In the last few decades, production of shrimp prawn and other crustaceans, has been negatively affected by diseases and environmental concerns over the effluent and the high water exchange. Also the possible introductions of harmful pathogens are issues of concern, and the damage to the mangroves.
Our company maintains an indoor bio-secure research shrimp farm. Our research centre includes several experimental bio-floc systems with controlled conditions; we do research at high intensive bio-floc minimum exchange shrimp farming. We are developing an intensive culture system for shrimp, prawn and crustaceans.
We also provide contract research for third parties: please contact us for more information.
- Microbial community management.
- Recycling of waste within the system.
- Feed trials.
- Optimize aeration systems.
- Optimize sticking densities in production tanks.
- Design of the experimental protocol
- Production of small batches of experimental diets (cold extrusion, pelleting, extrusion, vacuum coating, crumbling and sieving)
- Feed trials at the CreveTec-AFT Research station
- Attractability tests
- Draft of report and/or publication
We have 20 nets of 150 L available every net is equipped with a 24 hours belt feeder. These nets can be submerged into two different tanks. We can use different salinity’s and water temperature. Every tank is equipped with a bio-floc reactor for maintaining water quality with or whit out bio-flocs.
Our goal is to develop and optimize this way of shrimp farming worldwide. We want to farm shrimp, prawn and other crustaceans in the most ecological way and with minimum impact on the environment. The shrimp is farming in a tank-pond with heavily aeration of the water, the recycling of the waste is being done in the middle of the tank, pond or in an external pond, tank with a bio-floc reactor. In the reactor micro organisms are maintained in suspension where they form flocs. Organic material and nutrients are adsorbed and/or assimilated by the flocs. Operation of a reactor consists of several stages. There are also substrates in the tank-pond to increase stocking densities and to provide an in situ bio filtration. After harvest in an indoor shrimp farm the flocs form the reactor are being dewatered and can be processed into a feed pellet or fed directly to shrimp. The rest of the water is being re-used again. In outdoor pond farming the water is drained after harvest to natural treatment ponds where it settles for a couple of days for its being re-used again.
Bio-floc shrimp farming encourages a bacterial community in the pond or raceway. Once established and maintained, bacteria-dominated ponds or raceways are more stable than algae-dominated ponds. The bacteria accumulate in clumps called flocs, more about flocs in a moment, and gobble up the nitrogenous wastes ten to a hundred times more efficiently than algae, they work night and day, pay little attention to the weather—and turn those nitrogenous wastes into high-protein feed for the shrimp.
Bio-flocs consist of variety of bacteria, funghi, microalgae, and other organisms suspend with detritus in culture water. Flocs treat and bio convert both dissolved and particulate wastes into microbial biomass. Flocs play roles in water treatment and natural food production, reducing feed and disposal waste costs.
Sizes can range from a few to several thousands µm. Main biological constituents:
|--||Floc forming bacteria e.g Zoogloea|
|--||Predating micro-organisme like: Protozoa, Rotifers|
Various compositions depending on environmental factors C/N-ratio, predation, light, shear rate, temperature etc.
|--||10-90 % percent is living|
|--||C/N ratio= 10 C/N = Carbon-Nitrogen|
|--||Concentration: from a few to 40 g/dm3 ( Imhoff cones )|
Bio-floc shrimp farming works anywhere: in the tropics, in temperate climates, in the desert, close to town, in buildings and in greenhouses. "It promises to be the future of environment friendly shrimp farming in the world"
There is still much research to do.... But we hope we can work together with aquaculture farmers and make a great future for bio-floc minimum exchange shrimp farming in the world.