Isolation and Identification of Cultivable Bacteria in an Aquaponic System with Koi Carp and Parsley (Petroselinum crispum): Implications for Water Quality and System Health

We investigated the effects of growth performance of three plant species parsley (Petroselinum crispum), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and cress (Lepidium sativum) under the three different lighting sources, Light-Emitting Diode lamp (LED; 200w), High-Pressure Sodium lamp (HPS; 200w) and Fluorescent lamp (FLO; 200w) in an aquaponic system. A total number of 43 koi fish (Cyprinus carpio var. koi) with 3628 g total biomass (84.4 g per individual) were used. The fish used in the experiment recorded 36% growth and reached an average individual weight of 132.7 g at the end of the experiment. The parsley plant was measured as 8.76 ±7.32 g; 7.45 ±4.13 g; 2.04 ±1.96 g weight after 45 days, the lettuce plant was 54.09 ± 25.60 g; 60.83 ±19.39 g; 17.81 ±6.40 g weight after 54 days, cress plant was 1.03 ±0.58 g; 1.15 ±0.46 g; 1.31 ±0.58 g weight after 42 days, under the HPS, LED, and FLO light sources, respectively. HPS and LED light sources in lettuce and parsley showed better plant development than the FLO, while no significant difference occurred in cress plants under three light conditions. We conclude that using HPS or LED lights in indoor aquaponics has the potential to produce good quality and adequate amounts of plants.

Greenhouse and aquaponic productions of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) are well established, but the comparison between these two methods is not studied in detail. A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of basil in both aquaponic and soil systems under greenhouse conditions. The plants were raised in aquaponic beds with ornamental fish and a set of plants was raised in soil pots under a greenhouse setup. The studied parameters were morphological, biochemical and antioxidant levels. In order to analyze the stress effects of an aquaponic system on plant defense mechanism, two different antioxidant enzymes (catalase and peroxidase) were analyzed. Water quality parameters were monitored during the entire study period. Based on the results, there was a significant increase in growth parameters in the aquaponic system when compared to the conventional greenhouse cultivation of basil plants. The photosynthetic parameters showed a decline in the aquaponic system, but the biochemical parameters showed an enhancement in the aquaponic system of growing basil plants. The antioxidants exhibited a significant increase in the aquaponic system, which suggests a water stress effect on the plants induced by the aquaponic growing system. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that the aquaponic system is the best suitable method for basil production in the UAE condition.

The experiment was aimed at standardization of water flow rate in aquaponic system in order to correlate nutrient removal and water quality with growth of Cyprinus carpio var. koi (koi carp fingerlings) and Beta vulgaris var. bengalensis (spinach). Different flow rates, i.e., 3.2, 1.5, and 1.0 l min−1, were assigned as treatments T1, T2, and T3, respectively, with spinach plants (28 plant m−2), whereas S1 and S2 were the treatments having flow rates of 1.5 and 1.0 l min−1, respectively, without plants. Control (C) was set at flow rates of 3.2 l min−1 without plants. Treatment T2 (1.5 l min−1) showed highest weight gain of koi carp fingerlings and also height gain of spinach plants as compared to other treatments. There was no significant difference in length gain, percentage weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency ratio, and protein efficiency ratio as compared to other treatments and control. All the treatments, T1, T2, and T3, effectively remove nitrate (77–78 %), phosphate (47.04–55.06 %), and potassium (22.85–29.16 %) from fish effluent tanks. These results suggest that flow rates 3.2, 1.5, and 1.0 l min−1 were effective under aquaponic system. Of which, 1.5 l min−1 can be suggested as optimum water flow rate for the growth of spinach and koi carp in aquaponic system as percentage weight gain in fish, percentage height gain, and yield of plants were higher compared to flow rates 3.2 and 1.0 l min−1.

The present study aimed to assess the effect of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) as a biofilter on water quality, growth performance and survival of koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) in an aquaponic system. Water hyacinth was used at three densities of 2 bushes, 4 bushes and 6 bushes. Each treatment contained 10 fish weighing 11.43±0.1 g (in 80 L aquarium) in 3 replicates, and the experiment was run at 22-24°C for 42 days. A control group was also included without the plant. The obtained results showed that there was no significant difference in dissolved oxygen (DO) level among the treatments while DO in all treatments were almost insignificantly higher than the control (p>0.05). Total dissolved solid in all treatments were significantly lower than control with the lowest level obtained in 4 bushes group (p<0.05). Total suspension solid level in all treatments were significantly higher than control (p<0.05). Also, PO4 value was decreased with an increasing in the plant density. Both nitrite and nitrate in all treatments were lower than control group. Cadmium content of water was reduced with increasing in plant density. These values in all densities were lower than the control group. A better performance in final weight, weight gain, daily growth weight, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio and food conversion ratio were obtained in 4 bushes than the other treatments. Also, significantly lower mortality (about 12-34%) was observed in all treatments than the control fish (p<0.05). These data show that the combination of water hyacinth especially at 4 bushes density together with koi carp can improve water quality and increases fish production.

A 45-day experiment was conducted for standardization of water flow rate for koi carp (Cyprinus carpio var. koi) and gold fish (Carassius auratus) along with water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) in water recirculating aquaponic system. Different flow rates, viz., 0.8, 2.4, and 4 l min−1, were assigned as T1, T2, and T3, respectively, with stocking density ratio of 1:2 for koi carp and goldfish. Treatment T1 showed maximum fish growth in terms of percentage weight gain and specific growth rate. Plant height, percentage height gain, and yield of water spinach plants were observed highest in treatment T1 as compared to T2 and T3. All the treatments effectively removed nutrients, but treatment T1 showed maximum percentage of nutrient removal (NO3-N, PO4-P, and K). The plant growth and nutrient removal were increased with decrease in flow rate. Flow rate in T1 (0.8 l min−1) showed the highest growth in both fish species. Thus, 0.8 l min−1 can be suggested as optimum water flow rate for the polyculture of koi carp and goldfish with water spinach in an aquaponic system.

Accurate and rapid identification of pathogenic microorganisms is of critical importance in disease treatment and public health. Conventional work flows are time-consuming, and procedures are multifaceted. MS can be an alternative but is limited by low efficiency for amino acid sequencing as well as low reproducibility for spectrum fingerprinting. We systematically analyzed the feasibility of applying MS for rapid and accurate bacterial identification. Directly applying bacterial colonies without further protein extraction to MALDI-TOF MS analysis revealed rich peak contents and high reproducibility. The MS spectra derived from 57 isolates comprising six human pathogenic bacterial species were analyzed using both unsupervised hierarchical clustering and supervised model construction via the Genetic Algorithm. Hierarchical clustering analysis categorized the spectra into six groups precisely corresponding to the six bacterial species. Precise classification was also maintained in an independently prepared set of bacteria even when the numbers of m/z values were reduced to six. In parallel, classification models were constructed via Genetic Algorithm analysis. A model containing 18 m/z values accurately classified independently prepared bacteria and identified those species originally not used for model construction. Moreover bacteria fewer than 10(4) cells and different species in bacterial mixtures were identified using the classification model approach. In conclusion, the application of MALDI-TOF MS in combination with a suitable model construction provides a highly accurate method for bacterial classification and identification. The approach can identify bacteria with low abundance even in mixed flora, suggesting that a rapid and accurate bacterial identification using MS techniques even before culture can be attained in the near future.

The present study was conducted to reveal the best species combination of indigenous carps (Catla catla, Labeo rohita) and exotic carps (Cyprinus carpio, Ctenopharyngodon idella) with the cucumber plant (Cucumis sativus) in an aquaponic system. The aquaponic production system is one of the useful approaches which combine fish and plants with the recycling of waste and conservation of water. This technique combines recirculating aquaculture with hydroponics for the production of two products at a time by utilizing nutrients generated from the system for plant growth. The experimental set-up consisted of 3 treatments in triplicates having a control in each trial. The species composition in different treatments was rohu + catla, rohu + common carp and grass carp + common carp in 70: 30 ratio @ 2000 g/m3 integrating cucumber plantlets @32/ m2 in T1, T2 and T3 respectively. The control in each treatment consisted of the same species composition but without plants. Fishes were fed @ 4% of their body weight during the trial period. Water quality parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH were observed daily whereas hardness, alkalinity, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were recorded @ 20 days intervals. Though the values of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were found to be marginally higher in controls compared to treatments and a reverse trend was found in the values of dissolved oxygen there were no significant variations in the values and were in their optimal range. The fish growth parameters such as weight gain, percentage weight gain, specific growth rate, daily weight gain, feed efficiency ratio, and protein efficiency ratio were calculated. The result revealed that the highest body weight gain was in catla in the T1 (89.76±0.20g) followed by common carp in T3 (85.43±0.06 g) and grass carp in the T3 (81.76±0.41g) and the lowest in the rohu in T2 (66.03±0.29g). The final average body length of the grass carp and common carp in the T3 was (19.4±0.56cm &gt; 18.6±0.26cm and 17.3±0.47cm &gt; 16.8±0.32cm). Among the treatment, the final average body length was highest in the catla in T1 (20.4±0.37cm) followed by grass carp in T3 (19.4±0.56cm) and rohu in the T1 (18.1±0.11cm) and the lowest was recorded in the common carp in the T2 (16.4±0.17cm. It is concluded that that in an aquaponic system with grass carp with common carp, 2000g/m3 in combination with cucumber at 32plants/m² will be economically viable for farming practices. Further, more research may be carried out to increase the stocking density of both fish and plants to get maximum profit from this intensive aquaponic system with sustainable strategies.

The depletion of natural resources such as freshwater and cropland makes it necessary to find a new solution for sustainable food production. Aquaponic systems seem to be a great alternative to traditional agriculture, however, there are still many unknowns that need to be explored. It is already known how fish stocking affects water quality in aquaponic systems, but not how it affects the plants’ growth, and especially on chlorophyll fluorescence. In this study, we examined how the density of 0, 2, 4, 8, and 16 stocking fish in five aquaria affects lettuce growth. The first tank was only a hydroponic system with plants but without fish (control). In the remaining four aquaria – 2, 4, 8 and 12 specimens of common carp fry with an average weight of 20 grams (average 8.5–33.2 g) were placed in the aquaponic growing system. Physicochemical analysis of water was conducted to determine the levels of pH, electrical conductivity ( EC), N-NO 3, N-NO 2, N-NH 4, P-PO 4, O 2 and physiological parameters of plants (nitrogen balance index – NBI, chlorophyll content index – CCI, quantum yield – QY, flavonoid content – Flv) were analysed. The results showed that fish stocking density has different effects on plant physiological parameters, but in most cases, was insignificant. It seems that the greater number of fishes and higher density indirectly causes growth inhibition (lower photosynthetic efficiency) due to the increase of N-NO 3 and a decrease of O 2 in the water.

Aquaponic nutrient studies often use various types of water containing high levels of mineral nutrients for water supply, making it difficult to accurately determine deficient nutrients limiting crop yield and quality across the systems. To avoid interference with background nutrients, we used reverse osmosis water in this study. The objectives were to identify critical nutrients that affect the yield and quality of cherry tomato-, basil-, and lettuce by characterizing nutrient composition and concentration in aquaponic systems in comparison to hydroponic systems. Daily release rate (mg L−1) of macronutrients derived from fish feed (41% protein, 1.1% phosphorus, 1% fish weight) was in decreasing order of SO4–S (16) &gt; PO4–P (2.4) &gt; NO3–N (1.0) &gt; K (0.8) &gt; Cl (0.5) &gt; NH4–N (0.4) &gt; Ca (0.2) &gt; NO2–N (0.13) &gt; Na (0.11) &gt; Mg (0.02), in which daily inputs of Mg and Ca in aquaponics were found to be only 1–2% and 4–6%, respectively, of those in hydroponics. Subsequently, the average concentrations of all nutrients were significantly lower in aquaponics than in hydroponics during a 3-month production except for Cl, NH4–N, NO2–N, and Na. The concentration of Mg remained below 5 mg L−1 in all aquaponic systems, while the concentration of Ca rapidly decreased in tomato-based aquaponics, especially during fruiting. SPAD value (chlorophyll content) was associated with concentrations of leaf N, Mg, and/or Ca. Specifically, lower SPAD value was correlated with lower leaf Mg and Ca for tomato and lower leaf Mg for basil but neither Mg nor Ca for lettuce. The aquaponic solution contained nearly six-times higher Na than the hydroponic solution, resulting in three-times higher Na concentration in the edible portion of the crops. Compared to a lettuce-based aquaponic system, tomato- and basil-based systems retained more desirable water quality parameters (i.e., stable pH, lower temperature), had lower electrical conductivity (EC) via greater biomass production and, therefore, more efficient nutrient removal, and had lower feed conversion rate and higher fish biomass increment. Regardless of crop species, vegetative shoot biomass was significantly reduced in aquaponics than in hydroponics. However, the marketable yield of tomatoes was similar between aquaponics and hydroponics, while those of basil and lettuce were reduced in aquaponics by 56% and 67%, respectively, in comparison to hydroponics. Our results highlighted potential solutions to design proper nutrient management practices essential for the development of successful aquaponic production systems. Considering that ingested fish feed does not provide sufficient levels of Mg and/or Ca for crop production, it is suggested to supplement Mg before crop transplanting and Ca before fruiting of fruity crops to improve crop growth and quality in aquaponic systems, especially when high-quality water is used for water supply.

Beyond nutrition, fruits and vegetables can be considered as natural sources of bioactive molecules, for which beneficial effects on human health are widely recognised. To improve food quality, soilless growing systems could represent a good strategy for promoting a sustainable food production chain, although the nutritional and nutraceutical properties of their products should be investigated in depth. The main quality traits and the volatile and non-volatile secondary metabolites of Solanum lycopersicum L., Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Fuss and Ocimun basilicum L. grown in an aquaponics system and in organic farming were quantified and compared. On a fresh basis, soil-grown P. crispum and O. basilicum showed significantly higher total phenolics and antioxidant activity compared to aquaponic crops, whereas, on a dry basis, both plants showed opposite results. Soil-grown S. lycopersicum was significantly richer in total phenolics, whereas the aquaponic type showed a higher antioxidant activity. Aquaponics induced the accumulation of resveratrol in P. crispum, rosmarinic acid and myricetin in O. basilicum, and lycopene in S. lycopersicum. Among the volatile compounds, in O. basilicum, linalool was the main constituent in both treatments, whereas τ-cadinol represented the second constituent in aquaponic crops. The volatile profiles of P. crispum did not differ significantly between the two cultivation methods. The overall quality of organic and aquaponics cultures appeared to be comparable. The results showed that aquaponic farming method can be an innovative, rapid and sustainable way of producing quality food. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Aquaponics is an evolving technology for producing plants and fish (or other aquatic organisms) in an integrated water recirculating system. However, the survival and productivity of terrestrial plants in aquaponic systems have not been evaluated for most plant species. The present study aimed to analyze the survival rate, growth, and biomass production of eight culinary herbs, commonly used in Guatemala, in a Nutrient Film Technique-type (NFT) aquaponic system with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The investigated herbs included coriander (Coriandrum sativum), parsley (Petroselinum crispum), peppermint (Mentha spicata), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), samat (Eryngium foetidum), oregano (Plectranthus amboinicus), dill (Anethum graveolens), and basil (Ocimum basilicum). A total of 50 individuals of each herb species and 150 juvenile Nile tilapias were distributed in 5 aquaponic modules. The survival rate, growth, and biomass production were measured for herbs and tilapias. All the herb species survived against the NFT aquaponic conditions. The findings indicated that the herb survival was species-dependent and ranged 42-98%. There was a significant effect of the herb species both on height and biomass gains. Post hoc comparison showed interspecific differential abilities to grow biomass in NFT aquaponics conditions. Among the investigated herbs, M. spicata and O. basilicum were the most productive species. Refinement in the selection of initial plants and aquaponic management could improve plant performance.

Effects of fish biology on ebb and flow aquaponical cultured herbs in northern Germany (Mecklenburg Western Pomerania)

Effects of different stocking density start-up conditions on water nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency, production, and microbial composition in aquaponics systems

The MMD 1000 Village Strategic Community Service Grant Program aims to address the issues that the village community is currently facing, such as the low level of community participation in PKK activities, the need to improve the nutrition of low-income families, and the underutilization of narrow yards. So that through the MMD 1000 Village Strategic Community Service GrantProgramme activities, will offer solutions to these problems, including outreach and demonstration plots along with the assistance of aquaponic cultivation systems. The methods that will be applied to this activity include the following: 1) providingunderstanding to community leaders and target audiences, especially activity partners; 2). Counselingand training to increase knowledge about the implementation of an appropriate aquaponic cultivation system, 3). Direct practice or application of the aquaponic cultivation system, including assembling the design of aquaponics tools, setting tools and tanks, water preparation and monitoring water quality, stocking fish seeds, planting vegetable seeds, and raising fish and vegetables together 4). Evaluationto monitor success in implementing activities, 5). Evaluate the impact of activities directly on increasing fish and vegetable consumption and the impact on the family economy through fish and vegetable production. This activity increases the community's ability to manage narrow land by implementing an aquaponic system, which has an impact on improving family nutritional welfare and increasing economic income Itis expected to be implemented by the wider community in Dawuhan Village and other villages in Malang Regency

Balancing of nutrient uptake by water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) and mustard green (Brassica juncea) with nutrient production by African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in scaling aquaponic recirculation system