Effects of stocking density on performance of snubnose pompano juvenile (Trachinotus blochii) reared in recirculating system

Abstract

This study aimed to determine appropriate densities for rearing pompano juvenile (Trachinotus blochii) in a recirculating system. Four treatments of stocking density were evaluated including 500, 1.000, 1.500, and 2.000 inds/m3 in triplicate. The experimental system for pompano rearing was designed with 120-L tanks connected to 1 settling tank, 1 filter tank, 1 stone filter tank (contained 250 L of filter volume for each tank). The system was fulfilled with marine water at 30 ‰ of salinity and aerated continuously. Pompano were initially stocked at 0.07 ± 0.03 g/fish of body weight and daily fed using commercial pellet contained 55% of crude protein. After 30 days of rearing, the fish stocked at 1.000 individuals/m3 showed the best results in growth rate (0.060 g/day of DWG and 10.97 %/day of SGR) and was significantly higher than the treatment stocked at 1,500 and 2,000 inds/m3 (p < 0.05), however, no significant difference was observed between 1,000 and 500 treatments (p > 0.05).