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Email the author (Login required) Determination of water flow rate for bioremediation in recirculating aquaculture systems using constructed microbial mats
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3856/vol43-issue1-fulltext-20
Abstract
The effect of water flow rate was evaluated on the microbial mats efficiency to remove total ammonia nitrogen (TAN, NH4+-N+ NH3-N), nitrite (N-NO2-), nitrate (N-NO3-) and orthophosphate (P-PO4-3) in a pilot recirculation system for the culture of the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Four water flow rates were evaluated during 40 days: 5.2 ± 0.3 (A), 6.6 ± 1.3 (B), 8.4 ± 0.3 (C), and 12.2 ± 0.7 (D) L min-1. The concentrations of TAN and nitrites were significantly lower (p< 0.05) in the higher flow treatments (C and D) and always showed values below 0.6 mg L-1 and 0.7 mg L-1, respectively. The concentrations of nitrate increased in all treatments through the experimental period; however, the concentrations were statistically higher in treatments with higher flow rate (7.1 mg L-1). Orthophosphate removal was not significantly different between treatments (p> 0.05). The accumulation of orthophosphate in the system was relatively constant, reaching final concentration of 4.63 ± 0.76 mg L-1. The growth rate of shrimp remained close to the expected value of 0.7 g week-1. This study showed that the water flow rate has a significant effect on the microbial mats capacity for the bioremediation of ammonium and nitrite in recirculating systems. It is recommended to continue with the identification of other variables that could affect the optimal functioning of microbial mats in RAS.
