This experiment was carried out, for 30 days, aiming to determine the best feeding frequency (FA) for yellow tail lambari (Astyanax bimaculatus) fingerlings. One hundred and twenty fingerlings, with initial weight of 0.34 ± 0.01 g, were allotted to 12 experimental cages, in a completely randomized block design, with four treatments and three replications. Each block corresponded to a 1000 L tank with four cages containing 10 fingerling each (experimental unit). The diet contained 30% digestible protein and 3000 kcal/kg of digestible energy. The feed allowance was 10% body weight, which was corrected each 10 days by weighing at each experimental unit. The variable tested was the number of FA (2, 4, 6, and 8 daily fed). The average for water quality parameters was of 24.7ºC, 25.8ºC, 7.9 mg/L, 8.1 and 161.2 mS/cm, respectively, for morning and afternoon temperatures, dissolved oxygen, pH, and electric conductivity. Final total weight of the fingerlings fed four times daily was higher than others. Average final weight and weight gain of fingerlings fed four times daily was higher than the ones fed twice and it was not different from the other ones. Feed conversion showed no effect and the survival rate showed a linear decrease, as FA increased. The ideal FA to reach the best performance of the yellow tail lambari fingerlings was four times daily, at 25.5ºC water temperature.
aquaculture; Astyanax bimaculatus; feeding frequency; fish; yellow tail lambari; performance
