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Pond-reared Malaysian prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii with the bioflocsystem

J. Alberto Perez-Fuentes, Carlos I. Perez-Rostro, Martha P. Hernandez-Vergara

PII: S0044-8486(13)00093-8DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2013.02.028Reference: AQUA 630565

To appear in: Aquaculture

Received date: 8 June 2012Revised date: 20 February 2013Accepted date: 20 February 2013

Please cite this article as: Perez-Fuentes, J. Alberto, Perez-Rostro, Carlos I., Hernandez-Vergara, Martha P., Pond-reared Malaysian prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii with thebiofloc system, Aquaculture (2013), doi: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2013.02.028

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Pond-reared Malaysian prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii with the biofloc system

J. Alberto Pérez-Fuentes, Carlos I. Pérez-Rostro*, Martha P. Hernández-Vergara

Laboratorio de mejoramiento genético y producción acuícola, Instituto Tecnológico de

Boca del Río, Km. 12 Carr. Veracruz Córdoba, Boca del Río, Veracruz 94290, Mexico

*Corresponding author: Tel./Fax: +52-229-986-0189 ext. 113, 114. E-mail address:

ivandna02@hotmail.com (C.I. Perez-Rostro)

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ABSTRACT

Physicochemical parameters of water and survival, growth, and body composition of the

Malaysian prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were recorded and evaluated for six months

in two nursery rearing systems: biofloc and traditional cultivation. The study was

conducted in a shadehouse (300 m–3

, plastic mesh, 90% shade) in four rectangular ponds

(20 m–3

). Stocking was at 37 prawns m–2

(0.025 g–1

) and fed twice daily with a commercial

diet. Daily temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, NH3-N, NO3-N, NO2-N, and turbidity were

recorded daily and the weight and length of the prawns was recorded each month. Water

quality parameters were similar in both treatments, except transparency, which was

significantly higher under traditional cultivation (36.10 ± 2.06 cm–1

) compared with the

biofloc system (7.01 ± 1.52 cm–1

) at the end of the study. Survival was >85% under both

treatments, but final size was significantly higher in the biofloc system (11.54 ± 1.87 g–1

,

15.18 ± 8.27 cm–1

) than in the traditional system (10.67 ± 2.26g–1

, 12.57 ± 7.89 cm–1

).

Protein (51.19%) and lipid (13.84%) content in harvested prawns was significantly higher

in the biofloc system, which we ascribe to the nutritional contribution of complementary

food. The results strongly suggest that the biofloc nursery system is a profitable alternative

for locations where climatic and water restrictions do not allow traditional prawn

cultivation and also contributes to sustainable use of water and improved nutritional quality

of the prawns.

Key words: Biofloc system, prawn, intensive cultivation, growth

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1. Introduction

Aquaculture maintains steady growth as an alternative to open sea fisheries.

Projections to 2030 indicate that aquaculture could produce 50% of the total production of

seafood (FAO, 2004). A major challenge is to reduce water consumption required for

maintaining quality and quantity of effluent and the amount of dissolved solids generated

during production. Techniques to provide sustainable alternatives, reducing environmental

impact without affecting the health and growth of the crop organisms are essential. One

option for the development of sustainable practices in aquaculture is biofloc technology.

The biofloc forms in pond water as the flocculent aggregates organic material,

nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and algae in suspension, which serve as food for cultivated fish or

crustaceans and promotes direct use of toxic metabolites by degrading activity of the

bacteria and algae (Avnimelech, 2007). The biofloc feed results from adding carbon

sources in regulate the ratio of C:N that naturally varies between 15:1 and 20:1

(Asaduzzaman, 2008). The presence of bacteria in bioflocs has the advantage of decreasing

concentrations of ammonium in the water, which, in turn, significantly improves the quality

of the water for cultivation (Avnimelech and Lacher, 1999; Crab et al., 2007; Schryver et

al., 2008). Biofloc technology has been successfully tested for shrimp (Burford et al., 2004)

and to a lesser extent tilapia (Crab et al., 2009). Many aquaculture species can be grown

efficiently in biofloc, including prawns, which are a detritivorous, opportunistic species that

feeds on bacteria, fungi, and decomposing material (Milstein et al., 2001; Serfling, 2006).

Among crustaceans that are economically important in aquaculture is the Malaysian prawn

Macrobrachium rosenbergii, an omnivorous freshwater crustation that consumes a wide

variety of plants and animals, either living or decomposing, and also accepting balanced

artificial diets. This prawn requires large areas and volumes of water, partly related to

territoriality and competence; hence, cultivation in some countries has not achieved

expected development, although the prawn adapts to many environments. Favorable

production technology has been available for over 50 years. The grow-out of freshwater

prawns is generally carried out in earthen ponds. These structures are usually cheap and

simple to construct and operate, and with suitable management and simple inputs, allows

for development of natural food, both planktonic and benthos microorganisms. Since semi-

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intensive culture is more expensive, there are more appropriate approaches for commercial

farms (New and Singholka, 1985; New, 2002; Muir and Lombardi, 2010).

For intensive and semi-intensive prawn cultivation, traditional production of

postlarvae (PL) is recommended with hatchery and nursery systems to maximize

production efficiency in grow-out ponds. In nursery production, PL can be cultivated at

much higher densities for the 1 to 3 months necessary for grow-out production (New,

2002). In temperate climates, nursery-raised PL are required at the beginning of the outdoor

season; therefore, production of juveniles occurs during the colder month of winter and

early spring. At pond stocking, juveniles of the appropriate size and number must be

available at the same time (Coyle et al., 2010).

Currently, there is little information on production of Malaysian prawns with

biofloc technology, so it is difficult to establish the relevance of this technology and critical

activities to improve production, however it is important to consider using this technique

during nurseries because the presence of bifloc can significantly improve feed efficiency of

prawn PL and quality during grow-out production. This study was intended to generate

useful information for nursery-rearing and sustainability of prawn production by assessing

productivity and health of the Malaysian prawn with biofloc technology.

2. Materials and methods

Because the variation of temperature in winter in some areas bordering the Gulf of

Mexico prevents farming of the Malaysian prawn, they remain in a nursery system in a

shadehouse for six months (30 m × 10.5 m × 4.5 m high) covered with a cloth that reduced

sunlight by 90%. The shade cloth reduced light intensity and provided moderation of

temperature.

2.1. Experimental system

The experimental system consisted of four rectangular ponds (R1, R2, R3, R4),

covered with high-density polyethylene (1 mm thick). Each pond was 2 m × 10 m × 1.3 m

deep. The water depth was 0.8 m; each pond contained 20 m3 of water. Aeration was

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constantly supplied with a 2 HP blower connected to a PVC pipe (3.81cm inside diameter),

located on the bottom of the ponds.

The water came from an artesian well (10.16 cm diameter and 6 m deep) connected

to a 2 HP pump through a PVC hydraulic line (5.08 cm inside diameter). Each pond

contained four octagonal mud bricks with three holes (6 cm diameter, 10 cm long m–2

) per

square meter as shelter (Jones and Ruscoe, 2001; Pineda, 2005) and to increase the two

dimensional surface area within tanks, three squares (30 cm × 30 cm) of plastic netting

were hung every 30 cm from parallel support lines above the water surface during

cultivation (Ling, 1969; Valenty & Tidwell 2006) (see Fig. 1).

2.2. Experimental design

A completely randomized design was used with two treatments (types of

cultivation: biofloc, consisting of 3 replicates (R2, R3, R4), and traditional cultivation, the

control, with only one replicate (R1). The lack of sufficient infrastructure made a divivision

of one control pond to three treatment ponds preferable than two in each treatment. We

used 2,960 postlarvae (PL 5) at a stocking density of 740 per replicate (37 org m–2

).

Average initial weight was 0.025 g and average initial length was 1.1 cm. The PL were

purchased from a commercial hatchery.

Four days before stocking the PL, the ponds were filled to 30% capacity and

fertilized with 900 mL liquid chelated fertilizer (Poliquel Multi, Biochemical Group

Mexicano, Saltillo, Mexico) at a concentration of 3 mL per 20 L water to stimulate primary

production and zooplankton (Morlarty and Pullin, 1987). Every day, 1.96 g molasses, at a

C:N ratio of 20:1 for promoting biofloculation and bacterial growth, was added to the three

experimental ponds. Asaduzzaman et al. (2008) state that feed protein contains 16% N and

70% of the nitrogen intake is excreted as ammonium. If the prawns consume 1 kg feed with

35% protein, containing 16% nitrogen, then, the amount of nitrogen consumed by a prawn

is 56 g and the amount of nitrogen excreted by the prawns is ~39.2 g. If the molasses has a

C:N ratio of 20:1, 1 g nitrogen required 20 g carbon; hence, 39.2 g nitrogen required 784 g

carbon. Sierra-De La Rosa (2009) states that molasses contains 40% carbon, so if 784 g C

equal 40%, then 100% will be 1960 g molasses.

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During cultivation, the prawns in the treatment ponds and the control pond were fed

twice daily (09:00 and 16:00 h) with a commercial shrimp diet (Silver Cup, Group El

Pedregal Silver Cup®, Toluca, Mexico) containing 35% protein. The food was distributed

around the perimeter and the central area in the ponds to reduce the bull effect. The food

level was adjusted monthly, based on growth after the initial biomass of prawns during the

first month of cultivation.

2.3. Physicochemical variables in water

Dissolved oxygen (DO; mg/ L), temperature (°C), and pH of the water of the two

treatments were recorded daily at 21:00 (YSI556 MPS multi-probe, YSI, Yellow Springs,

OH). Each week, transparency was determined with a Secchi disk; concentration of

ammonia (NH3-N mg L–1

), nitrites (NO2-N mg L–1

) and nitrates (NO3-N mg L–1

) were

determined by colorimetric tests (Nutrifin kits, Hagen, Baie d’Urfé, QC, Canada). Water

was supplied through a PVC pipe system (10.16 cm diameter), connected to a 2 HP Jacuzzi

pump with PVC pipe (5.16 cm diameter). During the study of the control pond), 30% of the

water was exchanged every third day, and 60% every two weeks to adjust for the

physicochemical variables in the water, such as concentration of ammonia. In treatments

R2, R3, and R4, water was added only to maintain the water level after losses from

evaporation.

2.4. Response variables

Every 30 days, 90 prawns were randomly removed from the control pond and 30

from each of the biofloc (R2, R3, and R4) ponds with a nylon net (1/8 × 20 cm × 45 cm) to

measure 90 prawns per treatment. Prawns were placed on a dry cloth to remove excess

water. Initial length (from tip of rostrum to tip of telson) was measured with a mechanical

caliper (±0.1 cm); juveniles were measured with a ruler. Weight was determined with an

analytical balance.

2.5. Body composition

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At the end of the trial, proximal composition (%) of crude protein, total lipids,

moisture, and ash was determined in triplicate for 10 prawns from each treatment by

standard methods (AOAC, 1990).

2.6. Statistical analysis

Prior to statistical analysis, data were tested for normality and homogeneity of

variances, using the Kolmogorov–Smirnoff and Leven’s test, respectively (Zar, 1999).

Survival data were transformed to arcsin for analysis (Sokal and Rohlf, 2000). Two-way

ANOVA was performed to detect differences between replicates within the same treatment.

To determine the existence of differences between treatments (biofloc and control) for each

of these parameters, two-way ANOVA was used, using treatment and date as fixed factors

(Sokal and Rohlf, 2000; Zar, 1999). For comparison of means, Tukey’s test was used. All

analyses were done using the software (Statistica 7.0, Statsoft, Tulsa, OK). Statistical

significance was set at P < 0.05.

3. Results

3.1. Physicochemical variables in water

Based on ANOVA results, the water quality parameters between replicates (R2, R3,

and R4) in each month were similar for all variables, so they were grouped into a single

biofloc treatment (BT) for subsequent analysis between the control and BT treatments.

ANOVA revealed significant differences between BT and control treatments in all months

for all variables, which were associated with the seasons (Table 1). In general, the water

quality variables for biofloc and control treatments in every month were within the

optimum ranges for cultivation (Table 2).

Dissolved oxygen remained above the optimum for cultivation (>5.5 mg L–1

).

Ammonium, nitrates, and nitrites were below 0.1, 5.0, and 0.25 mg L–1

, respectively, in

both treatments, but temperature and pH, decreased from the fourth month of study, 6 °C

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(27 to 21°C ) and 0.5 pH (8.9 to 8.5) for the biofloc and control treatments from the initial

levels, with no significant fluctuations in pH during the day. Water transparency in the

ponds varied with treatment. The biofloc ponds had lower transparency; which decreased

over time, (from 27.37 ± 2.06 to 7.01 ± 1.52 cm) and in control treatment from (26 ± 3.70

to 36.10 cm).

3.2. Response variables

ANOVA comparisons between treatments and months (Table 3) showed statistical

differences in growth (length and weight), but no interaction between factors. Prawns in the

biofloc treatment were larger than the control treatment during the first five months, but

with no statistical difference. Starting in the sixth month, differences in weight gain and

length were statistically significant, higher in the biofloc treatment than in the control (Figs.

2 and 3).

Survival of prawns was similar in both treatments (ANOVA P < 0.05), suggesting

that there was no effect of density on growth rate and weight gain. The apparent food

conversion ratio of the prawns in the control was significantly higher than the prawns in the

biofloc treatments (Table 4).

3.3. Body composition

Proximate analysis of prawns at the end of the study indicates that BT prawns had

significantly more protein and lipids than CT prawns. CT prawns had more moisture

content and ash. This is an indicator of nutritional condition of the prawns (Table 5).

4. Discussion

4.1. Water variables

Physicochemical parameters were within the range recommended for nursery-reared

Malaysian PL prawns (New and Singholka, 1984), with the exception of the temperature

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which decreased over time. In general, the declining temperature corresponded to the

seasonal changes between July and December, with cold fronts present in November and

December. As cultivation was carried out under shade, the temperature remained within the

tolerance range (15–35 °C) of the species (Fujimura and Okamoto, 1970); however, the

range of temperature was lower than required, and this could affect the growth rate of the

PL and juveniles. Optimal growth and survival indicates a range from 27 to 33 °C (Sandifer

et al. 1983). Sandifer and Smith (1985) report that growth and survival rates decrease when

temperatures are less than 22 °C and greater than 32 °C.

The steady decline in water transparency in BT ponds likely reflects the progressive

formation of bioflocs with the increase of bacteria (Avnimelech and Lacher, 1999). They

suggest that bacterial colonies increase with the amount of food available, derived from

food for the prawns and addition of carbon at a concentration that kept the C:N ratio at

20:1. This encourages bacteria to use prawn waste as nutrients and prevent toxic products

in the culture system (Avnimelech and Lacher, 1999; Asaduzzaman, 2008). In contrast, the

water quality in the CT pond was maintained mainly by constant water changes because

high mortality in indoor nurseries usually result from low levels of dissolved oxygen and

high concentrations of nitrogenous compounds (Zimmermann and Sampaio, 1998). Die-

offs from acute nitrite toxicity in commercial nursery systems occurs when nitrite levels

reach >4 mg L–1

nitrite and ammonia levels reach >3 mg L–1

(Coyle et al., 2010). To

optimize water quality in the BT ponds, it is necessary to provide bacteria (biofloc) to

maintain the concentration of ammonia <1 mg L–1

.

Although we had only one pond for traditional cultivation and this may cause some

uncertainty to the results, important culture conditions as temperature and lightning were

identical in both tanks. Numerous studies have demonstrated benefits of cultivating shrimp

in biofloc-rich water compared with clear water. These benefits include higher growth rate,

higher feed conversion ratio, and supply of various nutrients by the microbial community

(Burford et al., 2004; Moss, 1995; Moss et al., 2006; Wasielesky et al., 2006).

In general, in tanks where biofloc technology is applied, benefits will be higher than

traditional production; however, it is important to maintain control of the concentration of

biofloc (algae, bacteria, and zooplankton within the floc) because it can lead to anoxia.

Wasielesky et al. (2006) show that biofloc culture increases turbidity, as did Beveridge et

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al. (1991), Brune et al. (2003), and Hargreaves (2006). Rakocy (1989) describes a simple

method to maintain the concentration of bioflocules and eliminate solids that cause

turbidity in the culture by using conical-shaped settling tanks in the recirculation systems.

To control sediment and suspended matter, maintaining the concentration of biofloc

requires temperature limits (25.9 ± 2.19 °C), which in our case was maintained with shade

cloth, which moderate insolation (~2500 lux). Lowering temperature regulates metabolism

and growth of microalgae and the composition of their biomass. The optimal range for

growth of most algae is 18–22 °C (FAO, 2008).

4.2. Response variables

Survival of prawns (85%) was similar among treatments and significantly higher

than previous results for nursery prawn systems and outdoor cultivation. Our results in both

intensive treatments were successful. Time in the nursery increased to 180 days, with the

goal of increasing environmental temperature. The prawns were stocked in semi intensive

systems to obtain commercial size rapidly. This is considered important because juveniles

are more resistant to depredation, cannibalism, and fluctuating environmental conditions

than PL (New and Singholka, 1985; New, 2002). Despite stocking densities in indoor

nurseries usually varying from 500 to 6000 PL/m2, depending primarily on the duration of

cultivation (Zimmermann and Sampaio, 1998), in this study an initial density of 37 prawns

m–2

was used because Sandifer et al. (1983) suggests that stocking density should be

inversely proportional to the cultivation period. Higher stocking density typically results in

lower survival and average weight. In this case, we expected survival that permits

commercial cultivation when the initial density was 37 prawns m–2

, which is high relative

to recommendations for semi-intensive and intensive prawn (5–10 and 20 prawns m–2

,

respectively). According to Valenti and Daniel (2000), survival in Malaysian shrimp

farming is 40–60% in commercial operations. In our study, high survival could be an effect

of increased contact area throughout the water column because we used boxes of plastic

mesh suspended in the water and fixed by plastic ropes, as well as shelters placed at the

bottom of tanks; this greatly reduced aggression and cannibalism, especially during

molting. Coyle et al. (2010) states that a substrate in nursery prawn systems decreases the

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energy required for agonistic encounters and may provide additional food resources from

the growth of periphyton on the substrate. Further, artificial substrate increases the amount

of two-dimensional space for prawns in relation to the volume of the tank, yielding higher

survival, production, and feed conversion (Coyle et al., 2010). The growth of prawns in the

BT was significantly high than in the CT, The differences are likely from the biofloc effect

on feeding habits of the PL and juveniles to graze on settled waste or sludge (Coyle et al.,

2010). In cultivation systems, crustacean are feeding continuously and the biofloc system

provides, in agreement with Coyle et al. (2010), prawns prefer natural over commercial

food. Heinen and Mensi (1991) propose the same explanation. It is not necessary to provide

more than one feeding each day for juveniles because prawns graze throughout each 24 h

period on feed colonized by microorganisms, thus providing supplementary food.

Information regarding nutritional requirements of PL and juvenile prawns varies,

depending on the type of feed provided during production. In our study, commercial shrimp

feed was used because there no customized feed is available in the local market. According

to Hari and Kurup (2003), survival of juvenile shrimp increased to 96.7% when fed protein

at 30% and 35% content. For the CT shrimp, the commercial diet could meet essential

requirements, which was the only source of nutrients.

Although the prawns were not raised long enough to reach commercial size (>50 g),

the results are encouraging and indicate that it is possible to raise juvenile prawns in a

nursery shade house during winter, which subsequently allows the prawns to reach

commercial size by spring. Coyle et al. (2010) mention that multi-stage stocking systems

are used to increase pond production, optimize growth, and avoid dominance relationships,

beginning with PL stocked in nursery ponds at 200–400 PL m–2

for 60 to 90 days. Juveniles

(0.3–0.5 g) are then harvested from nursery ponds and stocked at 20 to 30 m–2

in juvenile

ponds. Juvenile ponds are then harvest after 2 to 3 months and monthly thereafter to

remove prawns weighing 9 to 15 g. In our study, we did not use this procedure, so that

lower overall growth was obtained. It is known that growth rate is influenced by

environmental parameters (density, temperature, quality and quantity of the food), but

mainly by genetics. This is important to consider because bloodstock in commercial farms

in Mexico correspond to prawns introduced since 1970 (New and Kutty, 2010). If we take

into account that typical behavior in this species is that dominant males and females lead to

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higher contributions in the next generation, resulting in highly inbred prawns (Lutz, 2001).

This was demonstrated by Sbordoni et al. (1986) in Penaeus japonicus and by Wyban and

Sweeney (1991) in Penaeus vannamei. We suggest that this is what we observed in our

study.

According to Kurup and Prajith (2010), cultivation with biofloc of M. rosenbergii

provides high survival (~87%), and additional shelters allow stocking density that is 200%

higher than customary. The evidence supports the role of biofloc technology, higher

densities of shelters, and shade house systems to yield shrimp production of 200%, without

affecting survival and reducing the “bull effect” Jayachandran (2001), where subordinate

males are attacked by the dominant male. This behavior appeared to decrease with

additional shelters and screens, the latter distributed throughout the water column. Also, if

food is properly distributed along the suspended grid lines, territorial behavior is reduced,

as in our study.

4.3. Body composition

From proximal analysis, protein and lipid levels were higher in prawns in the

biofloc treatment, which have a strong preference for natural food, probably because these

are more efficiently digested, compared to commercial diets. Hence, biofloc material

contributes to better nutrition and feeding efficiency (Ekasari et al., 2010). Additionally, the

biofloc reduces expenditure of energy to find food, which leads to greater storage of energy

in muscle and tissue (protein and lipid), which in turn, reduced the quantity of moisture

present in BT prawns.

Biofloc technology also decreased water consumption during cultivation, compared

to the control. While the traditional cultivation pond used 596 m3 of water to maintain

quality, the biofloc ponds of the same size used only 44 m3 of water to replace losses by

evaporation. This is 7% of the replacement volume used in traditional cultivation. Electrical

power for pumping water was reduced by about 98.8%, which is similar to the finding of

Avnimelech and Lacher (1999), Crab et al. (2007), and Schryver et al. (2008).

5. Conclusions

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Under the conditions of this study, biofloc technology has many advantages for

nursery-reared, postlarval Malaysian prawns, including maintenance of optimal water

quality, survival, less expenditure for water and control of waste, higher nutritional quality,

and smaller impacts on the environment.

Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was provided by PROMEP (Programa de Mejoramiento al

Profesorado, ITBOR-CA-1). J.A.P.F. is a recipient of a graduate fellowship from the

Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología of Mexico (CONACYT 333023).

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Fig.1. Biofloc system experimental pond to cultivate Malaysian prawns.

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Traditional treatment Biofloc treatment

Fig. 2 Comparison (means ± SD) of total weight (g) and total length (cm) of Malaysian

prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii during cultivation in two systems.

1 2 3 4 5 6 Month

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

To

tal L

en

gth

(cm

)

1 2 3 4 5 6 Month

-2

0 2 4

6 8

10

12 14 16

18

To

tal w

eig

ht (g

)

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Table 1

ANOVA results for water quality variables among replicates (R2, R3, and R4) and months

in the biofloc treatment

Probability

Source of variation d.f. T

(°C)

DO

(mg/L)

pH Transparency

(cm)

Length

(cm)

Weight

(g)

Replicates (BT) 2 0.82 0.30 0.60 0.99 <0.45 0.76

Month 5 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01

Replicates × month 10 1.00 0.99 0.86 1.00 0.13 1.00

Error 522

BT = Biofloc treatment

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Table 2

Physicochemical variables of water (mean ± SD) for traditional and biofloc culture of the

prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

T (°C) DO

(mg L–1

) pH Transparency (cm)

Ammonia

(mg L–1

)

Month/

Treat. CT BT CT BT CT BT CT BT CT BT

1

27.79

±0.22a

27.76

±0.76ª

5.85

±0.84ab

5.21

±0.70ª

8.99

±0.23ª

8.92

±0.18ª

26.00

±3.70ª

27.37

±3.99ª* <0.1 <0.1

2

27.30

±0.39ab

27.28

±0.38ab

5.57

±0.82ab

6.03

±0.70ª

8.95

±0.22ab

8.85

±0.15ab

28.94

±3.95ª

37.75

±4.47b <0.1 <0.1

3

27.34

±0.58ab

27.31

±0.57ab

5.89

±2.08ª

5.21

±2.20bc

8.90

±0.11abc

8.81

±0.18b

27.55

±3.17ª

22.94

±3.33c <0.1 <0.1

4

25.86

±0.42c

25.90

±0.52c

6.04

±0.66b

6.08

±0.70ª

8.77

±0.26d

8.70

±0.23c

26.50

±1.50ª

20.62

±1.99c <0.1 <0.1

5

25.20

±1.03c

25.23

±1.10d

5.97

±1.73ab

5.93

±1.69bd

8.72

±0.15d

8.63

±0.12c

31.67

±2.25ª

18.88

±2.41c* <0.1 <0.1

6

21.91

±1.73d

21.95

±1.71e

5.69

±0.48ab

5.77

±0.60ac

8.53

±0.07e

8.51

±0.07d

36.10

±2.06a

7.01

±1.52d* <0.1 <0.1

Opt. value 22–28 4–12 7–9 30–45 <0.1

CT = Control treatment, BT = Biofloc treatment. Letters in the same column with different

superscript denote significant differences between months for each treatment. Asterisk on

the same line within each physicochemical variable indicates significant differences

between treatments in each month.

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Table 3

ANOVA results for length and weight variables

Probability

Source of variation d.f. Length Weight

Treatment 1 <0.01 <0.01

Month 5 <0.01 <0.01

Treatment × month 5 0.72 0.05

Error 1068

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Table 4

Survival, length, weight, and AFCR (mean ± SD) in prawn harvest at the end of cultivation

N = Number of surviving prawns at the end of the study.

GG = Gain in growth.

AFCR = Apparent Food Conversion Rate.

Numbers with different superscripts denote significant differences at P < 0.05.

Treatment N Survival

(%)

Weight

(g)

Length

(cm)

GG

(%)

AFCR

(kg)

Control 632.00 85.40ª 12.57±7.89ª 10.67±2.26ª 48432.81a

2.74ª

Biofloc 631.00 85.31ª 15.18±8.27b 11.54±1.87

b 58510.03

b 2.27

b

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Table 5 Proximal composition (mean ± SD) in prawn harvest at the end of cultivation (six

months)

Proximal analysis (N = 10)

Treatment Moisture Total protein Total lipids Ash

Control 69.57 ± 0.07ª 49.09 ± 0.01ª 10.55 ± 0.01ª 17.67 ± 0.006ª

Biofloc 66.76 ± 0.14b 51.19 ± 0.01

b 13.84 ± 0.01

b 17.00 ± 0.006

b

Protein, lipids, and ash are based on dry weight.

Letters with different superscript denotes significant differences at P < 0.05.

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Highlights

Biofloc and traditional cultivation were compared in Malaysian prawn

Parameters of water (except transparency) and prawn survival, were similar

in treatments

Growth and body composition were higher in biofloc treatment than

traditional.

Biofloc contributes to sustainable use of water, improved growth and

nutritional quality.