Aquaculture Research & Development

The majority of nitrogen present in the fish feed and added to the culture system will be released as a dissolved form into the aquatic system. Ammonia is the principle nitrogenous waste product excreted by aquatic organisms and is excreted across the aquatic organism’s gills into the water. Ammonia levels have to be monitored frequently and carefully managed because ammonia can be highly toxic to aquatic organisms. The good news is simple water quality test kits and procedures using color discs can help the farmer quantify the concentration of toxic ammonia present in the system so informed decisions can be made, if necessary.

A fish farmer operating a recirculating aquaculture system will need to maintain efficient oxygen transfer rates to ensure their fish continue to grow and extend the life of the low pressure aeration system (i.e. regenerative blower).

A large portion of the fish farmer’s operational cost is allocated to the price of the fish diet. The fish diet is fed to increase growth rates and maintain fish health in high-density aquaculture environments. The farmer needs to make sure he or she is optimizing feed use, reducing costs, and minimizing the environmental impact by not overfeeding. In aquaculture, a low Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is particularly desirable to reduce the volume of feed required and thus, reduce production costs and improve farm profitability.