The effects of bamboo poles as substrate for periphyton development on the growth and production of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, was evaluated over a period of 90 days. Three treatments, namely manure application as control (C), control and substrate installation (C + S) and, control and substrate with supplementary feeding (C + S + F) were randomly allotted to six earthen ponds each with an area of 100m 2 . Catfish fingerlings of mean weight 27.5g + 1.25 were stocked at the rate of

more »

... 80 fish per 100m 2 . Water temperature, pH, Total Alkalinity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), ammonia and nitrites were monitored during the study. The results obtained after a 90day culture period indicated no significant variations in water quality between treatments. Similarly, there were no significant difference in survival between the treatments which ranged from 81.3%, 96.8% and 86.3% for the C, C+S and C+S+F respectively. The mean gross fish yield (kg/100m 2 ) varied from 16.0kg for C + S, 9.5kg for C + S + F and 6.0kg for C. the study indicated bamboo poles as substrate for periphyton was a superior alternative to improve catfish production under pond conditions. @ JASEM