Daily feeding frequency for grass carp fingerlings

Abstract

The objective of this paper was evaluating the performance and survival of grass carp fingerlings submitted to different feeding frequency. An experiment was carried out in the Aquaculture’s Laboratory of the Maringá State University. Eighty fingerlings were used with initial medium weight of 0.76 ± 0.12 g and initial medium length of 4.32 ± 0.19 cm divided in 16 net cages (40 x 40 x 30 cm) with five fishes each at frequencies of two, three, four and five feedings/day in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and four replications. A diet with 30% of digestible protein and 3,000 kcal/kg was used. The evaluated variables were final mean length (FL), final mean weight (FW), weight gain (WG), condition factor (CF), feed conversion (FC), size variation weight (SW), and survival (S). The FW and FC were higher in treatment with four feedings. FL and WG were higher in treatment with four and five feedings (p<0.05). The CF, SW and S did not present significant differences (p>0.05). Physical and chemical parameters remained within appropriate limits. The conclusion was that the feeding frequency to be used for grass carp fingerlings to better development and survival in temperature average 24°C is of four times during a day.