Effect of stocking density on economic performance for Colossoma macropomum (Cuvier, 1816), juvenile in earthen ponds

The seeding rate is a factor that affects water quality, biological, physiological parameters, incidence of parasites and economic indicators. 72,000 fish of [+ or -] 1.9 [+ or -] 0.1 cm and 0.4 [+ or -] 0.01 g were planted in 12 ponds of 600 [m.sup.2] in densities of 5, 10 and 15 fish [m.sup.-2]. The fish were fed twice a day until apparent satiation, with a commercial feed with 36% crude protein, for 56 days. The cost was determined based on the total production cost and total operational cost, showing unit values per hectare of water surface. Performance indicators were compared with ANOVA test with polynomial regression. The final number of fish showed a positive linear behavior, while the other performance parameters were not affected by density, thus suggesting that the pond's maximum stocking density was not reached. On investment and production costs the most representative items were nursery building and fry acquisition, respectively, which denotes that increasing seeding density positively affected the production process, improving all the economic indicators.