Abstract: Seven diets with varying digestible protein/digestible energy (DP:DE) ratios were tested for growth and nutrient retention in fish body. Six test diets containing DE levels of 310, 3.30 and 360 Kcal/100 g at low (24%) and sub-optimum (28%) DP levels were tested against control having 30% DP and 3100 Kcal/100 g DE. However, the main protein source in control diet was fish meal while in all other six test diets corn gluten meal was provided. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed in the percentage live fish weight gains at different levels of dietary protein and energy. Control fish receiving 30% dietary DP and protein/energy ratio of 81.93 gave the maximum gain in weight of 148.80±5.50%. However, among the six test diets, dietary P/E ratio of 73.75 shared the maximum weight gain (122.29±8.27%). Increase in dietary energy beyond 425.90 kcal/100 g resulted in significantly poor growth. Feed intake by the fish increased significantly with increasing dietary protein while decreased non-significantly with the increased dietary lipid and energy. The results indicate consumption dependent protein and energy retention in fish body as a function of dietary protein level.