ABSTRACT The influence of water salinity on the culture of Nile tilapia with biofloc was evaluated using indicators of water quality, zootechnical performance and animal welfare. Five treatments of different salinities were adopted (0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 g L-1) with three replications. The tilapia were cultured for 90 days and stocked in glass fiber tanks (800 L) at a density of 30 fish m-3 with a mean initial weight of 93.8 ± 0.89 g. Water temperature, chlorophyll-a, sedimentable solids and total suspended solids showed no difference between salinities (p>0.05). The levels of total ammonia nitrogen (3.94 mg L-1) and nitrite nitrogen (0.82 mg L-1) were lower at the salinity of 0 g L-1 compared to the highest salinity (16 g L-1) (p≤0.05). The final weight... |