The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) raised in cages and fed diets containing levels of crude protein (CP) and digestible energy (DE). It was used 3.960 fish with an average initial weight of 293.38 ± 5.67 g, distributed in 18 net-ponds with 5 m³, with 220 fish per experimental unit (44 fish/m³) in a 3 × 2 factorial scheme composed of three levels of crude protein (25, 30 and 35%) and two levels of digestible energy (3,250 and 3,500 kcal/kg). Feeding was performed four times a day (9:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.) until apparent satiety of the animals. No differences were observed for weight gain, survival rate, apparent feed conversion and specific growing rate. Nevertheless, there was a difference on visceral fat deposition which was higher for animals fed ration with higher energy level. It was not observed influence of levels of protein and energy of the diet in contents of moisture, crude protein, mineral matter and lipids in the fish fillets, either. Rations containing 25% of crude protein and 3,250 kcal/kg of digestible energy promote better performance results.
cages; juveniles; native species; nutrition; nutritional requirement; Piaractus mesopotamicus
