Traditional abalone culture is carried out in flow-through systems with water exchange rates between 200 and 2,400% of the total tank volume per day. These high volumes of water associated with abalone culture represents a constraint for the growth of this industry, and recirculating systems can become a viable alternative, because the water exchange rates are less than 10% of the total volume. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the water quality parameters and the growth rate and mortality of the pink abalone cultured at two different densities, 10% (D1) and 30% (D2) in a flow-through system (S1) and two closed recirculating systems (S2 and S3). A total of 2,400 juvenile abalone (7.11 ± 2.0 g and 37.01 ± 3.4 mm) were distributed among the three experimental systems. The experiment lasted for 127 days. Weight and length of all the abalone were measured at the beginning and end of the experiment. Average water quality parameters for each system (S1, S2, and S3) were respectively: temperature (18.2 ± 1.4, 18.4 ± 1.9, and 18.1 ± 2.0°C); salinity (33.8 ± 1.0, 34.5 ± 1.2, and 34.2 ± 1.5‰); alkalinity (127 ± 13.2, 135 ± 13.7 and 131 ± 14.1 mg of CaCO₃/L), total ammonia nitrogen (0.006 ± 0.02, 0.03 ± 0.07, and 0.02 ± 0.08 mg TAN/L) and nitrite (0 ± 0.00, 0.08 ± 0.07, and 0.07 ± 0.05 mg NO₂/L). Growth rates in weight (g/d) were for S1D1 (0.027 ± 0.007), S1D2 (0.018 ± 0.001), S2D1 (0.007 ± 0.001), S2D3 (0.005 ± 0.000), S3D1 (0.007 ± 0.000) and S3S2 (0.009 ± 0.003), and growth rates in length (mm/d) were for S1D1 (0.038 ± 0.004), S1D2 (0.031 ± 0.002), S2D1 (0.013 ± 0.001), S2D3 (0.013 ± 0.000), S3D1 (0.002 ± 0.000), and S3D2 (0.024 ± 0.001) respectively. In flow through systems growth in length and width was density dependent. Mortality was higher in S3D2 than in any other treatment. A lower water exchange rate in closed systems could adversely affect growth and mortality. Abalone culture in closed recirculating systems could become another alternative for this industry, but more research is required.