Effects of herbal growth promoters on common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

The common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is the most widely farmed freshwater fish in the world. Various aspects of cultivation continue to be developed to create an improved aquaculture business. Increasing fish growth and improving feed conversion efficiency are part of the popular topics, and the addition of herbal growth promoters to the diet is one of the promising approaches. This study aimed to determine the effect of adding mango leaves (Mangifera indica), guava leaves (Psidium guajava), and noni leaves (Morinda citrifolia) as growth promoters for carp. The method used was an experimental method using a 1-factor completely randomized design (addition of a growth promoter to commercial feed) with 4 treatment levels and 3 replications. The treatment levels were: T0-commercial pellets without growth promoter (experimental control); T1-mango leaves at a dose of 1.5 g 100 g^-1 commercial feed; T2-guava leaves at a dose of 1.5 g 100 g^-1 commercial feed; T3-noni leaves dosage of 1.5 g 100 g^-1 commercial feed. Fish rearing was carried out in 12 units of floating net cages measuring 2x2x1 m. The density of fish per cage was 25 fish m^-3. The standard and formulated feeds were administered as much as 5% of body weight every day. Fish were maintained for 2 months, measuring length and weight every 10 days. The results showed that the herbal growth promoter of guava leaf (T2) showed the best effect, with an absolute weight growth of 69.67 g, specific growth rate of 2.90%, feed efficiency of 83.54% and feed conversion ratio of 1.14. It was followed by treatments T3, T1 and T0. This study recommends the addition of guava leaves into common carp feeds at a dose of 1.5 g 100 g^-1 to increase growth rate and improve feed conversion ratio for carp culture.