Six isonitrogenous (390 g kg⁻¹) and isoenergetic (16.2 kJ g⁻¹) diets with varying carbohydrate : lipid (CHO : L) ratios (202.5-1.74), were fed to triplicate groups of 25 fish in indoor recirculation system. Over 8-week-growth trial, best weight gain (WG), specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio and protein production value (P < 0.05) were observed in fish-fed diets with CHO : L ratio of 7.5. Fish fed either the lowest (1.7) or highest (202.5) CHO : L ratio tended to produce lower (P < 0.05) growth and feed conversion efficiencies. The values of viscerosomatic index, hepatosomatic index and intraperitoneal fat ratio increased as dietary CHO : L ratios decreased. There were no significant differences in whole body and liver crude protein among dietary treatments. Whole body and liver lipid increased as CHO : L ratios decreased. Plasma cholesterol and triacylglyceride levels increased linearly as dietary CHO : L ratios decreased. Activities of glucokinase and pyruvate kinase were stimulated by elevated levels of dietary carbohydrate; however, activities of lipase (LPS) and alkaline phosphatase were stimulated by elevated levels of dietary lipid. Based on a second-order polynomial regression analysis of WG against dietary carbohydrate and lipid levels, 275 g kg⁻¹ of carbohydrate and 59 g kg⁻¹ of lipid, corresponding to a CHO : L ratio of 4.7, in a diet holding 390 g kg⁻¹ of crude protein and 16.3 kJ g⁻¹ of gross energy, proved to be optimal for grass carp. These results indicated that utilization of dietary lipid and carbohydrate was moderate in grass carp, but the fish were a little more capable of utilizing lipid compared with carbohydrate.