Bioaugmentation in the growth and water quality of livebearing ornamental fishes

Abstract

Bacillus subtilis isolated from the intestine of Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton) was incorporated into the rearing water of Poecilia reticulata (Peters), Poecilia sphenops (Valenciennes), Xiphophorus helleri (Heckel) and Xiphophorus maculatus (Gunther) at four different concentrations (5 × 108 cells ml−1, 5 × 107 cells ml−1, 5 × 106 cells ml−1 and 5 × 105 cells ml−1) and its effect on fish growth performance and survival, water quality parameters and bacterial population of water were assessed. The results showed that the addition of bacterial cells in the rearing water resulted in greater survival and a faster growth rate and, hence, greater length and weight increments of the livebearers. The use of a bioaugmentor in the rearing water of the livebearing fishes resulted in significantly lower (P < 0.05) concentrations of dissolved organic matter and total ammonium nitrogen. The counts of motile aeromonads and total coliforms recorded in the water of bioaugmented tanks were also lower than that in the control tank. Bioaugmentation between 106 and 108 cells ml−1 in the rearing water is sufficient in establishing a bioaugmentor and the use of a higher concentration of bacterial cells did not always lead to significantly better results.