Use of recirculation and settling chamber in synbiotic multi‐trophic culture of Crassostrea sp. with Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of recirculation and settling chamber in synbiotic multi-trophic culture of Crassostrea sp. with Litopenaeus vannamei. Four treatments were tested: MONO (shrimp monoculture); integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) (shrimp and oysters in the same tank); IMTA-R (shrimp and oysters in adjacent tanks with recirculation) and IMTA-RS (shrimp and oysters in adjacent tanks with recirculation using settling chamber). Shrimp post-larvae (pL10) and oyster juveniles (3.12 cm) were stocked at a density of 3000 pL m−3 and 200 oysters m−2, respectively, for 42 days. The IMTA treatments showed lower values of settleable solids, when compared to monoculture. However, the excessive removal in the IMTA-RS increased the levels of TAN (1.15 mg L−1) and nitrite-N (3.47 mg L−1). The weight and yield of shrimp (1.59 g and 4.63 kg m−3) and the weight of oysters (18.05 g) was significantly higher in the IMTA. Regarding the planktonic community analysis, significant difference was observed on abundance in relation to time and among treatments, where the initial samples and IMTA treatments, with lower values, differed from the 21st and 42nd days and MONO respectively. The results indicate the benefits of the integrated multi-trophic culture application with the two species in the same productive unit for better water quality and greater shrimp growth.