The effects of different cycles of starvation and re-feeding on growth and body composition in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum, 1792)

Summary This study was designed to investigate the effects of starvation and re‐feeding cycles on the growth performance and body chemical composition of Oncorhynchus mykiss juveniles. A total of 360 juveniles with initial mean weights (IW) of 8.46 ± 0.07 g (n = 360) were stocked into 400‐L tanks in triplicate for each group, with 30 juveniles per tanks. The control group received regular feed, as is the common practice. The three other groups were periodically starved: 1 day starvation followed by 6 days re‐feeding (S1), 2 days starvation followed by 5 days re‐feeding (S2) and 3 days starvation followed by 4 days re‐feeding (S3). The experiment lasted for 10 weeks, over the course of which the water flow rate was 4 L min−1 and the water quality parameters determined as: temperature 14.4 ± 1.1°C, oxygen 8.2 ± 0.4 mg L−1 and pH 7.5 ± 0.2. At the end of the study, S1 had the best growth performance (final weight, specific growth rate, average daily growth) of all test groups (P