Effects of Microalgae Addition and Fish Feed Supplementation in the Integrated Rearing of Pacific White Shrimp and Nile Tilapia Using Biofloc Technology

SIMPLE SUMMARY: In biofloc technology systems, organic matter and inorganic substances accumulate in the culture unit mainly due to low water exchange, feed input, high stocking densities, and the level of organic carbon that subsequently increase the bacterial biomass. The organic and inorganic matter in suspension are maintained in a limited concentration to avoid negative effects on animal performance and water quality. This requires the occasional removal of excess solids, which produces an effluent enriched in nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The use of integrated aquaculture in which the residues of one species are used as a source of nutrients for another species is an approach which aims to minimize this production of waste. Still, there are aspects of integrated cultures that have to be studied, such as the provision of feed for the different species. Therefore, we evaluated the addition or not of fish feed and microalgae in an integrated shrimp and fish culture regarding animal growth performance and water quality. We found that biofloc is nutritive for fish, but feed is necessary to improve its growth. Moreover, microalgae improved fish survival. However, both of factors did not affect the solids production. ABSTRACT: This study aims to evaluate a Pacific white shrimp and Nile tilapia integrated system using biofloc technology with or without the addition of the microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus and with or without fish feed supplementation in a two-factor 62-day experiment. The shrimp (2.16 ± 0.01 g) were reared under a density of 400 shrimp m(−3) and the fish (1.53 ± 0.12 g) were reared under a density of 522 fish m(−3). The microalgae was added to the culture water two times a week. Growth performance, sludge production, and water microbiology were evaluated. Fish feed and the microalgae addition improved fish final biomass in 58% and 14%, respectively (p < 0.05). Fish survival was significantly higher when microalgae was added (93.9 ± 1.8%) compared with the treatments without microalgae addition (86.2 ± 7.6%) (p < 0.05). The yield of the overall system was higher in the treatments with fish feed supplementation (4.2 ± 0.2 kg m(−3)) compared with no addition (3.9 ± 0.2 kg m(−3)) (p < 0.05). These results suggest that fish feed supplementation at the rate of 1% of the biomass and microalgae inoculation can improve fish growth performance and system yield, without affecting sludge production and water microbiology. This work is an expansion of a conference paper with the same title.