This trial was carried out to determine the digestible lysine requirements of Nile tilapia juveniles. Ninety- six reverted fishes averaging initial weight of 5.72 ± 0.10 g were fed four diets (29.51% of crude protein and 3,235 kcal/kg of digestible energy) containing increasing levels of L-lysine HCl (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7%), during 42 days. The following treatments were evaluated: dietary lysine levels of 1.04; 1.27; 1.51 and 1.741%. Fishes were allotted to 1000-L 16 tanks, as a completely randomized design with four treatments, three replicates and eight fishes per experimental unit. No treatment effects on hepatosomatic index, visceral fat, survival rate and water ether extract in the carcass were observed. The Linear Response Plateau analysis of weight gain and feed:gain ratio versus digestible lysine level yielded an estimated digestible lysine requirement of 1.56 and 1.44% for Nile tilapia juveniles, respectively. Quadratic effect of treatments on carcass yield that increased up to 1.61% of digestible lysine was observed. Considering the performance, it is recommended diets containing up to 1.44% of digestible lysine (5.23% of protein) for Nile tilapia juveniles.
lysine; Oreochromis niloticus; performance; requirement
