized feeds such as medicated feeds
incorporated with specific medicines or antibiotics required to control
any disease out breaks, hormones incorporated feeds to produce
monosex individuals or for growth promotion or to induce maturation in
fish and prawns.
○ Dry feeds may be either prepared using dry ingredients alone or a mixture of
wet and dry ingredients adequately processed and dried

23. Dry feeds may
be made as
meals, pellets,
granules, flakes
etc.
MEALS/ MASHES
○ Simple mixtures of dry ground ingredients
○ made into a dough or paste or balls just
before feeding at farm site
○ fed to fish and prawns in trays or baskets
or feed bags tied to poles in ponds(as is
practiced in carp culture systems in India.)
○ These type of feeds have poor water-
stability and cause water quality problems
due to the feed breaking-up and
dissolving in water.
23

24. PELLETS
FLOATING PELLETS
○ For fish species which
predominantly feed in
the water surface or
column, e.g. tilapia,
trout, grouper, sea bass,
carp etc.
○ Enable observation on
feeding activity and, to
some extent, the health
of the fish.
○ But, overheating as
required in the
extrusion
manufacturing process
of floating pellets may
reduce their nutritional
value.
SINKING PELLETS
○ for bottom feeders like
prawns (slow feeders)
○ Ingredients with good
binding agents should be
used
○ Extrusion processing is
also a valuable tool for
making it water-stable
24

25. GRANULES
○ Pellets could be crumbled and graded
through screens of different mesh to
obtain granules required for feeding the
different growth stages of fish and
prawns.
25

26. FLAKES
○ Flakes are not only nutritious and
palatable , but float or sink slowly
○ Do not disintegrate quickly in water
○ Processed on rotary drum dryers
○ Ingredients are ground to extremely fine
particle size(0,1 mm) ( attrition mill)
○ Blended with water to form a slurry ,
spread over the surface of a heated
rotating cylinder to dry into a thin sheet
○ Dried sheet is continuously scraped off
the rotating drum and crumbled into
flakes
26

27. FLAKES
○ The formula must contain ingredients
with good hydrocolloidal properties as
well as tensile strength
○ Chitin from shrimp shells was important
in imparting the desired physical
properties
○ Compounds for external pigment
enhancement is also added( astaxanthin
in crustacean meal,canthaxanthin impart
pink-red colour , xanthophylls from plant
pigments impart yellow-orange colour.
27

28. Based on their
stages of the life
cycle
1. Starter feed , crumbled or larval feeds or
fry feeds
2. Fingerling feeds(grower )
3. Grow out feeds
4. Brood stock feeds
5. Product quality feeds(specific purpose
food) pigmented and medicated
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29. 1. LARVAL FEEDS
29

30. LARVAL FEEDS
The various types of artificial diets that have
been considered for weaning larvae are:
○ Minced diets
○ Wet micro particulate diets
○ Dry micro particulate diets
◦ Spray dried diets
◦ Microbound diets
◦ Micro coated
◦ Microencapsulated
○ Flake diets
○ Egg custard
○ Live feeds
30

31. Minced diets
○ A feed paste is prepared by homogenizing
wet or wet and dry ingredients with
additions of minerals and vitamin premix
and binders and fed as such.
31

32. Wet
microparticulate
diets
○ A custard diet prepared with chicken
eggs, prawn flesh, clams, fish solubles ,
vitamins, minerals, feeding stimulants and
wheat flour and homogenizing to get fine
particles.
○ desired size can be obtained by sieving.
32

33. Dry
microparticulate
diets
○ Preparation of a water stable matrix of
dry ingredients or a mixture of dry, moist
and wet ingredients followed by suitable
drying (freeze drying, vacuum drying,
oven-drying), grinding and sieving to get
desired particles.
○ This is the most widely used type of
artificial diet for larval rearing.
33

34. Spray dried
diets
○ Well mixed finely ground materials are
sprayed into air and then dried.
○ Particles ranging in size 50-100 microns
are produced
○ used for rearing marine fish larvae.
○ Characteristics of feed granules:
◦ Shape : Nearly spherical
◦ Size : 50 – 100 micron
◦ Solubility : Stable for 24 hrs. in water
◦ Swelling :15-20% increase in size
◦ Sinking : 5-10 cm/min.
34

35. Ingredient
composition of
spray dried and
vacuum
dried larval feeds
and their
characteristics
35
1. Spray-dried feed
ingredient
Percentage inclusion
Shrimp (fresh) 20
White fish(fresh) 30
Wheat gluten 15
Milk powder 10
Egg yolk 5
Cow liver 5
Soybean oil 5
Grape sugar 5
Vitamin mixture 5

36. ○ Characteristics of feed granules:
○ Shape : Nearly spherical
○ Size : 240-420 microns
○ Solubility : Not dissolved in
water for 10 hrs.
○ Swelling : 20-30% increase in
size
○ Sinking : 1.5 cm / min
36
Vacuum Dried
Feed
2. Vacuum-dried
feed ingredient
Percentage
inclusion
Frozen fish 30.6
Shrimp (Fresh) 30.6
Egg yolk 10.2
Wheat gluten 20.5
Grape sugar 2.0
Vitamin mixture 6.1

37. Microbound diets
○ These are powdered diets with a binder.
Carrageenan, agar, zein, alginic acid and
gelatin microbound diets are produced for
fishes.
○ An outline for the procedure for
preparation of microbound diet
preparation is :
37

38. Preparation of a
micro particulate
diet bound with
carrageenan
38
Powdered ingredients (10 g)
H₂O(35 ml)
Heat in a water bath at 80⁰C
Mix well with a high speed homogenizer
K-Carrageenan (0.5 g)
Mix well with the homogenizer
Cool in a refrigerator at 4°C
K-Carrageenan binding diet
Freeze-dry
Crush and sieve
K-Carrageenan micro binding diet

39. Micro bound
diets
Crumbled
Pellet is prepared first
and then crumbled
On – size feeds
Prepared to the
suitable size
○ Micro extruded
Marumerization(M
EM)
○ Particle associated
rotated
agglomeration(PAR
A)
39

40. Granulator
40

41. Granulator
41

42. Micro coated
diets
○ These diets are
prepared by coating
micro bound diets
with some materials
such as zein and
cholesterol-lecithin.
42

43. Microencapsulated
diets
○ The concept of a miniature packaging assemble (a
microcapsule) in which liquids or particulate dietary
components are enclosed in a carefully engineered wall, which
release under specific macro or micro environmental
conditions
○ Release of the internal nutrient components at active sites can
be accomplished by rupture (enzymatic pH change or bacterial
action) of the capsule wall
○ major advantage of capsulated diets is that there is minimal loss
of nutrients within the aqueous environment thus minimizing
organic load in the system and alterations in oxygen and pH
levels.
○ The capsules can be produced in a range of sizes that can be
offered to the fish larvae and fry as they grow.

44. Nylon-protein Microen
Capsulated Diet
(MED)
Gelatin Gum Acacia
MED
○ Egg Albumin
MEDCategories of
microencapsulated
diet
○ Glycopeptides
MED
○ Chitosan (MED)
44

45. Preparation
of nylon-
protein
microencaps
ulated diet
Cyclohexane (25 ml) + Span 85 (.05 ml)
Diaminohexane solution (0.5 ml)
Diet ingredient solution (2.5 ml)
Emulsify for 3 min, using a homogeniser
Cyclohexane (10 ml) Sebacoyl chloride (0.2 ml)
Cyclohexane (30 ml)
Precipitate (Microencapsulated diet)
Wash with cyclohexane (100 ml) 2-3 times using homogenizer

46. Precipitate
Sucrose monolaurate (7 ml)
Stir for 24 hrs
Wash for 24 hrs in water (2 liters)
Filter with sack cloth of 77 microns mesh
Wash with running water
Nylon-protein encapsulated diet

47. Flake diets
○ prepared through a double drum dryer
processing unit is a potential feed for fish.
○ Flakes can be reduced to small particle sizes
by grinding and sieving without reducing the
basic stability characteristics.
○ Ingestion rates of the feed could be
enhanced by using suitable binders, flavors
and colours.
○ Larval stages of striped bass, perch, and
Atlantic silverside have been reared on flake
particles.

48. Egg custard
○ Egg based larval meal
○ Composition
◦ Egg albumin
◦ PBM or shrimp,squid,bivalve meal
◦ Fish oil/palm oil
◦ Milk powder
○ Vitamin and mineral premix(Vitamin premix contained (as
g/kg) ascorbic acid, 300; inositol, 125; niacin, 50; riboflavin, 15; pyridoxine, 12;
thiamin mononitrite, 15; retinyl acetate, 1.72; cholecalciferol, 0.025; menadione
sodium bisulphite, 5; biotin, 0.5; folic acid, 2.5; DL‐α‐tocopheryl acetate, 50;
vitamin B12, 0.025; calpan, 25.
○ Mineral premix contained (as g/kg) calcium phosphate·H2O(mono di‐Calcium
phosphate), 397.65; calcium lactate, 327; ferrous sulfate·H2O, 25; magnesium
sulfate·7H2O, 137; potassium chloride, 50; sodium chloride 60; potassium
iodide, 0.15; copper sulfate·5H2O,0.785; manganese oxide, 0.8; cobalt
carbonate, 0.1; zinc oxide, 1.5; sodium selenite·5H2O,0.02.
48

49. 49

50. 2.FINGERLING
FEEDS
50

51. Juvenile or
grower feeds
○ Feed specification varies with various life
stages
○ E.g. : For tilapia(> 10 g size), usually
contain 30 – 40% protein

52. 3.GROWOUT
FEEDS

53. Grow – out or
finisher feeds
○ Adult fishes
○ E.g. : for tilapia (>300g), usually contain 20
– 28 % protein

54. 4.BROOD STOCK
FEEDS

55. Brood fish feeds
○ Usually supplemented with live or fresh
animal parts
○ Usually fortified with extra vitamins and
trace elements
○ In salmonids, carotenoid pigments are
added to enhance egg pigmentation

56. 5.PRODUCT
QUALITY FEEDS

57. Medicated feed
○ Any feed which contains drug ingredients
intended or presented for the cure,
mitigation, treatment, or prevention of
disease of animals other than man or
which contains drug ingredients intended
to affect the structure or any function of
the body of animals other than man
(AAFCO, 2000).
○ E.g. : antibiotics incorporated feeds

58. Hormone
treated diets
○ FCE (feed conversion efficiency) are
higher in intact males than in females
○ For monosex culture practices
○ E.g. : 2MKT provided in GIFT tilapia
58

59. Pigment
incorporated
○ Carotenoid pigments are usually
incorporated into the feeds
○ E.g. : astaxanthin
○ Salmons , carps , cichlids, tilapias , gold fish
etc..
59

60. Based on their
uses in farming
practice
Supplementary feeds
○ Supplement the
natural food
sources which
supply major
nutrients only
○ Traditional,
extensive,
modified
extensive, semi-
intensive
Complete feed
○ Supply all energy
requirements, all
gross major
nutrients and micro
nutrients
○ Intensive and super-
intensive
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61. Thanks!
Any questions?
61

62. REFERENCE
○ MPEDA, Hand Book on Aqua farming,
AQUACULTURE FEEDS – Dr .R. Paul raj,
Senior Scientist, Nutrition, CMFRI, Cochin
○ Nutrition and feeding of fish –
Tom Lovell
○ Fish nutrition and feed technology – a
teaching manual
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63. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who
made and released these awesome
resources for free:
○ Presentation template by
SlidesCarnival
○ Photographs by Unsplash
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