Abstract

Homeopathic products may act in an organism by stimulating the immune system, allowing the restoration of balance and encouraging organic response under stress. This study investigated the performance, blood, morphological and parasitological parameters in Colossoma macropomum (tambaqui) fed diets containing different concentrations of Homeopatila 100^®. Juvenile tambaqui underwent four treatments with three replicates: 0, 20, 40 and 60 ml Homeopatila 100^®/kg of extruded feed with 32% crude protein for 60 days. At the end of 60 days the growth performance, blood parameters, gill parasites and hepatic histology in fish fed homeopathic product were evaluated. Treatment with Homeopatila 100^® did not improve the growth performance of fish. There was no difference in the prevalence and abundance of monogeneans and protozoans in the gills of fish, except in those fed with 60 ml homeopathic product. The plasma glucose levels were higher in fish fed diet containing 40 and 60 ml homeopathic product. The mean corpuscular volume and hematocrit levels in fish fed 20 and 60 ml were higher than in controls. In fish with fed 40 ml increased number of neutrophils and reduced number of lymphocytes was found. However, 60 ml of the product caused increase in the number of monocytes and reduced the number of lymphocytes, eosinophils and PAS-positive granular leukocytes. Under conditions in this study, the Homeopatila 100^® did not improve fish performance or reduce parasitic infections, but showed a relative improvement in blood response of fish fed on 40 ml of this homeopathic complex.

Key words: Fish farming, homeopathy, monogenea, parasites, protozoa, blood.