Article & Photos by Scott Day
In agriculture, and all aspects of society today, we are striving towards intui-
tive ideas which can be used to increase efficiency, decrease waste and still
ensure a wallet full of buffaloes.
A
quaculture is no differ-
ent, and with an average
annual growth rate of
close to 9% over the last
3 decades, it has risen to supply
more than 50% of seafood eaten
worldwide. With the collapse of
around 85% of the world’s wild fish
stocks and driven by this despera-
tion for a solution, we have seen
aquaculture at the forefront of in-
novation and technology.
Through its development, aquacul-
ture has had its fair share of time in
the limelight, with concerns raised
around the environmental degrada-
tion it has caused as well as the use
of more fishmeal to produce a kg of
fish. But with the industry being
driven by innovation and technolo-
gy, many of these old fashioned
The recycling of nutrients in a Biofloc system
problems have been solved and to-
day we can produce species such as
Tilapia and Carp (the 2 largest aq-
uaculture fish species produced)
without a trace of fishmeal.
From this ethos rooted in innova-
tion, and taking into account cur-
rent global challenges such as food
security, water security and the en-
vironmental impact of develop-
ment, the concept of Biofloc Tech-
nology was born.
It deviates from the conventional
ways of thinking, and starts off by a
plastic lined pond or tank being
filled with water a month or so be-
fore you plan to introduce fish. This
would generally be done early on
after the winter, so that you can
maximize your warmer growing
season when using species such as
Tilapia. The size of the water body
varies from ponds of more than a
hectare to round tanks 2m in diam-
eter. The water is then fertilized
throughout the month with a
source of Nitrogen as well as a Car-
bon source. This can be done with a
normal NPK Nitrogen fertilizer or an
organic fertilizer, and you can add
the carbon through any carbohy-
drate source such as maize meal,
flour, molasses etc. You want to
add 0.5-2.5mgN/l which equates to
about 5-25kg/ha pond of 1m deep.
This is done to fuel the microbial
growth in the system, and start pro-
ducing the flocs which are clumped
together collections of microorgan-
isms up to 2mm in diameter and
are suspended in the water. In or-
der to keep the flocs in suspension
and to provide for the oxygen
Imhoff cones with varying levels of
biofloc
needs of the fish and the microor-
ganisms in the water, good aera-
tion and agitation is fundamental.
The placement of aerators, usually
paddle-wheels, within the pond
must be thought through to pre-
vent the flocs from settling in an un
-agitated area of the pond. The de-
sign of the tank or pond must also
allow you to effectively drain the
excess heavy sludge which does
settle out on the bottom.
As the Biofloc starts to develop in
the system, the water colour starts
off by turning green as an algae
bloom is induced, and although
algae does play an important role in
a Biofloc system, it is heterotrophic
bacteria which you want to domi-
nate the microbial community. Het-
erotrophic bacteria are usually lim-
ited by the supply of Carbon within
a pond, and works best off a C:N
ratio of 10-20:1. By adding a car-
bon source to the water, you effec-
tively allow the heterotrophic bacte-
ria to multiply and dominate the
system, which becomes character-
ised by the water turning brown. In
brief, heterotrophic bacteria uses
the excess nitrogen in the system
which is supplied by your fertilizer
at first, and then from the uneaten
feed and excreta from the fish. It
removes these potentially toxic ni-
trogen compounds from the water,
A well mixed, well aerated system.
as a biofilter does in a normal Recir- litre of water is given 20 minutes to
culating Aquaculture System (RAS). settle in the cone, the level of the
Together with the carbon source, biofloc can be measured and
the bacteria then incorporates the should be around 50ml/l for Tilapia.
nitrogen into microbial protein in
The stocking density of a biofloc
the form of the flocs, which filter
pond is generally around 15-30kg
feeding fish such as Tilapia and
fish / m³ at harvest, and should be
Shrimps are able to consume. The
worked back to calculate how many
flocs typically have a dry-weight
fingerlings are needed to initially
protein content of 30-45%.
stock your pond, given its size and
So in effect, you enhance the use of the size at which you plan to har-
heterotrophic bacteria to control vest the fish.
your nitrogen levels and produce a
Biofloc Technology offers clear op-
supplementary microbial food
portunities as a Tilapia industry will
source which can allow you to save
begin to develop in South Africa.
up to 40% of your feed costs by
Setup and running costs are low as
simply recycling the nutrients. The
no external filtration, pumping of
key is to provide a favourable envi-
water; better heat conservation as
ronment for the heterotrophic bac-
well as savings on feed becomes a
teria through a well mixed, well
reality. The low environmental im-
aerated water body with an addi-
pact further punts this green tech-
tional carbon source and of temper-
nology to play a role in providing a
ature from 20-35 degrees Celsius.
good, cheap source of protein to
Monitoring the key water parame- our hunger stricken continent.
ters is an important aspect of a Bio-
Please feel free to contact me with
floc system. Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammo-
any questions or where I may be
nia, Turbidity and Total Suspended
able to assist you. I would recom-
Solids (TSS) should be measured at
mend reading Biofloc Technology,
least once every 2 weeks with dis-
A Practical Guide Book by Yoram
solved oxygen, temperature and pH
Avnimelech to anyone interested.
monitored daily. The level of the
biofloc can be measured as TSS and
through the use of an Imhoff cone Scott Day is an Aquaculture Masters
which is a glorified rain gauge with Student, Stellenbosch University.
a different scale on the side. After 1
e-mail: scottday.aqua@gmail.com
A biofloc pond within a tunnel