Survey of Lactobacillus delbrueckii effects on Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) in different life stages

In this research we investigated the effects of Lactobacillus delbrueckii during three life stages of Acipenser persicus (stage 1: from beginning of exogenous feeding, stage 2: fingerlings with initial body weight of 10 g and stage 3: juveniles with initial body weight of 144 g) on growth performance, feeding and survival. In stage one, Artemia nauplii were enriched with probiotics and used as food for Persian sturgeon larvae for 15 days. Shift from live food to dry feed was programmed in seven days followed by rearing until day 30 with dry feed. In stage two (for one month) and stage three (for two months) probiotics were added to dry feed and delivered to fish. At the end of the stage one values of total length, total weight, weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR) of fish fed non-enriched Artemia nauplii (treatment 3) were significantly more than rest of the treatments. Values of total length, total weight, weight gain and SGR of fish fed co-feeding regime (treatment 4) were significantly higher than rest of the treatments at the end of the stage one. Growth performance and survival of experimental fish showed no significant differences amongst the treatments in stage two. Values of total weight, weight gain, SGR and survival of fish fed probiotic supplemented diet were significantly higher than control group in the stage three. It is advised to feed the juvenile fish for at least two months with probiotic supplemented feed in order to improve the growth performance and survival.