Bioremediation of chromium-induced toxic effects in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) using probiotics

Chromium (Cr) is one of the major heavy metal pollutants and its toxicity causes an adverse impact on body physiology of aquatic organisms including fish. Probiotics may be able to degrade toxic effects of Cr, thereby mitigating its adverse effects on the fish body. In this study, Nile tilapia (35.29 ± 1.21) was subjected to: control (without Cr or probiotics), hexavalent Cr (potassium dichromate) treatment (10 mg/L), probiotics treatment (1 ml/L), and combination of Cr and probiotics treatment (10 mg Cr/L and 1 ml probiotics/L) for a period of six weeks (42 days). The results showed that growth performance (weight gain; WG, specific growth rate; SGR) and feed utility (feed conversion ratio; FCR) were inhibited significantly in Cr-treated group compared…