Mean TSS concentration in the high solids treatment remained above 300 mg/L and water retained its brown color throughout the study (Fig. 2). In the low solids treatment, mean TSS concentration remained around 200 mg/L through day 123, after which it increased slowly to 403.3 mg/L by day 151. The recommended range of TSS for channel catfish is 282–427 mg/L (Green et al., 2014).Mean chlorophyll a concentrations were similar in both treatments during the first 55 days, after which treatments diverged and chlorophyll a concentration increased linearly (P < 0.001,R2= 0.721) to a mean final concentration of 2251.7 mg/m3 in the low solids treatment (Fig. 2). The low solids concentration allowed sunlight to penetrate deeper into the water column, which stimulated algal growth. Similarly high chlorophyll a concentrations were reported during the summer and fall in a channel catfish BFT production system (Schrader et al., 2011).