Effects of probiotic (Sanolife PRO‐W) application on benthic meiofauna and Nile tilapia growth performance in earthen ponds

Abstract

The interaction between fish and probiotics has been widely studied, whereas the interactions among meiofauna, probiotics and fish have yet to be explored. In September 2019–July 2020, the effects of a probiotic (Sanolife PRO-W) on meiofaunal abundance, biomass and diversity, and the impact of these effects on Nile tilapia were studied. Two treatments were applied in earthen ponds: control (C) and probiotic-treated (T). In spring–summer, a net was used to separate each pond into two areas with fish presence (O) or fish absence (I). Samples were randomly collected bimonthly and monthly from ponds in autumn–winter and spring–summer, respectively. Cladocera, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta were dominant in the probiotic-treated pond. The abundance, biomass and diversity of meiofauna did not differ between the ponds in autumn–winter. However, in spring–summer, meiofauna abundance differed in the following treatment pairs: CO vs. TO, CI vs. TI, CI vs. CO and TI vs. TO. Furthermore, biomass differed in CO vs. TO and CI vs. TI, whereas diversity differed in CI vs. TI and TI vs. TO. These results improve our understanding of positive fish–probiotic interactions; however, additional research is required to explore the relationships identified in these preliminary findings.