Settling velocity distribution of bioflocules generated with different carbon sources during the rearing of the river shrimp Cryphiops caementarius with biofloc technology

Abstract

Controlling the concentration of bioflocs is one of the main concerns in aquaculture systems with Biofloc Technology (BFT). Biofloc accumulation deteriorates the water quality and can negatively affect the production rates of the farmed river shrimp. This study describes and characterizes the settling velocity distribution of bioflocs generated with the addition of two carbon sources (molasses and chancaca) when applying the BFT for the rearing of the river shrimp Cryphiops caementarius. This study revealed that bioflocs generated with different carbon sources have different settling velocity curves. Regarding the mass fraction settling velocities, there were significant differences (P < 0.05) for mean solids fraction at similar withdrawn times between molasses and chancaca. The average settling velocities for bioflocs were 0.1044 ± 0.1224 cm s−1 for molasses and 0.1131 ± 0.1225 cm s−1 for chancaca. Therefore, a settling device operating with a given overflow rate will more efficiently remove bioflocs generated with chancaca than with molasses. The settling velocity curves obtained in this research contain valuable information to select appropriate devices for bioflocs and suspended solids removal in aquaculture systems with BFT.