Use of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae to feed Colossoma macropomum in floating cages in the Peruvian Amazon
Abstract
This study was carried out at the “Centro de Investigaciones Fernando Alcántara Bocanegra” (CIFAB) of the “Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana” (IIAP) to determine the growth variation of Colossoma macropomum "gamitana" fed with larvae of Hermetia illucens black soldier fly (BSF), termites, and conventional balanced feed. A total of 180 C. macropomum, with initial standard length of 3.5 ± 0.5 cm and weight of 2.5 ± 0.5 g, was used. Sixty fish per treatment were distributed in 9 floating cages, 20 fish in each cage. The floating cages were installed inside a fishpond from IIAP. Treatments (T) consisted of T1: fish fed with Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), T2: fish fed with termites, and T3: fish fed with balanced feed. Black soldier fly larvae were obtained using orange waste for their production. Termites were collected from natural environments and balanced feed was purchased from a commercial company in Iquitos, Peru. The results showed that fish fed with balanced feed grew more (T1 = 3.61 ± 0.74; T2 = 1.65 ± 0.50; and T3 = 4.46 ± 0.08) and gained more weight (T1 = 8.87 ± 2.64; T2 = 2.75 ± 0.5; and T3 = 11.76 ± 0.26) than fish fed with Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and termites (p<0.0001). Regarding apparent feed conversion ratio, treatment T1 was more efficient than T2 (T1 = 1.52 ± 0.20; T2 = 6.00 ± 1.51; p< 0.05), but equally efficient as T3 (T1 = 1.52 ± 0.20; T3 = 1.58 ± 0.08a; p˃0.05). The survival rate of fish fed with T1 was the same as that of T3 (95 %), whereas fish fed with T2 showed a survival rate of 60 %. Comparing T1 and T2, fish fed with (BSFL) showed adequate and superior zootechnical indices than fish fed with termites, being a promising alternative for the farming of C. macropomum in floating cages.
Keywords: balanced fish feed; Blackfin pacu; floating cage; termites; Stratiomyidae larvae.
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