Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.

) 46 : 751 - 758 (2012)

Dissolved Oxygen Budget for Pacic White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) Culture in Earthen Ponds
Monton Anongponyoskun1,*, Apiradee Choksuchart1, Jintana Salaenoi1 and Porcham Aranyakananda2

ABSTRACT Dissolved oxygen (DO) is one of the important factors which affect the quantity and quality of Pacic white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) grown under intensive culture in earthen ponds. The aim of this research was to develop a model of the dissolved oxygen budget for shrimp culture for 5 mth during May to September 2009 (the rst month for water preparation, the other months for nurture). The method was based on the conservation of mass. Empirical experiments were used to consider: 1) water oxygen production, 2) aeration by paddle wheel and 3) oxygen uptake in sediment, shrimps and water. The oxygen uptake in sediment increased each month, with a range of 0.030.11 mg.L-1.hr-1. The oxygen production and oxygen consumption by water were highest in the third month, and decreased in the fourth and fth months, with a range of 0.130.51 and 0.060.33 mg.L-1.hr-1, respectively. Oxygen consumption by shrimps in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th months was 0.04, 0.06, 0.17 and 0.19 mg.L-1.hr-1, respectively, and the average wet weight of shrimps was 1.8 0.8, 6.8 0.8, 15.8 1.3 and 21.2 1.3 g, respectively. The aeration rate by a paddle wheel was in the range 0.10.3 mg.L-1.hr-1. When all parameters were applied in the model, the predicted DO agreed with the observed DO with a correlation coefcient value of 0.9, which indicates that the assumption inherent in the DO budget processes was valid for the DO production and consumption in the pond. Keywords: dissolved oxygen budget, Pacic white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), aeration INTRODUCTION Analysis of the dissolved oxygen (DO) content, which is the major element for studying ways of water pollution control, should be done for the sake of all aquacultural activities. In fact, oxygen is an important limiting factor in aquaculture because all aquatic organisms, with the exception of some bacteria, have to consume oxygen in order to survive and to grow. Thus, an adequate quantity of oxygen for consumption is one of the important factors for all of aquatic organisms. The DO levels within nature are dependent on the physical, chemical and biochemical activities prevailing in the water body. Low DO levels could cause reduced feeding activity and also mortality in all aquatic animals. DO rules various biochemical processes of water quality, such as the nitrication process, denitrication process and organic compound degradation processes that occur within aquaculture. The control parameters of the DO

1 2

Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand. Aquatic Resources Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Corresponding author, e-mail: fsmta@ku.ac.th

Received date : 11/04/12

Accepted date : 10/09/12

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content in water are oxygen uptake by sediment, oxygen production by photosynthesis, oxygen consumption by aquatic animals, biochemical activity in water and aeration (Metinapituk, 2004). The main objective of this study was to develop a one dimensional model of the DO budget of Pacic white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) culture in an earthen pond which was studied by Ghosh and Tiwari (2008). The parameters applied were sediment oxygen uptake, water oxygen production, water oxygen consumption, respiration of shrimps and aeration, which were obtained from the empirical experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS The method was based on the conservation of mass. This study focused on the DO budget of Pacic white shrimp culture in an earthen pond that was assumed to be a closed system. The DO budget relation (Romaire et al., 1978) in the earthen pond is dened by Equation 1: Net DO = amount of DO contained + sources and sinks of DO (1)

Physical condition of pond and water quality The physical pond was a rectangular area of approximately 0.5 ha. The sediment base was laterite and clay. The average depth was approximately 1.5 m with a seawater storage height in the range 0.91.2 m and salinity in the range 1015 measured in practical salinity units. Three sets of paddle wheel aerators were installed as shown in Figure 1. Pacic white shrimp were nutured for 5 mth with the rst month for water preparation and the other months for culture. The water samples were collected once a month at ve stations 0.5 m below the water surface. American Public Health Association (1980) techniques were used to measure the water quality by analyzing: suspended solids (SS, mg.L-1), salinity (practical salinity units), temperature (C), pH, PO43- (M), NO3--N (M), NO2--N (M), and NH3-N (M). The monthly average water quality of the water samples was used to represent the water quality of the pond during culture. The DO content was collected once a month every hour for 24 hr at the ve stations. The average DO concentrations of the ve stations were used to represent the DO concentration each hour in the pond for model calibration.

Paddle wheel aerator

St. 4

Paddle wheel aerator

St. 1 St. 5 St. 2 St. 3

70 m

Paddle wheel aerator

56 m 1.5 m

Figure 1 Pond design and water sampling stations (St. = Station).

Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 46(5)

753

Sources and sinks of dissolved oxygen The DO concentration in an aquaculture pond deviates from the saturation values because of various biological, physical, and chemical processes. The concentration at any time depends on the relative rates of ve parameters (Boyd, 1982; Anongponyoskun and Sasaki, 1996)namely, 1) sediment oxygen uptake, 2) photosynthesis, 3) plankton respiration, 4) animal respiration and 5) air-water gas transfer. In this study, the oxygen production rate by water, the oxygen uptake rate by sediment, water and shrimps, and the aeration rate of the paddle wheel which were obtained from the empirical experiments were considered as the main of sources and sinks of DO. All parameters were applied into the DO budget model. Each parameter condition is shown below. Rate of oxygen uptake in sediment Estimation of the oxygen uptake rate in sediment was developed by Vichkovitten and Inoue (1997a). An experiment was performed using a PVC tube, diameter = 10 cm, length = 25 cm, which was covered by a plastic lid. A DO meter (model 55; YSI Co. Inc.; Yellow Springs, OH, USA) and a small water mixing instrument were inserted through a small hole made in the lid. After all instruments had been installed, the plastic lid was completely sealed with silicone to create airtight conditions. The plastic tube which contained the sediment from the pond and pasteurized water were placed in a 300 L plastic tank. The DO concentration in the PVC tube was measured every 10 min for 3 hr. The sediment oxygen uptake rate (B, mg.L-1.hr-1) in the pond could be estimated using Equation 2: B = by Vx D y D x Vy (2)

the PVC tube (m3) and Vy is the water volume in the pond (m3). Rate of oxygen production and oxygen consumption by water The oxygen production and oxygen consumption rate by aquatic organisms in the water were measured by the light and dark bottle technique (American Public Health Association, 1980). Measurements were recorded three times (at 0900 hours, 1200 hours and 1500 hours) once a month. The monthly average oxygen consumption rate (Wa) throughout a day was represented in the DO budget. The monthly average oxygen production rate (Wb) was represented in the DO budget only during daytime (0600 hours1800 hours). Rate of oxygen consumption by shrimps The oxygen consumption rate by shrimps was developed by Napeeapatlaw and Ubierneamit (1989) and Vichkovitten and Inoue (1997b). In order to reduce shrimp stress, trapped shrimps were acclimatized for one day in the plastic tank before putting them in the respiration chamber. In the chamber, a 3 L dark stained glass box was fully lled with water and covered by a glass plate. A DO meter (model 55; YSI Co. Inc.; Yellow Springs, OH, USA) and a small water mixing instrument were inserted through a small hole made in the glass cover. After these small instruments had been installed, the cover was completely sealed with silicone in order to prevent the dissolution of external oxygen into the closed chamber. Then, the chamber was put into a 300 L plastic tank, fully lled with water, in order to control the temperature. Data on the oxygen consumption of shrimp were collected every 10 min using the DO meter until the amount of dissolved oxygen decreased to 3.5 mg.L-1. The decreasing DO concentration which related to time was used to estimate the rate of oxygen consumption by shrimps (R, mg.L-1.hr-1) in the pond using Equation 3:

where by is the sediment oxygen uptake rate in the PVC tube (mg.L-1.hr-1), Dx is the cross section area of the PVC tube (m2), Dy is the surface bed area of the pond (m2), Vx is the water volume in

754 Vy N R = ry x Vx N y

Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 46(5)

(3)

where ry is the shrimp oxygen consumption rate in the chamber (mg.L-1.hr-1), Nx is the number of shrimps in the chamber (individuals), Ny is the number of shrimps in the pond (individuals), Vx is the water volume in the chamber (m3) and Vy is the water volume in the pond (m3). Aeration rate by paddle wheel Using an aerator, it takes only a short time for oxygen to reach the bottom of a pond and destroy the water stratication. The rate of oxygen movement between air and water is described by the gas transfer equation (Boyd, 1982). The aeration rate relates linearly to the difference between the measured DO concentration and DO concentration at saturation. Where a very short time interval is considered and the DO difference is stable, the gas transfer equation can be simplied so that the rate of aeration (Oa, mg.L-1.hr-1) is dependent on time as shown in Equation 4: Oa = dC C C2 C1 = = dt t t 2 t1 (4)

predict the DO concentration during Pacic white shrimp culture. The net DO concentration (DOt , mg.L-1) at time t could be written using Equation 5 as: DOt = DOt1 (Bt) (Rt) (Wat) + (Wbt) + (Oat) (5) where B is the sediment oxygen uptake rate (mg.L -1 .hr-1 ), R is the oxygen consumption rate by shrimps (mg.L-1.hr-1), Wa is the oxygen consumption rate of water (mg.L-1.hr-1), Wb is the oxygen production rate by water (mg.L-1.hr-1) during 0600 hours1800 hours, Oa is the aeration rate by three paddle wheel aerators (mg.L-1.hr-1) and t is the time step (1 hr). The assumed conditions of the DO budget model were: 1) well mixed water in the pond, 2) monoculture pond, 3) same sized shrimps, 4) monthly xed number of shrimps and 5) at t = 1, DOt1 (mg.L-1) = initial DO concentration in the pond at 0000 hours (O0). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Water quality and parameters of dissolved oxygen budget The water quality during nurture is shown in Table 1. The water quality as measured by the salinity, temperature and pH were nearly stable whilst SS, PO43-, NO3--N, NO2--N, and NH3-N increased monthly. The results show that nutrients were increasing during culture. This would affect the water quality, oxygen consumption and environment of the pond. This inuence would reduce the survival rate and growth rate of shrimps, and at the same time risk damaging the culture system. The DO content in the water indicates the production capacity of the pond. The initial DO decreased over the total duration of nurturing in the range 3.16.7 mg.L -1 . The sediment oxygen uptake rate gradually increased during the experiment in the range 0.030.11 mg.L-1.hr-1.

where C1 is the DO concentration at time t1 (mg.L-1) and C2 is the DO concentration at time t2 (mg.L-1). Three paddle wheel aerators were installed in the pond. Before measuring the DO concentration, the aerators were turned off for 5 hr. After turning on the aerators, the DO concentration was measured at the ve stations every 30 min for 4 hr by a DO meter (model 55; YSI Co. Inc.; Yellow Springs, OH, USA). The whole experiment was performed during night time. The rate of aeration in the pond was determined. The monthly average aeration rate of the ve stations was applied in the DO budget. DO budget relationship The relationship of the DO budget developed by Ghosh and Tiwari (2008) was used to

Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 46(5)

755

The rate of oxygen consumption by the shrimps was in the range 0.040.19 mg.L-1.hr-1. The oxygen production rate by water was in the range 0.130.51 mg.L-1.hr-1. The oxygen consumption rate by water was in the range 0.060.33 mg.L-1. hr-1. The rate of aeration by the paddle wheel aerators was in the range 0.10.3 mg.L-1.hr-1 as shown in Table 2. Boyd (1990) estimated the sediment oxygen uptake rate in a pond to be in the range 0 0.16 mg.L -1.hr-1, the oxygen consumption rate by water in the range 01.6 mg.L-1.hr-1, the oxygen production rate by water in the range 01.6 mg.L-1.hr-1, the sh respiration rate in the range 00.2 mg.L-1.hr-1 and the aeration rate in the range 00.25 mg.L-1.hr-1; all parameters of the DO budget in the current study were within these ranges. The main parameters of the DO budget seemed to be the oxygen production rate and Table 1 Water quality during 5 mth culture. Parameter 1

the oxygen consumption rate by water which had maximum rates of 0.51 mg.L-1.hr-1 and 0.33 mg.L-1.hr-1, respectively, in the third month of nurture. Metinapituk (2004) reported that the amount of phytoplankton mainly affected the DO concentration in a pond. During nurture, there was a continually increasing amount of suspended solids, while the oxygen production rate by water and the oxygen consumption rate by water decreased in the 4th and 5th months of culture. Sunshine could not penetrate through the depth of water in the pond which might have affected the growth of phytoplankton (Boyd, 1982; Prawitwilaikun, 2004). Pacic white shrimp respiration could be calculated by a general predictive equation (Choksuchart and Anongponyoskun, 2010) as shown in Equation 6 with a correlation coefcient value (R) of 0.92:

Salinity (practical salinity units) 15 Temperature (C) 30.5 pH 7.1 SS (mg.L-1) 0.03 0.01 3PO4 (M) 5.6 2.4 NO3--N (M) 1.5 0.4 NO2 -N (M) 0.23 0.05 NH3-N (M) 1.3 0.9
Values are shown as mean SD.

Month of culture 3 4 14 14 14 31.3 32.8 32.2 7.9 7.9 7.5 0.04 0.02 0.12 0.01 0.14 0.01 8.3 2.4 4.9 1.8 4.9 2.6 2.7 0.5 6.0 1.8 35.8 10.1 0.27 0.05 3.01 0.99 4.20 1.72 2.6 1.2 7.4 3.0 25.2 6.6 2

5 13 31.6 7.8 0.20 0.03 12.8 2.1 26.5 14.1 5.30 0.36 33.9 7.8

Table 2 Parameters of dissolved oxygen (DO) budget for 5 mth culture.

Parameter 1 O0 (Initial DO in the pond at 0000 hours, mg.L-1) B (oxygen uptake rate in sediment, mg.L-1.hr-1) Number of shrimps (individuals) Average weight of shrimp (g) R (oxygen consumption rate by shrimps, mg.L-1.hr-1) Wb (oxygen production rate by water, mg.L-1.hr-1) Wa (oxygen consumption rate by water, mg.L-1.hr-1) Oa (Aeration range, mg.L-1.hr-1) Values are shown as mean SD. 6.7 0.030.0 0.250.04 0.170.04 0.1 Month of culture 3 4 6.2 5.2 3.1 0.050.01 0.060.01 0.100.01 2.6105 2.2105 1.8105 1.8 0.8 6.8 0.8 15.8 1.3 0.04 0.06 0.17 0.360.07 0.510.18 0.360.08 0.260.02 0.330.09 0.240.06 0.1 0.2 0.3 2 5 3.9 0.110.01 1.4105 21.2 1.3 0.19 0.130.04 0.060.0 0.3

756 ry = 0.352W0.884

Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 46(5)

(6)

where W is the average body weight (g). The rate of oxygen consumption by shrimps in the pond was related to the body weight of the shrimp and the number of shrimps. When the body weight increased, the rate of oxygen consumption of the shrimps increased. During culture, the number of shrimps continually decreased until the end of nurturing, with half of them dying during the 5 mth of the experimental period. This impact would have affected the rate of oxygen consumption by shrimps in DO budget that gradually increased. When the DO concentration in water is below 70% of the saturation level, aeration is required (Boyd, 1990). The aeration rate depends on the difference in the oxygen partial pressures between the liquid and gas phases. The difference in oxygen partial pressures between water and air would be accreted by the increasing respiration rate of shrimps during the nurture. As shown in Table 2, while the monthly DO0 was decreasing, the rate of aeration was increasing over the total duration of culture. Calibration of dissolved oxygen budget model When the empirical data in Table 2
Predicted DO concentration (mg.L-1)

were substituted in the DO budget, it seemed that the main parameters which affected the DO budget were the oxygen production and oxygen consumption by water. During daylight, phytoplankton in the aquaculture pond produced oxygen while during night time, respiration by shrimps, phytoplankton and the other pond organisms caused the DO concentration to decline. The net daily oxygen decit would be exacerbated by the oxygen production rate that decreased in the 4th and 5th months of nurture. The suspended solids might reduce the oxygen production of water and contribute to oxygen supply decits due to reduced solar radiation and reduced light penetration of the water due to turbidity. Agreement between the measured and predicted DO values each hour was well with acceptable levels for management purposes. The whole day of comparative data were tted by simple linear regression (Figure 2) with an R value of 0.9. The result shows that the DO budget model could be applicable to crustacean culture systems, providing a reliable model of the DO budget for estimating whole day oxygen consumption by the cultured organism were available. The model could be modied to include components which satisfy the water quality and environment in the ponds. The simulated response

10

5 y = 0.89x + 0.49 R = 0.9 0 0 5 10

Measured DO concentration (mg.L-1)

Figure 2 Relationship between the measured dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and the predicted DO concentrations (R = correlation coefcient).

Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 46(5)

757 LITERATURE CITED

of the DO system to those added components could then be ascertained. It could be applicable to other aquacultural systems, provided that reliable data on target sh respiration are available. Furthermore, farmers could calibrate the DO budget for a particular set of environmental conditions and then alter certain variables such as the number of stock and the sources and sinks of the DO content, to gain insight into the potential system response under different management strategies. The DO budget of Pacic white shrimp culture in an earthen pond could be a wise way of predicting estimates of the amount of oxygen in an aquacultural system as it is essential, basic knowledge for the successful management of an intensive aquacultural system. Moreover, farmers could apply this technique to improve and manage their aquacultural systems in order to increase production. CONCLUSION The DO budget of Pacic white shrimp culture in an earthen pond had parameters of: 1) sediment oxygen uptake rate, 2) oxygen production and oxygen consumption rate by water, 3) oxygen consumption rate by shrimps and 4) aeration rate by aerators. The results of the DO concentration estimates from the DO budget model and the eld observation corresponded and were acceptable. The DO budget model could be an important instrument for estimating the capability of the DO concentration in order to gain sustainable production and to preserve the environment of the earthen pond at the same time. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to thank Mr. Sombat Inkong for the generous research fund support and the Thai Union Feed Mill Co. for support with the experimental eld.

American Public Health Association. 1980. American Public Health Association Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 15th ed. APHAAWWA-WPCF. Washington, DC, USA. 1,000 pp. Anongponyoskun, M. and T. Sasaki. 1996. Numerical calculation of DO distribution in Yashima Bay, Japan. Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 30: 139155. Boyd, C.E. 1982. Water Quality Management for Pond Fish Culture. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 319 pp. Boyd, C.E. 1990. Water Quality in Ponds for Aquaculture. Alabama Agricultural experiment Station. Auburn University, AL, USA. 482 pp. Choksuchart, A. and M. Anongponyoskun. 2010. The relationship between fresh body weights and respiration rate of small Pacic White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), pp. 9298. In The Proceedings of 48th Kasetsart University Annual Conference. Bangkok, Thailand. Ghosh, L. and G.N. Tiwari. 2008. Computer modeling of dissolved oxygen performance in greenhouse fishpond: An experimental validation. Int. J. Agri. Res. 3(2): 8397. Metinapituk, S. 2004. Oxygen Dynamics of Black Tiger Shrimp Intensive Culture Ponds. Masters thesis. Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. Napeeapatlaw, C. and S. Ubierneamit. 1989. To change the rate of oxygen consumption of shrimp, p. 36. Technical Paper No. 24/2532, National Institute of Coastal Aquaculture. Prawitwilaikun, O. 2004. A Comparison of Rearing Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei Boone, 1931) in Earthen Ponds and in Ponds Lined with Polyethylene. Masters thesis. Kasetsart University, Bangkok.

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Romaire, R.P., C.E. Boyd and W.J. Collis. 1978. Predicting nighttime dissolved oxygen decline in ponds used for Tilapia culture. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 107(6): 804808. Vichkovitten T. and H. Inoue. 1997a. Dissolved oxygen environments of the fish farm in Yashima Bay, Japan I. Primary productivity of sea water. Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 31: 385391.

______. 1997b. Dissolved oxygen environments of the sh farm in Yashima Bay, Japan II. Respiration of globesh (Takifugu rubripes). Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 31: 465472.