Pros and Cons of

Thailand and Vietnam, special feed is needed for nurseries as well as a bridge between hatchery feed and grow out. “Therefore, sometimes nursery feeds are also called transition feeds,” said Salman.

Some of the advantages of using nursery feed, mentioned by Salman, include; optimal nutrition, because it uses high quality ingredients, similar to hatchery feed. This feed has also been adapted for nurseries with high densities (eg 2000-5000 pl/m3, even >10,000 Pl/ m3). Nursery feeds also tend to have high stability and doesn’t rapidly deteriorate the water and have engineered buoyancy that allows them to remain in the water column.

Maintaining culture water quality

Sharing his experience, Andy F. Solomon, a fisherman from Probolinggo, East Java, recounted his experience using nursery feed since early 2022. According to Andy, what really stood out was the water quality. The nursery system, said Andy, requires farmers to condition shrimp and water at high density. With a nursery stocking density of over 3000 PL/m2 in a 180 m2 indoor pond, there is evident negative correlation in the water quality when regular feed is used in compared to nursery feed. “Initially we stocked it in a state of morning pH of 8.1 and were given regular feed. The next morning the pH had fallen to 7.8. and continues to fall as long as the regular feed is continued. In fact, the lower the pH number in the morning suggests that the bottom of the pool is ridden with sludge,” explained Andy. After he performed nursery feed trials, the morning pH of the pond did not change at all while using the nursery feed. “But even trying 50% nursery feed inclusion, my morning pH drops again as before,” Andy regretted.

Andy then followed the feed management program from his nursery feed manufacturer using 3.8 kg for 600,000 PL with increments according to the feeding program. “For the first 5 days, only 5 feedings daily, then 6 feedings daily. Because the particle size are small, the feed is only distributed normally around the lip of the pond embankment,” he explained. However, he also gave tips. In his opinion, it is best to use nursery feed throughout the whole nursery phase of the culture. In this case 28 days of cultivation for Andy so that growth can be achieved without damaging the water quality. “This is allows the process of transferring to the grow-out to have better odds of success because the shrimp are not under stress from deteriorated water conditions,” he suggested.

Regarding feed management, according to Salman, it is better to give nursery feed with a higher daily feeding frequency, so that