Regulation of water quality and growth characteristics of indoor raceway culture of Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

Two modes of regulating the water quality of experimental ponds in indoor raceway culture of Litopenaeus vannamei were evaluated using simple water treatment facilities. A self-made water purifying net, aeration stone, composite microbe preparation, and Ceratophyllum demersum were placed in the experimental ponds and the culture water was circulated along the raceway inside the pond using a paddle wheel aerator. In addition, the water quality in the experimental pond was improved by draining effluent from the pipeline at the bottom of ponds 7 and 8 (mode I) and exchanging the circulating water in pond 10 (mode II) with the reservoir water in pond 9 using a pump and pipeline. The water quality in the experimental ponds was similar in response to regulation using mode I or mode II. Water quality parameters in the experimental ponds were controlled within a suitable range by simple facilities during culture period without using any chemical treatments. The rich content of dissolved oxygen was maintained by the circular flow and continuous aeration of the pond water. The respective average values of the main water parameters in experimental ponds 7 and 10 in response to regulation of the water quality using modes I and II were as follows: pH 8.17 and 7.99; DO 5.16 mg/L and 5.97 mg/L; CODMn 18.45 and 12.61 mg/L; TAN (NH3-N) 0.854 mg/L (0.087 mg/L) and 0.427 mg/L (0.012 mg/L); NO2-N 0.489 mg/L and 0.337 mg/L. Moreover, the average body length and body weight of harvested shrimp of pond 7 and pond 10 were 7.56 cm and 8.99 cm, 5.10 g and 8.33 g, respectively. Furthermore, the survival rate, average biomass yield and average condition factor of the shrimp harvested were 70% and 60%, 2.54 kg/m2 and 2.14 kg/m2, and 0.675 g/cm and 0.927 g/cm, respectively. Linear equations describing the relationship between body length and culture time and cubic or power functions describing the relationship between body weight and body length were obtained based on evaluation of the growth data of shrimps throughout the culture period.