Healthy shrimp (P. vannamei) provided by the
Shrimp Hatchery of Xiaoshan, China were acclimatized
in two concrete tanks (each measuring
400 cm×150 cm×100 cm), fed the basal diet three
times daily for 2 weeks, then distributed into 12
aquaria at an initial density of 80 shrimps per
aquarium. All shrimps had similar initial weights
(0.66(±0.04) g). The experimental protocol was a
completely randomized design with four treatments
(T1–T3 and Control). Each treatment had three
replicates, and culture was for 28 days.
All shrimps were fed daily at 6:00 h, 14:00 h and
20:00 h. Each day, any remaining diets were collected
by siphoning before feeding. Every third day, each
aquarium was partially cleaned and the water was
partially changed (about 50%).
The aquaria were supplied with flow-through water
that had been filtered through a special cotton filter