The study proposed to discover the optimum protein content and energy-protein ratio in practical diet for snakehead, Channa striata. The experiment applied complete randomized design, consisted of six treatments with four replications on each treatment. The treatments were: A (32.5%; 11.82 kcal GE/g), B (32.5%; 13.32 kcal GE/g), C (37.17%; 10.64 kcal GE/g), D (37.33%; 12.07 kcal GE/g), E (43.08%; 10.02 kcal GE/g), and F (42.88%; 10.66 kcal GE/g). Snakehead with average weight of 6.21 ± 0.03 g were reared for 8 weeks. The treatments showed significant results. Increased protein dietary level had increased the growth rate and treatment with high energy-protein ratio at the same protein dietary level provided better growth performance. However, increased energy-protein ratio at E and F treatments caused a decline in growth performance. The improvement of energy-protein dietary ratio had positive correlation with the level of lipid and protein content in fish body. Similar finding was found in liver and muscle glycogen. The results also showed that the increament of energy-protein dietary ratio was significantly and positively correlated with cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, glucose, and albumin, yet it had no significant effect on LDL. It can be concluded that excellent growth performance was achieved by protein dietary level of 37.33% and energy-protein ratio of 12.07 kcal GE/g.Keywords: energy-protein ratio, growth, snakehead ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh kadar protein dan rasio energi-protein pakan buatan yang optimum bagi performa pertumbuhan ikan gabus. Penelitian ini mengaplikasikan rancangan acak lengkap dengan 6 perlakuan, yaitu: A (32,78%;11,82  kkal GE/g), B (32,56%;13,32 kkal GE/g), C (37,17%:10,64 kkal GE/g), D (37,33%:12,07 kkal GE/g), E (43,08%:10,02 kkal GE/g), dan F (42,88%:10,66 kkal GE/g) dan masing-masing terdiri 4 ulangan. Bobot rata-rata ikan gabus yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu 6,21 ± 0,03 g dan dipelihara selama 8 minggu. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa peningkatan kadar protein pakan meningkatkan laju pertumbuhan, dan perlakuan dengan rasio energi-protein tinggi pada level protein pakan yang sama memberikan kinerja pertumbuhan yang lebih baik. Namun demikian, pada perlakuan E dan F, peningkatan rasio energi-protein menyebabkan penurunan kinerja pertumbuhan. Peningkatan rasio energi-protein pakan berkorelasi positif terhadap kadar lemak dan protein tubuh ikan. Hal yang sama juga terjadi pada glikogen hati dan otot. Hasil penelitian juga menunjukkan bahwa peningkatan rasio energi-protein pakan berpengaruh nyata (P<0,05) dan  berkorelasi positif terhadap kolesterol, trigliserida, HDL, dan albumin, tetapi tidak berpengaruh nyata terhadap LDL  (P>0.05). Kesimpulan yang didapat adalah kinerja pertumbuhan optimal dihasilkan oleh kadar protein pakan 37,33% dan rasio energi protein pakan 12,07 kkal GE/g.Kata kunci: albumin, energi, ikan gabus, pertumbuhan, protein