Effects of Different Background Tank Colours on the Growth Performance and

Survival Rate of Spotted Scat (Scatophagus argus) Larvae

Clement Lustan Pineda

An Undergraduate Thesis Presented to the

Faculty of College of Fisheries
Mindanao State University
General Santos City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Bachelor of Science in Fisheries

May 2019

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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 INTRODUCTION

The spotted scat (Scatophagus argus) is a euryhaline teleost widely distributed

in nearshore waters of Indo-Pacific Basin (Nelson, 1976). The species has a wide

salinity tolerance and is found in freshwater, brackishwater, and marine habitats. It is a

popular aquarium fish (Morgan, 1983) and an important food fish in parts of its range,

particularly in the Philippines where it is considered a delicacy. Due to their favorable

biological characteristics and economic importance, considerable interests exist in

developing propagation and culture techniques for the spotted scat.

Generally, color vision is reported to be an important feature for fish living in

bright environments enabling them to discriminate details in the ambient surrounding

(Luchiari & Pirhonen 2008). Therefore choice of proper background color in rearing

system would improve growth and survival rates in farmed fish through promoting

feed visibility and facilitating feeding success. On the other hand; improper

background color may become a source of externally induced stress in fish affecting

their behavior, swimming activity and metabolic rates (Suzuki et al 1995;

Papoutsoglou et al 2000; Gilchriest et al 2001; Karakatsouli et al 2007a; Strand et al

2007; Luchiari & Pirhonen 2008; McLean et al 2008; Barcellos et al 2009; El-Sayed

& El-Ghobashy 2011).

Different colours have different contrasts against background colour and

influence the efficiency of detecting and catching the feeds by sight. A high contrast

leads to higher visibility of feeds and better feed consumption (McLean et al., 2008).

Despite colour having a profound impact on fish behavior and biological functioning,

the compatibility of fish with tank colour has been largely neglected within the

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aquaculture industry. While it is possible to have tanks manufactured in any colour,

in North America, the most popular colour of tank for fish aquaculture is light blue.

The origin of this colour selection is unclear but likely took place without any

considerations of fish preferences (McLean et al., 2008). Duray et al. (1996) studied

the effect of background color and rotifer density on rotifer intake, growth and

survival of the grouper (Epinephelus suillus) larvae and Papoutsoglou et al. (2000)

experimented on the effects of background color on growth performances and

physiological responses of scaled carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) reared in a closed

circulated system and but there are no previous works showing the relationship

between background colours on the growth and survival of Scatophagus argus. The

aim is to study the possible effects of rearing tank colours on the growth and survival

of Scatophagus argus.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:

The general objective of this study is to culture spotted scat (Scatophagus

argus) juveniles in tanks with different colors. This study specifically aims to compare

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and evaluate the effects and the differences on the growth rate and survival rate of

spotted scat cultured in tanks with different colors.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

The significance of this study is to assess the use of different background

colors in tanks in culturing spotted scat (Scatophagus argus). This study will serve as

guideline to provide information on proper background color of tank for the

enhancement of growth and survival of the said species.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS:

This study is to culture spotted scat (Scatophagus argus) juveniles for 60 days in tanks

with different colors particularly blue, black, light green.

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 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Spotted scat (Scatophagus argus) is a popular aquarium species around the

world due to its colorful appearance, hardiness, slow growth, and calm behavior. It

has also been admired as a food fish mainly in the South and South-East Asian

countries due to its good nutrient quality with high protein content and taste. The

Argus Fish or Spotted Scat has a strongly compress, squarish body with a steeply

slanted profile to the head. Argus fish can reach up to 15 inches (38 cm) in the wild.

In the aquarium they will typically reach about 6 - 8 inches (15-20 cm) in the

aquarium with a life span of about 20 years. The Spotted Scat is suggested for a more

experienced fish keeper. When young these fish live in freshwater and as they age

need to be moved slowly into a brackish/ salt environment. Managing the proper salt

amounts can be difficult and will be an added expense over a traditional freshwater

fish. These types of changes can be difficult to do properly. These fish also grow very

large which makes a need for larger tanks as they grow. The Spotted Scat also has

venom in small spikes that can cause great pain, so caution needs to be taken during

tank maintenance.

The Argus Fish is an omnivorous species. In the wild they feed on a variety of

plant matter along with worms, crustaceans, and insects. In captivity feeding is no

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problem since they will eat virtually anything considered as aquarium fish food. They

have very hearty appetites and will greedily eat anything that comes their way. The

Argus fish are distinctly more herbivorous than many others. They need a good

amount of vegetable foods and they will munch on aquarium plants. As with any fish,

a varied diet is important so be sure to feed dried, frozen and fresh foods. Flakes or

pellets that contain algae and vegetable matter are suggested. They can also be offered

vegetable matter such as algae, dried seaweed, blanched lettuce and spinach, thin

slices of cucumber or zucchini, and frozen peas.

Scats are very messy fish due to their eating habits, so a strong filtration

system will be needed. As they age these fish require additional salt added to their

water. Make sure to add salt with every water change. Their tank should be cleaned

weekly and about a 30% water change done. Be very careful when handling scats.

The spines on their fins are mildly venomous and it hurts if you are unlucky enough to

get stuck by one. An injury can be treated by soaking it in hot water.

Argusfish will swim in all parts of the aquarium but will most likely spend

most of their time near the middle. The Spotted Scat can get quite large so a tank of at

least 60 gallons should be provided to begin with. If you do a good job and keep one

in good shape, a larger tank will be eventually needed. A 9 to 15 inch fish is large but

when it is shaped like a scat, it's really large! Just imagine a dinner plate with fins and

you'll get the idea. Odds are that a tank raised specimen will never grow to full size,

but even a salad plate with fins is big. Some advanced aquarists are able to keep scats

in freshwater. However they really do better if kept in full saltwater or brackish water

made with a good marine saltwater mix. Add approximately 2 - 3 teaspoons per

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gallon. They are very sensitive to nitrites, so make sure you have good biological

filtration. For substrate use a fine gravel or sand. An efficient canister filter will work

well with these aggressive, messy eaters. Spotted Scats need plenty of swimming

space. Driftwood, branches and roots make good decor and an area for the fish to

entertain themselves. Because they are avid feeders on vegetable matter, plants don't

really work in the Argus Fish aquarium.

With the Scats disease is not usually a problem in a well maintained aquarium.

That being said there is no guarantee that you won't have to deal with health problems

or disease. Anything you add to your tank can bring disease to your tank. Not only

other fish but plants, substrate, and decorations can harbor bacteria. Take great care

and make sure to properly clean or quarantine anything that you add to an established

tank so not to upset the balance. Banded Archer are very resilient once established in a

tank. A good thing about the Scat is that due to their resilience, an outbreak of disease

can often be limited to just one or a few fishes if you deal with it at an early stage.

When keeping more sensitive types of fish, it is common for all fishes to be infected

even before the first warning signs can be noticed. The best way to proactively

prevent disease is to give your Scat the proper environment and give them a well-

balanced diet. The closer to their natural habitat the less stress the fish will have,

making them healthier and happy. A stressed fish will is more likely to acquire

disease. Spotted Scats are fairly hardy fish if their water requirements are met, but are

subject to the same diseases as other tropical fish. One of the most common

freshwater fish ailments is ich. It is recommended to read up on the common tank

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diseases. Knowing the signs and catching and treating them early makes a huge

difference. For information about freshwater fish diseases and illnesses, see Aquarium

Fish Diseases and Treatments.

The effect of environmental colour on animal physiology and behavior is a

developing field. Studies have concentrated on showing the effects of environmental

colours on some mammals, birds, and fish, but the mechanisms are still unknown. In

fish some studies have shown that environmental colour affects growth, feeding, food

conversion rate, stress, aggression, and egg development (Volpato et al., 2004).

However, experiments designed to examine the effects of tank colour on growth and

feeding performance of fish suggest that response to colour may be species-specific

(McLean et al, 2008)

According to E. Mclean et al,(2008) tank color impacts marine fish larval

performance, as dark tanks appear to provide contrast that allows larvae to better

visualize live and artificial prey. While tanks can be fabricated in any color,

commercially available on–growing systems are generally black, green, or dark and

light blue. Anecdotal information suggested that certain juvenile fish perform better in

tanks with black sides and sandy colored bottoms. To determine whether tank color

impacted performance of juvenile fish we examined the effect of black, green, red,

dark, and light blue colored tanks on the short–term growth and feed efficiency of

summer flounder and growth, feed efficiency, body composition of Nile tilapia.

Cortisol response was also examined for both species. Tank color did not affect

growth performance of flounder or tilapia although fish maintained in red–colored

tanks returned better percent increases in weight. Differences (P < 0.05) in feed

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conversion efficiency were observed for summer flounder held in red tanks. Plasma

cortisol levels in summer flounder ranged from 1.39–3.71 ng cortisol per ml,

compared to 12.7–94.4 ng cortisol per ml plasma for tilapia. Lowest cortisol levels (P

< 0.05) were detected in flounder and tilapia reared in red–colored aquaria.

Background color had no effects on tilapia fillet composition.

The color effect on survival rate and development of tambaqui larvae,

Colossoma macropomim in fish tanks was studied by Pereira and Sipauba- Tavares

(2001). During a 20 days period, the dark brown treatment displayed significantly

lower survival rate compared to treatment with light green. Identical effect, however,

was not reported with average weight, biomass and larvae total length. Results

showed that tank color influences larvae survival rates, where the light green color

makes it easier for the larvae to visualize the preya.

According to Barrcellos et al., (2009) feasible sequence for jundia culture

consists of hatchery, nursery, and termination. Before dispatch to fish farms,

fingerlings are transferred from nursery tanks to indoor tanks for a waiting period of

approximately 10 days. This “dispatch period” can be highly stressful because of

dietary changes, maintenance at high densities, daily handling, and a noisy and

disturbing environment.

Four experiments were performed to determine whether background colour

and shelter availability influences the cortisol response to stress in Rhamdia quelen

fingerlings. The first and second experiments tested the influence of background color

on the acute cortisol response with or without shelter. In the third and fourth

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experiments, the time course of cortisol levels after stress was measured in fingerlings

kept in tanks with white or blue backgrounds, with or without shelter.

The results clearly demonstrated that the adaption period of 10 days in white

and blue tanks had no effect on the cortisol response to an acute stressor. However, the

tank colour combined with the presence of an appropriate shelter both reduce the

magnitude and duration of the stress response evaluated in terms of cortisol

concentrations. Taken together, the results suggest that, because a totally dark

environment is not feasible in jundia hatcheries, the best alternative to maintain jundia

fingerlings are tanks with blue walls provided with shelter. These results may have

strong applications in fish welfare and health during the transfer period of jundia

fingerlings and on its survival rate in the early periods in fish farms.

Studies have shown that reactions to tank color vary with the species and life

stage. For example, grey to greencolored tanks have been reported to yield best results

for mortification, Batty et al, (1990). No clear consensus exists about the optimum

color for larval-rearing tanks, despite several studies that monitored larval growth,

survival, and swim bladder development. This may be due to confounding effects

caused by use of different species, densities, feed types and densities, photoperiods,

and light intensities. Larvae of some species seem to prefer white or light gray. Others

like black-colour tanks, while still others prefer a “green water” environment for

locating food and/or maximizing swim bladder inflation. Tank background color has

been examined primarily for its effects on larval and juvenile survival, usually with

respect to the feeding response (Batty, et al., 1990; Pankhurst and Hilder, 1998).

Different tank colors have been shown to elevate cortisol levels in red porgy (Pagrus

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pagrus) (Rottlant et al., 2003), and Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (Merighe et al.,

2004), and has been suggested as a stressor in white sea bream (Diplodus sargus)

(Karakatsouli et al., 2007b). The particular 23 colors that elevate cortisol levels in

fishes seem to be species specific however. In red porgy, white tanks produced the

highest levels of cortisol (Rottlant et al., 2003), while carp and sea bream responded

with elevated cortisol levels in black tanks (Merighe et al., 2004; Karakatsouli et al.,

2007b). Tilapia exhibited elevated cortisol levels in brown and blue tanks and lower

levels in black, green and white tanks (Merighe et al., 2004). Appelbaum and

Kamler, (2000) reported that Clarias gariepinus reared in the dark were larger

than those reared in the light, while Almanzan-Rueda et al., (2005) showed that no

light resulted in an increase growth of this species. Britz and Pienaar, (1992) also

reported high rates of growth of Clarias gariepinus juveniles when reared under

continuous darkness. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of

photoperiod on the growth and body coloration of juvenile Clarias gariepinus. This is

with a view to simulating the best photoperiod for increasing production of the species

from juvenile to table size in less time and with a simple, low-cost technique as well

as achieving the most acceptable body coloration for the marketability and high price

of the species.

The color of the environment surrounding aquatic animals raised indoors is a

function of illumination (intensity, spectrum, and photoperiod) and the inside color of

the tank (Papoutsoglou, 2001). Some fish species modify their skin color in

response to background color and other factors. For example, a naturally dark-colored

fish can quickly (within few days or even less) turn to a lighter color in a white tank.

Color adaptation depends on specific neural and hormonal processes related, for

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example, to defense mechanisms, reproduction, interanimal behavior, and others

(Papoutsoglou, 2001). The color change is implemented through neuro-endocrine

control of dispersion and aggregation of fish pigments, as well as hormonal control of

the number of chromatophores and amount of pigments. Given the neural and

hormonal responses elicited by background colors, it seems clear that tank color can

affect fish behavior and physiology. An improper tank color might be considered a

stressful condition to fish during culture. Fish stress can be classified as acute (sudden

and shortterm) or chronic (moderate and continuous) (Papoutsoglou, 2001). Growth

suppression is mainly associated with chronic stress, while immune suppression can

be associated with either acute or chronic stress (Papoutsoglou, 2001).

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 Materials and methods

Experimental Site, Facilities, and Set-up

The study was conducted at the College of Fisheries Laboratory and Research Station

(CFLRS), Brgy. Bawing, General Santos City for a period of 60 days.

Figure 1. Location of experimental site

Nine (9) units of .61m x .38m x .31m aquaria with different colors will be use in the

study, each aquarium will be filled with 20 liters freshwater. It will be aerated and

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covered to avoid the entrance of any unwanted species to maintain the good water

condition of the reservoir.

Experimental Design and Treatments

Each treatment was replicated three (3) times.

Treatments will be as followed

Treatment Background Tank Colour

I Blue
II Black
III Light Green

Stocking and Stock Management

The experimental fish will be stock early in the morning to avoid stress. A

total of 3 fry/L will be stock in each aquarium filled with 20L water. Prior to the start

of the experiment, 25% of the total stocks will be randomly weighed to get the initial

body weight. Sampling of experimental stocks will be done every fifteen (15) days for

sixty (60) days of experiment. 25% of the total stock per aquaria will be weighed

using digital weighing scale.

Feeding Management

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 The fish was fed four (4) times a day at 7AM, 10AM, 1PM and 4PM

throughout the culture period. Daily Feed Ration (DFR) was adjusted every sampling

period base on their biomass and survival rate, which was computed using the

following formula.

DFR = SD x ABW x SR x FR

Where;

DFR = daily feed ration (g)

ABW = average body weight (g)

SD = stocking density

SR = survival rate (%)

FR = feeding rate (%)

Water Management

Water quality parameter such as dissolve oxygen will be monitored thrice a

week using multi-parameter tester and ammonia using ammonia test kit, while the

temperature will be monitored twice a day at 8:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the

afternoon using a thermometer regularly. Water was regularly siphoned every morning

before feeding and water loss was replenished daily.

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