The Nile gray tilapia is one of the most consumed species in the world, it has characteristics that allow its cultivation in sustainable systems with little or no water exchange, such as the biofloc system, which provides a supplement in the nutrition of cultivated organisms. To determine the effect of the biofloc system on the water quality, the productive performance and the body chemical composition of the Nile gray tilapia Oreochromis
niloticus , an experiment was carried out for 120 days, with two treatments and three repetitions: traditional system (TS) and heterotrophic biofloc system (BFT) (Table 1) . Male monosex organisms with initial average weight of 109 ± 39.29 g were used at a stocking density of 100 fish m-3 , fed with extruded pellets with 32% CP . The final body weight was significantly higher in the traditional system (279.93 ± 78.51 g) than in the biofloc system (183.49 ± 38.57 g) (Figure 1) . Water consumption was significantly lower in the biofloc system (1.38 ± 0.15 m3) compared to the traditional system (48.4 ± 0.0 m3) ( Figure 2) . The percentage of crude protein in the fillet of the organisms grown in the traditional system was significantly higher (17.69 ± 0.42%) in relation to the biofloc system (16.56 ± 0.07%) ( Figure 3).
The results showed that Nile gray tilapia juveniles raised in the traditional system exhibited the higher growth and body chemical composition, however, t he biofloc technology was efficient in water consumption, demonstrating the sustainability of the system.