Evaluation of the Effects of Different Dietary Doses of an Anti-Mycotoxin Additive for Pacific White Shrimp (<em>Litopenaeus vannamei</em>)

Shrimp farming often suffers due to high mortalities and poor growth. Mycotoxins can be one of the causes but often underestimated. An anti-mycotoxin additive (AMA) was tested designing an experiment to assess its efficacy and determine the best dose for pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Four treatments (0, 1, 2 and 3 g/kg of diet) were randomly allocated in 12 aquaria during larval rearing (20 days) and 12 tanks fibreglass tanks during subsequent grow-out (90 days). Results showed positive impacts on feed conversion, protein efficiency, survival and growth. Higher the dose better is the immunity as indicated by the survival of shrimp against bacterial challenge. However, the quadratic models indicated that the dose of 1.4 g/kg had the highest daily weight gain of shrimp (66.7 mg) and the dose of 2.5 g/kg of diet resulted in the highest survival (60.3%). Therefore, the doses between 1.4 and 2.5 g/kg of feed are recommended for the grow-out phase of shrimp. However, further studies should be done in outdoor pond conditions for varying feeding regimes, varying contamination levels and stocking densities.