In order to prepare tilapia for winter, it were evaluated the effect of two levels of lipid (8.0 and 12.0%) and three levels of vitamin C (300.0; 600.0 and 1,200.0 mg of vitamin C/kg diet), with four replicates each treatment, plus two treatments, absent of test nutrients supplementation and supplemented with 6.0% of lipid and 125.0 mg of vitamin C/kg diet on growth performance and physiologic parameters during 112 days. It was utilized 192 fingerlings, with average weight of 5.57 ± 0.50g. Based on the results it was concluded that the additional energy coming from lipid is accumulated in abdominal cavity; fat deposition as a energy reserve for winter time was obtained in all lipid supplementation, however 8.0% supplementation seems to be more appropriate; the concentration of 600.0 mg of vitamin C/kg diet appears to be more economically appropriate and that vitamin C absence impairs erythropoiesis and collagen syntheses.
ascorbic acid; lipid; Nile tilapia; requirement; temperature stress
