Wayamba Journal of Animal Science – ISSN: 2012-578X; P743-P752, 2013 First Submitted August 13, 2013; Number 1377084656 GROWTH AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PROFILES OF HYBRID CATFISH FED PRACTICAL DIET IN DIFFERENT WATER REGIMES Kabir Mohammed ADAMU* 1 and Francis Obiora NWADUKWE 2 1* Department of Biology, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, P.M.B. 11, Lapai, Niger State, Nigeria. 2 Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Delta State University, P.M.B. 1, Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria. Corresponding author: kabrmoh@yahoo.com The growth and physiological profiles as indices were used to evaluate the status of hybrid catfish (Clarias gariepinus (♀) and Heterobranchus bidorsalis (♂)) fed practical diet in Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) and Static Renewable Aquaculture System (SRAS). The study determined the suitability of growing the test fish in these systems. The trial was conducted for 12- week period with two replications. The physico-chemical parameters such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity, pH, free carbon dioxide and conductivity were monitored. The result showed no significant difference ( p>0.05) and were within acceptable range for hybrid catfish. The fish grown in SRAS showed insignificantly higher (p>0.05) biomass. However, all other determined growth profiles such as weight gain, daily growth rate, relative growth rate, specific growth rate, hepatosomatic index, viseromatic index, protein efficiency ratio, feed conversion ratio, gross efficiency of feed conversion, nitrogen metabolism, protein intake and survival rate were not significantly different (p>0.05). At the end of the 12-week experiment, serum, liver and kidney physiological profiles such as glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, globulin, aspartate aminotrasferase, alanine aminotransferase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, gamma glutamyltransferase, sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, magnesium, inorganic phosphorous, urea, urea-nitrogen, uric acid and creatinine) were determined. There were slight differences in these profiles. This may be attributed to individual difference and the water exchange mechanism in the systems. Keywords: Hybrid catfish, Water regimes, Practical diet, Growth and Physiological Profiles. According to FAO (2004) aquaculture is increasingly becoming one of the fastest growing aspects of agricultural industry worldwide. One aspect of aquaculture in Nigeria that has gained momentous attention is fish production. As the aquaculture industry continues to grow in response to the demand for increased fish production, the need for environmentally conscious operational practices and facility designs becomes more important (Peachey, 2008). One of the fastest adapting environmental practices of aquaculture is the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). The RAS is advantageous over other aquaculture systems in the reduction of incoming water volume (Verdegem et al., 2006), reuse of more water within the culture system (Rosenthal et al., 1986), reduction in the amount of water released and the effluent quality (Piedrahita, 2003), improved hygiene and disease management (Summerfelt et al., 2009) and biological pollution control (Zoha et al., 2005). Over the last decade, fish productions in Nigeria have been practiced in Static Renewable Aquaculture System (SRAS). The need to have high yield utilizing little space, reuse of water for better hygiene and disease management as well as biological pollution control has necessitated the use of RAS for this trial as comparative study. P 743 ck & Avian Science, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka http://www.wayambajournal.com Copyright © Society of Animal Science, Department of Livesto