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Results show significantly improved performance parameters

Aquaculture production has increased rapidly within the last 30 years, with the vast majority of this production expansion occurring in Asia. Pangasius production was a major driver of this trend. Farming of Vietnamese pangasius (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) has become increasingly attractive for the food industry worldwide.

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According to the latest United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization data, Vietnam is currently the world’s leading pangasius producer, raising over 1.15 million metric tons (MT) in . Especially in Southeast Asia, farmers are looking for possibilities to economize pangasius culture.

Management concerns

However, high stocking densities and suboptimal water quality can impair fish health and growth performance. In the past, antibiotic growth promoters were often used to help overcome these limitations.

The routine use of antibiotics is a subject for much debate in the animal-farming and feed and food industries. Public opinion and regulatory authorities in most exporting countries often focus on the misuse of antibiotics in aquaculture, and public attention has shifted toward production methods. Consumers are increasingly turning to fish from sustainably managed sites, so alternatives to antibiotics are sought worldwide in a variety of forms.

Feed additives, dietary acidifiers

The growth and health status of fish can be improved through the inclusion of feed additives in high-quality feeds. This strategy will likely be one of the main factors in the future success of pangasius farming in Southeast Asia.

Among these additives, acidifiers have been increasingly used in diets for many fish species over the last decade. Successful testing has been performed with salmon, rainbow trout, African catfish, European sea bass, Asian sea bass, milkfish, tilapia and shrimp.

Dietary acidifiers, including potassium diformate, have been used in pangasius culture for the last five years. The four acidifiers used include a blend consisting of ammonia formate and ammonia propionate, a mixture of free formic and propionic acid and their salts, sodium butyrate and potassium diformate (KDF).

KDF is one of the most frequently used dietary acidifiers in aquaculture, with reports on its use available from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. In general, the results show significantly improved performance parameters in pangasius fed dietary acidifiers.

Commercial-scale trial

One such trial demonstrated the effects of potassium diformate under commercial conditions in the Mekong Delta area. Added to a commercial catfish diet with 28.0percent crude protein at a 0.2 percent dosage, it was given to fish of approximately 20 grams initial body mass for 32 consecutive weeks.

More than 540,000 fish were stocked in one control pond and one treatment pond, each with a size of roughly 5,000 square meters. Thus, the stocking density was around 51 fish per cubic meter. During the trial, the water temperature in both ponds ranged 26 degrees to 33 degrees-C. The fish were kept and fed according to normal pond management.

At the end of the trial, a subsample of harvested fish indicated Pangasius in the treated group had greater weight gains than the fish in the negative control group – 1.03 versus 0.84 kg. Similarly, feed conversion, survival and protein efficiency were improved in the treated group (see Table 1). Due to the design of the study with no replicates, no statistics could be established.

Lückstädt, Performance data for Pangasius, Table 1

Control0.2% KDFDifference (%) Feed-conversion ratio1.261.16- 8 Mortality (%)- 25 Protein-efficiency ratio2.752.98+ 8 Table 1. Performance data for Pangasius reared for 32 weeks with or without 0.2% dietary potassium diformate (KDF).

Improved digestion

The noted 8 percent improvement in the protein efficiency ratio, which has been previously reported in other fish species, may have been a direct impact of the acidifier on stomach pH. The main author reported last year that this direct impact on protein digestion is often overlooked.

A recent meta-analysis for potassium diformate found significantly improved weight gain and feed efficiency in tilapia at levels that can be already described as “growth promotion.” These results may not have stemmed only from the established antibacterial effects. Since acidi-fiers, if chosen properly, affect buffering capacity and/or stomach pH, they also have impacts on the digestion processes in the gastric tract – especially in the stomach. This view is supported by research from and by Spanish scientists Manuel Yufera and fellow researchers, who looked into the impacts of stomach pH and pepsin activity in marine fish.

In addition to the performance parameters, it was also interesting to investigate the additive’s impacts on protein efficiency, as despite its major influence on the sustainability of fish production, such data are still scarce.

Production impacts

In an attempt to quantify the impacts of KDF on pangasius production on average, the three available sets of data from two commercial trials and one laboratory study were evaluated.

The average impacts of 0.2 percent dietary KDF on production parameters against the negative control are displayed in Table 2.

All analyzed data showed numeric or significant improvements in the relevant performance parameters, particularly weight gain, survival and productivity. In addition, KDF showed comparable improvements in pangasius grow-out, as previously documented in tilapia in the main author’s meta-analysis. The protein efficiency was improved by an average of 4.4 percent.

This is partly supported with a significantly increased carcass yield in one of the studies. Furthermore, Ei Lin Ooi and co-workers reported in on the strong antimicrobial effects of a dietary acidifier against E. ictaluri in challenged fish.

It can be therefore be concluded that the use of dietary acidifiers, including potassium diformate, can be an effective option for sustainable aquaculture that results in improved health and performance of Pangasius.

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(Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the March/April print edition of the Global Aquaculture Advocate.)

Results show improved growth, survival, productivity in hatchery and grow-out conditions

Intensive production of the Pacific or whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in Central America and Southeast Asia is estimated at over 3 million metric tons. Despite remarkable progress in shrimp nutrition and feed formulation during the past years, disease outbreaks in shrimp ponds can still lead to farming setbacks and, in some cases, to increased use of antibiotics.

Growing awareness from consumers and producers of aquacultured species is driving demand for responsible and sustainable aquaculture. Regulatory authorities in many seafood exporting countries now focus on the misuse of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in aquaculture, while public attention has shifted towards sustainable production methods. Alternative additives are being developed to replace AGPs.

Acidifiers are one of various alternatives spearheading environmental friendly and nutritive-sustainable aquaculture approaches. Currently, the most widely tested organic acid molecule in aquaculture is potassium diformate (KDF, Aquaform®, ADDCON). It has been tested and used successfully in various cultured aquatic species, including salmon, trout, tilapia, Asian and European seabass, and pangasius. Its value to the shrimp production cycle has also been demonstrated in several field and research trials.

Potassium diformate is a double-salt formic acid molecule which decreases gastro-intestinal pH and thereby intensifies release of buffering fluids, containing enzymes, from the hepatopancreas. Formate also diffuses into pathogenic bacteria inside the digestive tract and acidifies their metabolism, leading to bacterial cell death. Furthermore, beneficial bacteria (Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria) are supported (eubiosis), which may lead to improved gut health, resulting in stronger condition of the shrimp.

One of the most crucial periods in the life cycle of shrimp is the post-larval stage, when shrimp feeding changes from algae and brine shrimp nauplii, to commercially formulated larval diets. Shrimp survival rates during this period are critical to later productivity, but various pathogenic bacteria can significantly increase larval mortality in shrimp hatcheries.

Dietary potassium diformate and L. vannamei postlarvae and juveniles

Dr. He and colleagues in China () carried out an experiment to test the use of potassium diformate on L. vannamei postlarvae (average body weight 57 mg) through a formulated diet containing either zero or 0.8 percent potassium diformate (KDF) fed for a period of 40 days. Shrimp larvae fed the diet with KDF had a significantly improved performance in terms of growth, feed conversion and survival rates (Table 1).

Lückstädt, KDF, Table 1

ParameterControl0.8 percent KDFDifference (%) Initial BW (mg)– Final BW (mg)256±34
309±35+21 WG [mg, 40 d]+27 FCR3.73±0.62.49±0.3
-33 Survival (%)92.2±1.+8 Prod. Index*0.491.01+106 Growth, feed conversion and survival of Litopenaeus vannamei PL under aquaria conditions after 40 days. *Productivity Index (weight gain [g] × survival [percent] / (10 × FCR)).

Shrimp larvae fed the diet with KDF inclusion showed a more efficient growth and significantly improved feed utilization, as well as lower mortality (P<0.05), compared to control animals, resulting in a markedly increased productivity index, which is a formula including the three most important production figures in shrimp production: weight gain of shrimp, feed efficiency and survival rate. Optimized nutrition in the early stages of the shrimp production cycle often results in an overall improved shrimp productivity, which was also demonstrated in another experiment reported by Jintasataporn et al. ().

We carried out another experiment in aquaria to simulate intensive growout and investigate the growth performance of juvenile L. vannamei shrimp fed with low levels of dietary KDF vs. a control diet. For the 10-week experiment, 30 aquaria 120-L each) and connected to a flow-through system, were filled with 20 ppt seawater and 28.0±2.0 degrees-C and > 6.0 ppm of dissolved oxygen. Each aquarium was stocked with 18 shrimp each, with an average body weight of 2.4±0.1 g (n=540). Shrimp were fed to satiation three times a day, with a commercial diet containing 32 percent crude protein. The control diet (treatment A) did not contain KDF, and 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent KDF were added to diets in treatments B and C, respectively.

Results showed higher individual body mass, daily weight gain and specific growth rates for shrimp fed on the diets that included KDF (treatments B+C). Those KDF-fed shrimp reached growth parameters compared to the control group (treatment A) of 11.8 g vs. 11.0 g final weight, 0.13 g/ind/day vs. 0.12 g/ind/day and an SGR of 2.26 percent/day vs. 2.16 percent/day, respectively (Table 2).

Similarly, the survival rates of shrimp fed diets with KDF were 80.6 vs. 76.1 percent in the control group, and feed conversion ratios (FCR) were 1.37 vs. 1.47. Thus, the growth performance of Pacific white shrimp fed diets with 0.2 and 0.5 percent KDF inclusions resulted in significantly (P<0.05) increased body weight by 7.2 and 7.4 percent, and higher average daily weight gains of 9.26 and 9.17 percent (P=0.06). Similarly, FCR values were improved by 7.1 and 7.0 percent (P=0.07) compared to the control group.

Lückstädt, KDF, Table 2

ParameterNeg. control0.2% KDF0.5% KDF Initial BM (g/ind)2.4 ± 0.12.4 ± 0.12.5 ± 0.1 Final BM (g/ind)11.0b ± 0.811.8a ± 1.311.8a ± 0.7 Weight gain (g)8.6 ± 0.99.4 ± 1.39.4 ± 0.7 SGR (%)2.2 ± 0.12.3 ± 0.22.3 ± 0.1 Survival (%)76.1 ± 7.076.1 ± 4.6 80.6 ± 13.4 FCR 1.47 ± 0.1 1.37 ± 0.1 1.37 ± 0.1 Productivity Index (PI)45.0b ± 8.553.8ab ± 14.5 55.9a ± 14.0 Performance of whiteleg shrimp fed with or without dietary KDF. SGR = Specific Growth Rate; FCR = Feed Conversion Ratio; PI = Weight gain (g) x Survival (percent) / (FCR x 10). Means with different superscripts within rows are significantly different (P<0.05).

If the data are analyzed for overall productivity, using the Productivity Index, it shows that the inclusion of dietary KDF resulted in significant improvements of the PI vs. the negative control by more than 19 percent or 24 percent, respectively. We conclude that using our dietary potassium diformate is a promising alternative in modern shrimp nutrition that contributes to an economically and ecologically sustainable growout operation.

Other experiments carried out under controlled laboratory conditions, like the one discussed above, showed unusually high survival rates (76 to 81 percent), and thus were not mimicking bacterial situations on commercial farms closely enough. Survival rates that do not reflect those found in commercial farms often provide an unrealistic picture of the additive’s benefit. Under commercial farm conditions, shrimp can be exposed to a number of different challenges, including bacterial pathogens.

Vibrio challenge trial

Therefore, a subsequent trial was carried out to challenge juvenile L. vannamei shrimp with the bioluminescent, Gram-negative bacterium V. harveyi, which regularly causes increased mortality in shrimp culture. The trial consisted of a negative control compared against two treatment groups (0.2 percent and 0.5 percent dietary KDF, at dosages similar to the ones used in the trial reported above). A total of 90 shrimp (30 shrimp per group), with a mean body weight of 11.0±0.8g, were used. The trial used the same protocols as described above, but with the addition of the pathogenic V. harveyi to the water at the beginning of the 10-day trial at a concentration of 5 × 106 CFU/mL.

At the end of this challenge trial, the mortality in the non-treated shrimp was significantly higher (P<0.01; 76.6±5.8 percent) compared to shrimp fed with the diets with KDF at both inclusion levels (50.0±10.0 percent for both 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent KDF), as shown in Fig. 1. The effect of the acidifier was clear from the first day of the trial, but the difference between treatment and control became more pronounced from day 4 onwards and remained significantly different till the end of the trial. Both dietary KDF dosages reduced the mortality in the challenged shrimp to the same extent by day 10.

Perspectives

We conclude from our research that our dietary potassium diformate can reduce mortality in Pacific white shrimp caused by the Gram-negative, pathogenic bacterium V. harveyi. It may be expected that similar outcomes may result with other Gram-negative bacterial pathogens in commercial shrimp farming operations.

Considering our results on growth performance and survival rates, we believe that potassium diformate is a promising additive for economic and sustainable shrimp production, and should be considered in compound feeds for commercial, outdoor shrimp farming operations.

References available from author.

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