Compensatory growth, condition and food utilization in barbel Barbus barbus juveniles reared at different feeding periodicities with a dry diet.

In a 40 day experiment, barbel Barbus barbus juveniles were fed a dry diet continuously, or food was withheld for 2, 5 or 10 days, and then resumed feeding. Improved feed utilization efficiency allowed fish deprived of food for 2 or 5 days to fully compensate for body mass loss. Short-term food deprivation as a method of preventing negative effects of overfeeding in intensive rearing of juvenile B. barbus is proposed.