Valdenberg, A., Kibbutz Maagan Michael, MP Menashe 37805, Israel
Milstein, A., Fish and Aquaculture Research Station, Dor, Department of Aquaculture, MP Hof HaCarmel 30820, Israel
Harpaz, S., Department of Aquaculture, Agricultural Research Organization, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel

Large-scale commercial nurseries face problems in obtaining enough zooplankton of adequate species composition and size when fish larvae start to feed. To address these problems a simulation of the effects of timing of fish larvae stocking after pond filling on zooplankton composition was carried out. The experimental system consisted of twelve 130-L containers, in which zooplankton populations were exclusively autochthonous (hatched from resting eggs in the sediments, not entering with the filling water). Treatments consisted of stocking 2-d-old common carp larvae on the fourth and sixth days after water filling and a control without fish. The effects of timing of stocking on fish larvae growth and on zooplankton composition were explored using factor analysis. This enabled the identification of several groups of zooplankters that respond in different ways to predation by fish larvae. FACTOR1 was a general measurement of small rotifer abundance. It showed earlier increase in response to the exposure to fish predation, and toward the end of the experiment indicated that fish also preyed on them. FACTOR2 identified the direct effects of size-selective fish predation on zooplankton that differed according to timing of fish larvae stocking. FACTOR3 identified benthic rotifers, whose density in the plankton increased as a result of fish disturbance of the bottom sediment and decreased as a result of fish predation, also according to timing of fish larvae stocking. In the studied system no rotifers were present in the filling water and the zooplankton peak of autochthonous populations took a while to develop. Under this zooplankton succession pattern, stocking fish larvae before the rotifer concentration started to increase (Day 4) greatly affected their own food resources. The strong predation pressure exerted on the emergent resource retarded the zooplankton increase for 4 d. It also changed the composition toward smaller species and forced fish to feed on less preferred resources, which resulted in reduced fish growth rate. Stocking fish larvae after the rotifer concentration had started to increase (Day 6) allowed the fish to come across increasing amounts of zooplankton of large-size species, not requiring the exploitation of small benthic rotifers. This resulted in better fish growth rates. Thus, increased larvae production in commercial nurseries can be achieved by matching fish stocking with the increasing phase of the zooplankton peak. © the World Aquaculture Society 2006.