DENSIDADE DE ESTOCAGEM NA ALEVINAGEM DE TILÁPIA-DO-NILO EM TANQUE-REDE

Abstract

The experiment evaluated the stocking density of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerling in netcages for 43 days. Fifteen 180L netcages were used as experiment units, in a pond with 80% water renovation. The tested stocking densities were 700 fingerlings/m3; 1,000 fingerlings/m3 and 1,300 fingerlings/m3. The mean initial weight of the fingerlings was 4.77 ± 0.29 g. The following parameters were analyzed: mortality rate; final weight; final length; final biomass; feed conversion rate; weight gain; daily weight gain; protein efficiency rate; specific growth rate and condition factor. Variance analyzes and Tukey test at 5% were applied to compare the different treatments. Treatment with greater stocking density differed significantly from treatment with lower density regarding final weight, final biomass, weight gain, daily weight gain and specific growth rate. The other parameters did not present significant differences among the treatments (p>0.05). Under these experimental conditions, the best stocking densities for cages were 1,000 to 1,300 fingerlings/m3.KEYWORDS: Cages, growth performance, intensive system, Oreochromis niloticus.