1998 feed trial comparing BioKyowa-C to BioDiet Dry

Due to the high cost of the BioKyowa diet we are still searching for a cheaper alternative without compromising fish health. The BioKyowa is $7.27/pound and the BioDiet Dry is $2.40/pound. On May 8, 1998 we began a six-month feed trial comparing BioKyowa-C to the BioDiet Dry 1000 on four lots of June sucker.

Feed comparisons:

	BioDiet Dry-1000	BioKyowa-C 1000
(Min) Crude protein	50.5%	55%
(Min) Crude fat	17.5%	10%
Crude fiber	(Min) 2.0%	(Max) 4.0%
Ash (Max)	12.0%	17.0%

Crippling for each lot before feed trial:

	94SKJNLot-8	94SKJNLot-6	94SKJNLot-4	94SKJNLot-11
Diet	BioKyowa	BioKyowa	BioDiet	BioDiet
Previous Diet	Silver Cup	BioKyowa	Silver Cup	BioKyowa
Daily growth six-month period	.009"	.011"	.008"	.012"
Fish/lb	10.22	4.89	8.08	4.66
Fish/lb after six months	5.37	2.53	4.34	2.59
Length	6.44"	8.08"	7.02"	8.33"
Length after six months	8.02"	9.99"	8.39"	10.46"
Condition factor	.0003662	.0003873	.0003832	.0003874
C-Factor after six months	.0003610	.0003961	.0003908	.0003375
Vertebral Defromity	42.54%	0.00%	2.61%	1.69%
Vertebral deformity after six months	45.45%	0.00%	3.25%	4.62%
Mouth deformity	2.76%	1.05%	7.38%	5.35%
Mouth deformity after six months	5.19%	1.27%	14.53%	3.47%
Cranial deformity	0.00%	1.05%	.34%	1.41%
Cranial deformity after six months	0.00%	0.00%	9.18%	2.31%
Operculum deformity	75.69%	78.95%	92.28%	49.58%
Operculum deformity after six months	74.03%	35.17%	83.75%	52.02%
Fin deformity	84.53%	84.42%	94.67%	99.72%
Fin deformity after six months	97.40%	96.61%	73.04%	98.84%
Total deformity Index	2.11	1.65	2.01	1.67
Total deformity after six months	2.22	1.33	1.84	1.61

Notes: The lower the deformity index the fewer total deformities in that lot.

Each fish is checked for all deformities and 1 point is given for each deformity that fish has. The total deformity is the average index of all fish checked.

Results: It looks like the BioDiet could very well be our alternative to help us reduce feed cost without jeopardizing fish health. The overall deformity index on fish fed the BioDiet was -.23 compared to the BioKyowa at -.21. We will continue to evaluate the two diets for another 6 months, at which time the deformities will be checked again on all fish in each lot.