Attractability of probiotic-coated shrimp feed

In shrimp aquaculture, farmers frequently top-dress commercial feeds with probiotics to deliver beneficial microorganisms to the gastrointestinal tract. A study was conducted at the Shrimp Culture Research and Development (SCRD) facilities in Chonburi, Thailand, to determine whether coating feed with a commercial probiotic (Sanolife PRO-2, a mixture of selected Bacillus strains) affects feed attractability and palatability in juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei (6-8 g). Shrimp were stocked in 175-L tanks (4 replicates, 10 shrimp per tank) and offered two feeding trays: a control feed mixed with seawater (100 ml/kg) and a treatment feed top-dressed with probiotic (5 g Sanolife PRO-2 and 100 ml seawater/kg). Daily feed consumption over a 1-hour morning period was monitored across 7 days. In all replicates, pellet ingestion was significantly higher for the probiotic-coated diet, showing average increases of 1.9x, 1.5x, 2.2x, and 2.6x compared to the control feed. The findings confirm that coating commercial shrimp feed with this specific Bacillus probiotic has no negative impact on attractability and instead improves palatability, promoting faster feed intake and potentially reducing uneaten feed waste in pond bottoms.