Guide

What Should FCR Be for Rainbow Trout?

In commercial Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) farming, economic FCR is usually in the 1.0–1.3 range. The value varies with water temperature, fish size, feed quality and feeding management.

See the system that does this automaticallyOpen the live demo
Typical FCR range1.0–1.3
Suitable water temperature9–17 °C
Minimum dissolved oxygen6 mg/L
pH range6.5–8.0
Salinity0–3 ‰
Typical harvest weight250–350 g
Production period9–12 months
Daily feeding rate%1.5

Values are general references and may vary with your farm’s conditions.

Trout needs high oxygen; feed conversion deteriorates quickly when dissolved oxygen falls below 6 mg/L.

Worked example

Producing 500 t of Rainbow Trout a year at an FCR of 1.15 requires about 575 t of feed. Lowering FCR to 1.05 saves about 50 t of feed.

Free toolFCR Savings Calculator

Factors that affect FCR in Rainbow Trout

  • Species and genetics
  • Water temperature and dissolved oxygen
  • Fish size: smaller fish convert feed more efficiently
  • Nutritional value, pellet size and digestibility of the feed
  • Feeding frequency, amount and feed loss
  • Stocking density, health and stress
Free toolFCR Calculator

FCRSOFT

FCRSOFT does this for you automatically

You don’t need to do the calculations and checks on this page by hand every day. FCRSOFT derives them all automatically from the records entered in the field.

  • FCR and biomass are updated per cage with every feeding and weighing record.
  • FCR values above target are flagged in the panel.
  • Economic and biological FCR reports are ready by batch and period.

Rainbow Trout in the species library — fcrsoft.com

Last updated: 10/3/2026

FCRSOFT

Track Your FCR Automatically

Instead of doing this by hand every month, let FCRSOFT calculate your FCR per cage automatically with every feeding and weighing record.

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