Effects and Mechanisms of Microbial Agents and Carbon Sources on Aquaculture Environment

Abstract

Improving aquaculture environment through microbial manipulation has been a hot topic in aquaculture research in recent ten years. The effectiveness of microbiological agents in improving aquaculture water quality, especially in the degradation of inorganic nitrogen, remains controversial. One of the reasons is the lack of understanding of the pathway through which microbiological agents affect the environment. The effects of carbon sources and two microbial agents on ammonia nitrogen conversion in a cultured environment were studied by two in-situ experiments. The results showed that the inorganic carbon and organic carbon increased significantly in the sterilized and non-sterilized groups. The conversion trend of inorganic nitrogen was the same. The ammonia nitrogen and nitrite did not decrease, and the nitrate decreased significantly. The results indicated that there was no significant change in the function and unextinguished effect of nitrifying bactericide after sterilization. The effect of adding microbial agents on the conversion of inorganic ammonia in the environment might be due to the role of carbon source itself.