Water quality change, growth performance, health status in response to dietary inclusion of black soldier fly larvae meal in the diet of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus

With increasing intensive aquaculture production, the search for nourishing, environmentally, and economically viable fishmeal (FM) alternative is an endless approach. Therefore, the present study examines the use of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, larvae meal (BSFM) as an alternative protein for FM in the diet of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, on nitrogen wastes, zootechnical performance, body composition, and hematobiochemical parameters. A total of 315 Nile tilapia fingerlings (4.11 +/- 0.12 g/fish) were divided into seven treatments in triplicate. The fish were stocked in glass aquaria (50 x 40 x 30 cm; 60 L each) at a rate of 15 fish per aquaria. Experimental diets contained BSFM at increasing levels of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30% as FM replacers were offered twice daily to apparent satiation for 84 days. The results revealed that BSFM replacements significantly (p = 0.001) enhance water quality and reduce the total ammonia, NH3, and NO2 levels compared to the control. The growth performance, feed conversion ratio, and survival were improved with increasing BSFM meal inclusion levels up to 25% (p = 0.001, 0.017, and 0.001 respectively). However, the zootechnical performance of the experimental fish started to decline with increasing replacement levels to 30%. Also, by an increase in BSFM level to 25%, hematobiochemical markers were considerably (p <= 0.01) enhanced. The liver and kidney function indicators improved (p = 0.001) with dietary BSFM. The economic evaluation revealed that feed costs and fish weight gain were decreased by increasing BSFM levels in fish diets. The current study highlighted the potential environmentally beneficial use of BSFM as an FM replacer in terms of reducing water nitrogen waste levels and improving growth performance, health status, and enhancing the economic feasibility of the commercial tilapia diet.