Larviculture of Brycon amazonicus with live food in a biofloc system and in clearwater

Biofloc technology (BFT) has yielded higher survival rates in the larviculture of B. amazonicus and the supply of live food during its larval stage may be an alternative for optimizing the species productivity and availability. This work aimed to compare two types of live food, Artemia salina and Moina micrura , in the larviculture of B. amazonicus in clearwater (CW – without BFT) and in BFT systems during the first five days of life. Four hundred larvae (24 hours after hatching) were distributed in four treatments: T1 (CW +  M. micrura ), T2 (CW +  A. salina ), T3 (BFT +  M. micrura ) and T4 (BFT +  A. salina ). Live food was offered once a day in increasing proportions. There was an effect of the BFT and CW systems on water quality (p < 0.05) and the type of live food influenced the total ammonia and salinity (p < 0.05). The survival of the larvae fed with M. micrura and A. salina , was higher in the BFT system (T3–64 ± 10.6% and T4–74.7 ± 16.2%) compared to the CW system (T3–18.7 ± 15.1% and T4–44.0 ± 20). Final weight and length, weight gain and length were higher in larvae from the BFT system, being higher in those fed with A. salina (p < 0.05). Thus, the results suggest the benefits of the BFT system in the larviculture of B. amazonicus , with A. salina being recommended for use in the first five days of life.