Enhanced growth response and stress mitigation of genetically improved farmed Tilapia in a biofloc integrated aquaponic system with bell pepper

Abstract

The experimental trial was performed for 120 days with different stocking densities of fish ie, 150 no.m−3(T1), 250 no.m−3 (T2) and 350 no.m−3 (T3) in an aquaponic system integrated with biofloc technology (BFT) and the control aquaponic unit with stocking density of 150 no.m−3 without biofloc. Theweight and length of fish at the time of stocking were 1.44 ± 0.12 gand 3.92 ± 0.09 cm respectively. The growth and production of fish and bell pepper were significantly higher in the biofloc integrated aquaponic(BFT-AQP) units compared to clear water aquaponics system (AQP).The water quality parameters like dissolved oxygen (6.54 ± 0.05 mgL−1) and nitrate-N (5.26 ± 0.49 mgL−1) were high in control compared to treatments. Significantly higher specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio for fish reared in T1 (2.03% day−1 and 2.31, respectively) followed by T2 (1.79% day−1 and 2.18, respectively).The results revealed that fishes reared in integrated system showed significantly (p < 0.05) lower stress parameters especially in treatments T1 and T2 as compared to control.The present study concluded that the integration of biofloc system with aquaponics can be recommended for better production of GIFT strain of tilapia, maintaining a stocking density of 150 no.m−3 for ideal production of bell pepper, without creating any stressful environment for fish.