Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Leonardite supplementation on goldfish, Carassius auratus growth performance and survival rate. The Goldfish (mean body weight 4.77±0.43 g) were fed with experimental diets prepared with Leonardite supplementation (0, 2.5 and 5 g kg-1 ) for 55 days. The weight gain (3.633±0.192 g), FCR (0.830±0.04), SGR (1.003±0.077) and PER (4.325±0.228) were observed higher in goldfish fed with 5 g kg-1 leonardite than fed with 2.5 g kg-1 leonardite and control groups significantly (P<0.01). Survival at the end of the experiment was high (about 84.44-77.77%) and no significant differences were noted among treatment groups (P>0.05). In conclusion, leonardite inclusion in the diet at 5 g kg-1 was shown to have a positive effect on goldfish growth. This suggests that leonardite can be considered as a new feed additive, which improves goldfish’s growth performance.