A 29-d experiment was carried out to evaluate the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) as probiotic in diets for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) during the sexual reversion phase, under a sanitary challenge. Three hundred 2-d larvae averaging 8.9 ± 1.02 mg and 0.71 ± 0.09 cm were allotted to a completely randomized design with two treatments and six replicates in twelve 50 L-aquaria. Sanitary challenge consisted of a daily supply of 0.5 mL of fresh swine manure. Treatments consisted of a commercial diet for the sexual reversion of tilapia, with (TP) or without (TT) 0.1% of S. cerevisiae. The larvae were fed ad libitum five times a day. At the end of experiment, the fries were counted, measured and weighed. Two fries of each treatment were randomly chosen for gu removal and counting of the number of bacteria and total coliforms. No treatment effect on performance and survival was observed. Only the intestine of TP fries was colonized by SC. No significant differences were observed for bacteria and total coliforms per g of intestinal content and aquarium water. The use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as probiotic in diets for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) during the sexual reversion period resulted in intestine settling with no effect on performance and survival, in a system of culture with sanitary challenge.
fingerlings; fish nutrition; fry; growth promoter; Oreochromis niloticus
