Stocking density in the larviculture of Nile tilapia in saline water

The objective of this study was to assess the possibility of increasing the stocking density in the larviculture of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, in saline water. Six-day post-hatched larvae (average weight of 0.09 +/- 0.002 g), at the start of the exogenous feeding, were stocked in twelve 8 L tanks at densities of 1, 10, 20 and 30 larvae/L. The larvae were fed a diet consisting of 40% crude protein five times per day. During larviculture, water was kept at a salinity of 2 g of common salt/L. At the end of the 28-day experiment, the survival rate, length, weight, temperature, water salinity and conductivity were not affected by the different treatments. The dissolved oxygen and pH, however, decreased as density increased, whereas total ammonia concentration, turbidity and biomass showed a direct relationship with the increase of stocking density. Consequently, the present study shows for the first time that the larviculture of Nile tilapia is possible with up to 30 larvae/L in water with 2 g of salt/L.