Pintado Real Tank Stocking

Pintado real (cachapintado hybrid) stocking density in tanks

The pintado real is the commercial hybrid of Pseudoplatystoma corruscans × P. reticulatum. When the female parent is the cachara, you'll also hear it called cachapintado. Its hybrid vigor lets it carry a stocking biomass of 2 to 4 kg/m³, about twice what the pure species handle. For a tank holding V liters, the biomass it supports works out to B = ρ · V/1000, where ρ is the density in kg/m³ and the V/1000 term turns liters into cubic meters.

It hits a commercial weight of 2 – 4 kg in just 12 – 15 months. Either parent species would need 18 – 24 months to get there. The fillet is white, firm and nearly free of bones, which keeps the market price high. This cross anchors the EMBRAPA Pantanal program on Pseudoplatystoma hybrids, and these days it accounts for most of Mato Grosso's commercial output.

Applications

This calculator helps you size cages and earth ponds for pintado real and put together a feed budget (extruded ration with crude protein above 40 %, FCR around 1.4 – 1.7). You can use it to project harvest income at the 12 – 15 month mark and check the higher stocking densities that IN MAPA allows for hybrids. It's handy too when commercial farms in Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás need to plan fingerling demand.

FAQ

Why does pintado real tolerate 2 – 4 kg/m³? Heterosis, the hybrid vigor it inherits, gives it sharper feed conversion, faster growth and a thicker skin for handling and crowding than either the pure pintado or the cachara. Even so, once you push past 3 kg/m³ you'll want strong aeration to hold dissolved oxygen above 4 mg/L.

How long until harvest? Starting from 50 g fingerlings, count on 12 – 15 months to reach the 2 – 4 kg range that restaurants and supermarkets ask for.

Is pintado real fertile? Pseudoplatystoma hybrids are partially fertile, so an escape could contaminate the genetics of wild stocks. That's why EMBRAPA calls for physical containment, meaning closed tanks or net cages with a secondary barrier, and forbids releasing the hybrid into open watersheds.