Abstract
In recent years, the demand for commercial sea cucumber diet increased due to the expansion of sea cucumber farming. In this study, we investigated alternative sources other than the use of macroalgal powder for formulating sea cucumber feed. Specific growth rate (SGR), total weight gain, and daily weight gain were determined for sea cucumber (45 individuals, initial weight: 51.08 +/- 3.29g) fed with three diets containing different amounts of nutrients (crude protein: crude fat): formulated diet- C (14.5: 4.3%), sea cucumber commercial diet- A (7.5: 0.8%), and dried shrimp waste diet- B (5.5: 0.6%). Sediment redox oxic-anoxic interface regime was evaluated referring to the color change between oxic (light brown) and anoxic (grey) from total sediment sample core. The animals fed with shrimp waste diet showed negative growth and rapid reduction in weight gain and was not suitable for intensive sea cucumber farming. The sea cucumber fed with formulated diet showed faster growth, highest SGR, and daily weight gain when compared to sea cucumber fed on commercial diet. The formulated diet showed the highest impact in accumulating the anoxic sediment condition followed by commercial diet and dried shrimp waste. The formulated diet seems to be a promising alternative source which needs more focus on the nutritional value in order to balance the impact on sediment quality.