Tambaqui Growout Time

Tambaqui Grow-Out Time vs Water Temperature

Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) is a tropical Amazonian fish, and its metabolism rides directly on water temperature. Hold the water at the ideal 28–30°C and a fingerling stocked at around 30–50 g grows to a market weight of 1.5–3 kg in 12–18 months. To estimate the cycle, the calculator uses a simple temperature correction: for each 1°C below that optimum, add about 5–8% to the total grow-out time.

Give fingerlings 2–3 days to acclimate to the pond water before you stock them, otherwise osmotic and thermal shock will take a toll. Feed extruded pellets with 35–40% crude protein early on, then ease back to 28–32% as they finish. Run things well and your feed conversion ratio (FCR) lands between 1.5 and 2.0, which is 1.5 to 2.0 kg of feed for every kg of live weight gained.

Applications

Fish farmers across Brazil's North and Northeast, where the species occurs naturally, use it to work out stocking density, feed budgets and harvest dates. Cooperatives lean on it to line production cycles up with market windows, and extension agents pull it out to show what running ponds below the thermal optimum actually costs.

FAQ

What happens below 22°C? The fish eat much less and growth all but stops. Once you drop under 18°C, mortality starts to climb and you may have to pause the cycle altogether.

Can I shorten the cycle with high-protein feed? Barely. The levers that really move the needle are temperature, oxygen and stocking density. Push protein past 40% and you mostly just add cost and ammonia.

Is tambaqui suitable for biofloc? It works, yes. But since the fish puts up with lower oxygen than tilapia does, traditional earthen ponds are still the system you'll see most across the Amazon basin.