KENYA STANDARD     KS 2289-1:2016 
ICS65.120  
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
Compounded tilapia feeds — Specification 
 
Part 1: 
 
Complete feeds 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
© KEBS 2015 First Edition 2015 
 
 
  KS 2289-1:2016 
ii  KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION 
 
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee:  
 
Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries — State Department of Livestock  
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute Unga Farm Care EA Ltd. 
Kenyatta University—Department of animal science 
Modern Ways Ltd. 
Joeliz Bone meal Ltd. Consumer Information Network 
Proctor and Allan EA Ltd. 
State Department of Veterinary Services Association of Kenya Feed Manufacturers(AKEFEMA) 
Pioneer Feeds Ltd. 
Pembe Flour Mills Ltd. Evonik Ltd 
Government chemist 
Thoyu feed ltd 
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat 
 
 
 
  
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS 
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Keny a Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions 
for improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, are welcome. 
 
  
 
  
 
© Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2015 
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001  of the Laws of Kenya, copyrig ht 
subsists in all Kenya Standards and except as provided under Section 26 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau  of 
Standards may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in w riting 
from the Managing Director. 
 
  KENYA STANDARD      KS 2289-1:2016 
ICS65.120  
KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved   iii  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
Compounded tilapia feeds — Specification 
 
Part 1: 
 
Complete feeds  
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS) 
 
Head Office: P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi-00200, Tel.: (+254  020) 605490, 602350, Fax: (+254 020)  604031 
E-Mail: info@kebs.org, Web:http://www.kebs.org  
 
Coast Region    Lake Region   Rift Valley Region  
P.O. Box 99376, Mombasa-80100  P.O. Box 2949, Kisumu-40100       P.O. Box 2138, Nakuru-20100 
Tel.: (+254  041) 229563, 230939/40 Tel.: (+254 057) 23549, 22396       Tel.: (+254 051) 210553, 210555  
Fax: (+254  041) 229448   Fax: (+254 057) 21814 
 
  KS 2289-1:2016 
iv  KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved  
Foreword 
 
This Kenya Standard has been prepared by the Technical Committee on Animal Feedsunder the guidance of 
the Standards Projects Committee, and it is in accor dance with the procedures of the Kenya Bureau of 
Standards.  
Commercial compounded feeds for intensive fish culture have been developed in a few industrialized 
countries with a long history of agriculture. Most of the present day information and data on fish feeds is based on nutritional and diet development work carried out on cold water species of fish in those countries.   
The development of this standard is geared to the need for developing suitable fish feeds based on locally 
available ingredients while ensuring that such diets provide a suitable energy source and are balanced for tilapia to facilitate fast growth.  Such feeds must not only be acceptable, available and easily digestible by 
the fish, but should be of a chemical composition that will encourage fast growth, good conversion and 
survival.    
Though it is recognized that there still exists many gaps in our knowledge concerning the nutrition of most 
fish species cultured in the tropics, some progress has been made with regard to specific diets for species such as tilapia. The standard should encourage local production of formulated fish feeds which are of 
acceptable quality. 
 During the preparation of this standard, assistan ce was derived from the following document: 
 
Nutrient requirements of fish (1993) published by the National Academics Press.  
Acknowledgement is hereby made for assistance derived from this source. 
   
KENYA STANDARD       KS 2289-1:2016 
 
 
KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved   1  
 
Compounded tilapia feeds — Specification 
 
Part 1: 
 
Complete feeds  
 
 
 
1 Scope and field of application  
 
This Kenya Standard prescribes requirements for compounded tilapia feeds used as a complete diet and 
serving as the only source of nutrients for tilapia fish. 
 This standard shall apply to the following types of tilapia fish feeds; 
 
a) Starter;  b) Grower; 
 
c) Finisher; and  
d) Brooder 
 
2 Definitions 
 
For the purpose of this standard, the following definitions shall apply: 
 2.1 tilapia 
any fish of the family Cichlidae  
 
2.2 
starter 
feed for small fry and fingerlings  
 2.3 Grower  
feed for fish between 50 g -200g 
 2.4 finisher 
feed for fish which are more than 200g and which are not reared for breeding 
 
2.5 
brooders  
feed for mature tilapia fish where males are more than 80g and females are more than 50g in weight reared 
for breeding 
 
2.6 Palatable 
feedof reasonable hardness and free of compounds that are offensive to the olfactory receptors of the fish 
  
2  KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved  
2.7 
feedable 
water stable (resistant to sudden crumbling) and float  long enough in water to be accessible 
 2.8 fines  
feed particles passing through a 420 µm screen or 0.42 mm (1 mm = 1 000 µm).  
 
3 General requirements 
 
3.1 Compounded tilapia feeds shall be in the form of floating pellets, slow sinking pellets, mash or 
crumbles. 
 
3.2 The feeds shall be free from pathogenic bacteria, metallic objects and pesticide residues. 
 
3.3 The feeds shall be palatable and feedable. 
 
3.4 The feeds shall be free of mouldy growth and rancidity which is indicative of spoilage. 
 
3.5 For all the different types of feeds, the total co ntent of ‘fines’ shall not exceed 3 % by weight. 
 
3.6 Total aflatoxin content shall not be more than 10 ppb and 5ppb for aflatoxin B1. 
 
3.7 The shelf life of the supplemental feed shall be 6 months . 
 
4 Nutrient requirements 
 
4.1 Compounded complete feeds for tilapia shall comply with the requirements specified in Table 1. 
 
4.2 The feeds shall contain vitamins and minerals specified in Table 2. 
  KS 2289-1:2016  
KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved   3  
Table 1 — Requirements for compounded complete tilapia feeds 
 
Sl.No. Parameters 
 Starter feed  Grower feed  Finisher feed  Brooder feed  
i) Fish weight (g) < 50 50-200 ≥ 200 ≥ 50 (females)
≥ 80 (males) 
ii) Feeding rate% body weight 6 – 8 3 2 - 4 4 - 6 
iii) Crude protein % (min). 35 30 30 32 
iv) Energy (DE) Kcal/Kg (min). 2500 2750 2900 2800 
v) Amino acid levels 
a) Lysine  g/kg (min). 
b) Methionine g/kg (min 
c) Methionine +cysteine 
d) Threonine e) Tryptophan  
2.1 
0.9 
1.4 
1.3 
0.5  
1.7 
0.8 
1.1 
1.0 
0.4  
1.7 
0.8 
1.1 
1.0 
0.4  
1.7 
0.81.1 
1.0 
0.4 
vi) Crude fiber % (max). 4 10 10 10 
vii) Crude fat % . 5-12 5-15 5-15 5-15 
Viii) Fatty Acids 
a) Linoleic acid  
0.5 - 1.0  
0.5 - 1.0  
0.5 - 1.0  
0.5 - 1.0 
viii) Pellet size(mm) 2 (max) 2 – 5 4 - 6 2 - 5 
ix) Pellets should float on water 
for (minutes-minimum) 2 2 2 2 
x) Moisture content of pellets 
 (% Max). 10 10 10 10 
xi) Calcium % 0.4 - 0.7 0.4 - 0.7 0.4 - 0.7 0.4 - 0.65 
xii) Phosphorus % 0.8 – 1.5 0.8 – 1.5 0.8 – 1.5 0.8 – 1.5 
 
   
4  KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved  
Table 2—Level of minerals and vitamins in compounded complete tilapia feeds 
 
Sl. No. Minerals and Vitamins on 
dry matter basis per kg of 
feed  (min)  Starter 
feed 
 Grower 
feed 
 Finisher 
feed 
  Brooder feed
 
i) Copper mg/Kg 6 
2-3 4-5 3 
2-3 6 
2-3 6 
2-3 
ii) Zinc mg/Kg 100 
 20 50 
20 100 
20 100 
20 
iii) Manganese mg/Kg 50 
 12 25 
12 50 
12 50 
12 
iv) Iodine mg/Kg 6 
1 3 
1 6 
1 6 
1 
v) Iron mg/Kg 60 
 30 60 60 
vii) Vitamin A IU/Kg 3000 
 1500 3000 3000 
vii)i Vitamin D IU/Kg 1500 
 750 1500 1500 
ix) Choline mg/Kg 1000 
 600   
1000  
1000 
x) Vitamin E mg/Kg 120 
50-100 
 60 
50-100 120 
50-100 120 
50-100 
xi) Riboflavin mg/Kg 
B2 24 
5- 
 12 
5 24 
5 24 
xii) Pyridoxine mg/Kg 
B6 15 
 13 13 15 
xiii) Pantothenic mg/Kg 48 
10 
 24 
10 
 48 
10 48 
10 
xiv) Biotin mg/Kg 0.2 
0.06 
 0.1 
0.06 0.2 
0.06 0.2 
0.06 
xv) Ascorbic acid mg/Kg 
C 300 
50 150 
50 300 
50 300 
50 
xvi) Inosiitol mg/Kg 150 
400 
 75 
400 150 
400 150 
400 
 KS 2289-1:2016  
KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved   5 xvii) Thiamine mg/Kg 
B1 18  
 2 9 
2 18 
2 18 
2 
 
5 Packaging and labelling  
 
5.1 Packaging 
 
The feeds shall be packed and supplied in airtight and suitable weather-resi stant material. e.g.  laminated bags 
 Each package for tilapia feeds shall be clean and free from visible indications of contamination, infection and insect 
infestation.  
 
5.2 Labelling  
 
The packages shall be securely closed and marked with the following information: 
 a) name of product; 
 
b) category of fish for which it is intended;  
c) form and size e.g. mash, crumble or pellet; 
 d) net weight of the product; 
 
e) batch number;  
f) name and physical address of the manufacturer; 
 
g) date of manufacture;  
h) date of expiry; 
 i) instructions for use and storage; 
 
j) nutrition declaration(moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash) k) feeding rate shall be displayed in grams /day.