Effect of Vitomolt supplements in feed on growth and survival rate of white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) seeds.

Feed is a very important factor in vaname shrimp aquaculture. The addition of phytoecdysteroid supplements (vitomolts) to the feed can increase protein retention, thus the shrimp growth will be better. This study aimed to determine the appropriate dose of Vitomolt supplement in feed for growth and survival of vaname shrimp seeds. The results of this study are expected to be useful in determining the best Vitomolt supplementation in the vaname shrimp feed formulation. The experimental animal used was the vaname shrimp seeds with an average initial weight of 1.5 g per individual. The research design used was a completely randomized design (CRD) with 4 treatments, namely treatment A without Vitomolt supplement, B 1.5 g Vitomolt /kg feed, C 3.0 g Vitomolt/kg feed, and D 4.5 g Vitomolt /kg feed. Each treatment had 3 replications, hence there were 12 experimental units. The experimental feed application was carried out for 40 days of maintenance. The results showed that the treatment of Vitomolt supplement dosage in the feed had a significant effect on the daily growth rate and survival rate of vannamei shrimp. The results of further tests showed that the vitomolt dose of 4.5 g/kg of feed was significantly different from the treatment without vitomolt, but did not differ from those with 1.5 g and 3.0 g /kg of feed Vitomolt dose on the daily growth rate of vaname shrimp seeds. Furthermore, the Vitomolt dose of 3.0 g /kg of feed was significantly different from the treatment without Vitomolt but not significantly different from 1.5 g and 4.5 g /kg of feed Vitomolt dose, on the survival rate of the vaname shrimp seeds. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to add 3.0 g /kg of vitomolt for vaname seeds feed