Prospects for using mineral resources of southern Russia in aquaculture

In aquaculture, the application of natural mineral raw materials with their ion exchange and adsorption properties is on the increase, which contributes to an increase in the economic performance of fish farms. The Southern Federal District in Russia, the leader in fish production, has active deposits of zeolites, bentonites and glauconites classified as high-grade mineral raw resources containing up to 70% of active components, though almost not used in fish farming. Our research focuses on studying the productive and biological effect of mineral raw materials of the Southern Federal District (Russia) as a mineral supplement to fish feeds (the case of the zeolites from the Proval'skoe deposit in Rostov Region). Zeolite in the amount of 3% was introduced into the starter feeds for sterlet. The studies have shown that zeolites from the Proval'skoye deposit applied to feeds contribute to an increase in weight growth (p≤0.05) and survival of sterlet, to a feed conversion decrease and an increase in protein and energy efficiency ratio, positively affect the composition of fatty acids and the stability of lipid peroxidation. The results obtained suggest the use of mineral raw materials from the Southern Federal District as a dietary component.