Effect of feeding frequencies on growth and body composition of juvenile common carp, Cyprinus carpio and their compensation growth

Effects of feeding frequencies on growth and body composition of juvenile common carp Cyprinus carpio were tested. Two separate experiments were done for this purpose. The first experiment (Exp. 1) was conducted with 1 (1-1), 2 (1-2), 3 (1-3), 4 (1-4), 5 (1-5), and 6 times (1-6) daily feeding frequencies for 40 feeding days, and the second experiment (Exp. 2) was done with 1 (2-1), 3 (2-3), 5 (2-5), 6 (2-6), 7 (2-7) and 8 times (2-8) daily feeding frequencies for 60 feeding days. In Exp. 1, the fish grew from an initial body weight of 2.0 g to averages of 4.4 g (1-1), 6.1 g (1-2), 7.5 g (1-3), 9.1 g (1-4), 9.8 g (1-5), and 10.8 g (1-6) after 40 days. The 1-6 groups experienced the highest growth rates during this period. The highest crude lipid content (7.9~8.0%) was recorded from groups 1-5~6. In Exp. 2, fish grew from an initial body weight of 2.4 g up to 15.2 g (2-1), 37.5 g (2-3), 50.4 g (2-5), 53.6 g (2-6), 55.4 g (2-7), and 51.1 g (2-8). Significantly higher body weights  were exhibited by fish in groups 2-6 and 2~7 compared to groups 2-3 and 2-1. The lipid content of group 2-1 was lowest, followed by 2-3 and all rest groups, 2-5~8. Six times of feeding frequencies are the optimum feeding frequency for juvenile common carp.