Symbiotic effect of Bacillus clausii and Galacto-oligosaccharide on growth and survival rates in red cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi)

In this 30-day experiment, the effect of probiotics (Bacillus clausii, commercial probiotics: Enterogermina) and prebiotics (Galactooligosaccharides, GOS) on the growth of red cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi) has been investigated for 30 days. The trial was conducted with 270 red cherry shrimps (initial weight: 0.24±0.03 g) in 27 plastic tanks (volume 0.01 m3 and area of 0.05 m2) representing 9 groups. Except for the control group, diets were supplemented with either GOS or synbiotics per kg of feed as G1 (1g GOS), G2 (2g GOS), G3 (3g GOS), G4 (4g GOS), G1P (1g GOS+ 1 ml probiotic), G2P (2 g GOS+ 1 ml probiotic), G3P (3 g GOS+ 1 ml probiotic) and G4P (4 g GOS+ 1 ml probiotic). This study showed significantly (P< 0.05) higher growth rate indices of male and female shrimps fed with feed additives groups compared to the control group. The highest final body weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate in male shrimps were recorded from the 2 g GOS+ 1 ml probiotic and 3 g GOS+ 1 ml probiotic groups. Similarly, the highest final body weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate in the female shrimps were found in the G1P and G2P synbiotic groups. Conversely, the lowest final body weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate of both the female and male groups were noted in the control groups. Regarding feed conversion ratio and survival rates of both female and male shrimps, G2P and G3P groups showed significant improvements. Regarding our study's findings, 2 g GOS and 1 ml of Bacillus clausii (commercial probiotic: Enterogermina) dietary synbiotics can be used to improve red cherry shrimp growth rates.