Performance of nursery Litopenaeus vannamei post-larvae in a BFT system enriched with Rhizoma coptidis broth

Abstract

The shrimp farming industry has historically been limited by outbreaks of bacterial diseases. The current study aimed to investigate the performance of adding Rhizoma coptidis (R. coptidis), an herbal medicine, to the biofloc system of Litopenaeus vannamei culture. A broth of boiled R. coptidis was added to four experimental groups (C0 (control), C2, C4, and C6, with respective dry weights of 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/L R. coptidis). The results showed that the nitrase and dehydrogenase activities of the biofloc enriched with R. coptidis were enhanced compared to the control group. Shrimp reared in the systems enriched with R. coptidis showed significantly better growth performance, digestion, and immune enzyme activity and a lower food conversion ratio compared to the control group. The mortality rate for Groups C4 and C6 in a Vibrio infection test was less than 50 %, while Group C0 experienced 100 % mortality. There were no significant differences in ammonia or nitrite concentration among the treatment groups. These results suggested better performance of nursery Litopenaeus vannamei post-larvae in BFT systems by enrichment with 4 g/L R. coptidisL broth.