Figure 5. Relationship between type of filter medium and bacteria count.
Oxygen concentration. The activity of bacteria is dependent on the level of oxygen saturation, and therefore the rearing water has to be supplied with a sufficient level. Generally, nitrifying bacteria are mainly aerobic and therefore require a high oxygen supply. According to the results of research and experimental trials, the optimal volume of air blowing is 2–3 times the volume of circulating water. In this case, the concentration of oxygen should be in the range of 6–8 mg/l. The concentration of oxygen tend to increase when a proper contact is made between the circulating water and the filter media. The filter media with large surface area per volume is liable to clogging, which may decrease the activity of bacteria.
Water purification (i.e. ammonia oxidation) in the filter media is carried out by the active mud trapped between the spaces of the filter media particles. The active mud occupies one fortieth of total filter media. The daily oxidation of ammonia in the filter media is 0.5 mg ammonia per 1 ml of active mud. The above mentioned purification process is possible, only when sufficient levels of oxygen is supplied. The acquired filter media should be able to retain the mud effectively, which exist in gaps of filter media. A large quantity of mud tend to accumulate in filter media during filtration itself and it has to be regularly removed to maintain the efficiency of water purification. The frequency of mud removal depends on water quality of a given area, however it is normally carried out once a year.
pH of rearing water. The pH is one of the water quality parameter in the circulating filter system that tends to vary with the accumulation of nitric acid. When a fully activated synthetic resin filter media is used in the rearing of eels at a density of 0.5 kg/m3, the pH will drop to about 5.5 in 5 day. Research findings show that the activity of nitric acidification bacteria will be highest when the pH value is 9 and lowers as the pH drops. The effects of pH on ammonia-oxidation, which has been investigated by a number of researchers, are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Effects of pH on ammonia oxidation
pH 8.0 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5
Amount of ammonia removed (mg/m3) 346 329 230 96 83
As shown in Table 2, the amount of ammonia-oxidized falls remarkably at pH values below 6.5 while the process nearly stops at pH values below 6.0. When limestone is used as the filter media, the falling of pH will be limited at 6.2 by the neutralization of limestone. On the contrary, the synthetic resin filter media has no neutralizing capacity and therefore the pH should be adjusted at about 6.5 to 7.0. The suggested amount of base to prevent the rearing water from acidification is given below.
The following relation may be established between acidification equivalent weight (AEW/day) and the amount of water supplied, and the input of base (F g/day) can be calculated from the formula below:
A = 0.92 F × 10-3
For example, the daily inputs of base per 1 kg of crude feed may be:
34 g of calcium hydroxide
26 g of caustic lime
77 g of sodium bicarbonate
If the moisture content is calculated as 70 % of crude feeds, the inputs of base per kg of dry feeds should be 113 g calcium hydroxide, 87 g caustic lime and 257 g by sodium bicarbonate.
Experimental trials have shown that all the bases mentioned above will have no ill effects on rearing of the abalone. It is acknowledged that the stability of neutralization can be fully ensured by calcium hydroxide. The accumulation of organic substances and nitrous acid in case of using sodium bicarbonate is also identified. It is very important to find the correct point of neutralization when such bases are used. For easy and correct operation, the method of suspending calcium hydroxide in a tank fitted with a stirrer is widely used. As the inputs of such bases may vary to the volume of water inlet or its alkalinity, the variation of pH should be measured at the spot to determine the correct inputs of base.
2.3 Synthetic resin filter media
2.3.1 Synthetic resin and other filter media
Comparative purifying efficiencies of several selected filter media are given in Table 3. This table shows the surface area per volume of each filter media and the water quality data collected at the last stages of the experiment. The purifying capacity of synthetic resin filter media differs according to the type used; for example types C, D and E tend to purify better than type A, and E with an overall higher performance.
Table 3. Purification ability of various filter media
Filter media A B C D E
m2/m3 * 135 200 120 150 275
Item
pH 6.1 6.04 6.6 7.3 6.72
BOD (ppm) 6.5 8.6 18.2 16.4 7.9
COD (ppm) 48.8 63.8 60.2 68.8 45.1
NH3-N (ppm) 24.6 10.7 2.37 55.2 0.42
NO2-N (ppm) 1.39 2.82 4.44 13.6 0.27
NO3-N (ppm) 245 153 210 144 231
Hardness CaCO3 ppm 894 332 895 533 970
Alkalinity mg EW/l 0.34 0.44 0.45 1.44 0.41
Plankton level ppm 14.7 15.3 4.0 9.3 7.5
* Surface area/volume
A = 3–5 cm limestone
B = beehive-shaped hexagonal column of vinyl chloride plate
C = piled Saran fibre
D = rough entanglement of yarn-shaped polyprofilyn (1–2 um)
E = compressed mesh-shaped polyethylene film
No difference occurs in the number of bacteria per unit surface area of the above filter media, however the one with the largest surface area per volume obviously has a larger amount of purifying bacteria.
No relation can be established between the surface area per volume and the purifying ability of various filter media. It is believed that the purifying ability of various filter media with the same surface area per volume differs according to the ratio of active mud involved in the filtration process. For example, in the column-shaped filter media B and the fibre filter media D, the active mud is mainly deposited at the bottom. As a result their overall purifying ability cannot be effectively calculated. On the contrary, the limestone filter media A and the synthetic resin filter media C and E have the capacity to retain the active mud between the gaps of filter media itself. The nitrification contribution of active mud should not be disregarded in the purifying ability of a filter medium. Therefore, the accumulation of mud to a degree that the gaps in the filter medium do not become clogged helps the water purification process. Considering all these factors, the synthetic resin filter media used for purifying rearing waters may have the shape of cracked stones with a 200–300 m2/m3 surface area per volume and an optimal gap ratio.
2.3.2 Purifying ability of synthetic resin
A synthetic resin filter media is known to have a greater purifying ability than cracked stones, thus its accurate purification level can be further identified. In a number of experiments, a mesh-shaped synthetic resin filter media has been used to calculate the maximum purifying ability. The water quality variations are investigated and the purifying ability identified by varying the amount of the filter media and feeding quantity.
As shown in Table 4 purification is best when the daily fish feeding rate is 1.6 kg and a filtering surface of 0.4 m3. In other words, one square metre of filter media can purify 4 kg of feeds. The rearing yields are given in Table 5.
When the purifying capacity of limestone and mesh-shaped synthetic resin filter media are compared, the former has a purifying capacity of 1.2–1.5 kg feeds per cubic meter of filter media while 4 kg for the latter one. This means that the purifying capacity of synthetic resin filter media is three times more than that of limestone.
2.4 Water quality control in a circulating filtration rearing system
A rearing unit fitted with a circulating water filtration unit can run efficiently, however the water quality may fluctuate depending on rearing procedures and environmental parameters. Figure 6 shows the level of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and other parameters during the filtration period (continuous line). The dotted line indicates the accumulation of the above parameters due to the malfunction of the filtering unit.
If water “purification” is properly carried out, the BOD, ammonia and nitrite will not accumulate, while only nitrate and COD will. The increase in COD is an indication of a gradual accumulation of organic substances throughout a long rearing period. The increase in COD becomes apparent when the water in the filtration tank becomes orange in colour and frequent foaming occurs, particularly after 2 weeks of culture. If such event occurs, the organic load will exceed the purifying capacity of the filter, and a rapid increase in BOD and ammonia will occur, as the dotted lines indicate in Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Figure 6. Water quality parameters during proper filtration (continuous line) and during malfunction of the filtering system (dotted line).
Table 4. Relation between the amount of filter media, feeding quantity and water quality at the end of the fish rearing stage.
Test section A B C
Amount of filter medium (m3) 0.6 0.6 0.4
Average Food supply (kg/day) 1.4 1.8 1.6
pH 6.62 6.7 6.89
BOD (ppm) 11.1 3.9 10.2
COD (ppm) 54.8 59.8 47.5
NH3+NH4+-N (ppm) 0.41 0.37 0.39
NO2-N (ppm) 0.26 2.20 0.51
NO3-N (ppm) 273 343 336
Hardness CaCO3 ppm 1096 1446 1446
Table 5. Rearing yields of fish using different amounts of filter medium and daily feed input (Refer to Table 4).
Test section Start of culture End of culture
Filter type
A B C A B C
Number of fish 683 1088 677 681 1083 669
Total Weight (kg) 56 99 84 86.1 131.1 119.7
Ind. Weight (g) 81.6 90.6 124.1 126.4 124 179.7
Increase Weight (g) 30.1 32.1 35.7
Increase ratio (%) 153 132 142
Feed supplied (kg) 42.5 50 56.1
Feed efficiency (%) 72 72.8 85.4
Daily growth rate (%) 1.46 1.12 1.09
Daily feed intake (%) 2.0 1.53 1.57
The permissible limits of chemical parameters are used as an indication for water quality deterior