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Bio-filters: The need for a new comprehensive approach

Article  in  Aquacultural Engineering · May 2006

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Bio-filters: The need for an new comprehensive approach

Abstract

The aquaculture industry struggles to profit in light of low product prices, increasing costs of inputs and constrains due to
environmental, water and land limitations.
Intensive aquaculture systems are relevant to efficiently produce fish and shrimp. The two important limiting factors of
intensive aquaculture systems are water quality and economy. An intrinsic problem of these systems is the rapid accumulation of
feed residues, organic matter and toxic inorganic nitrogen species. This cannot be avoided, since fish assimilate only 20–30% of
feed nutrients. The rest is excreted and typically accumulates in the water. Often, the culture water is recycled through a series of
special devices (mostly biofilters of different types), investing energy and maintenance to degrade the residues. The result is that
adding to the expenses of purchasing feed, significant additional expenses are devoted to degrade and remove 2/3 of it.
There is a vital need to change this vicious cycle. One example of an alternative approach is active suspension ponds (ASP),
where the water treatment is based upon developing and controlling heterotrophic bacteria within the culture component. Feed
nutrients are recycled, doubling the utilization of protein and raising feed utilization. Other alternatives, mostly based upon the
operation of a water treatment/feed recycling component within the culture unit are discussed.
The present paper was presented in the biofilter workshop held in Honolulu, 8–11 November 2004. The main purpose of this
paper was to raise new ideas and new options toward the planning and operation of intensive fish/shrimp ponds.
# 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Intensive aquaculture; Active suspension ponds; Microbial control

There is a common desire to achieve higher and reasons listed here have different priorities under
higher yields. However, achieving very high yields different conditions.
and getting listed in the Guinness book of records is
not the goal of the aquaculture business. The 1. Environmental regulation prohibiting or limiting
justification for intensification stems in specific water disposal.
culture, environment and economy reasons. Several 2. Bio-security concerns limiting water intake.
3. Water scarcity and/or cost. Conventional aqua-
culture consumes 2–10 m3 water to produce 1 kg
* Tel.: +972 3 7522406; fax: +972 3 6131669. fish. In Israel, for example, water cost is rising to ca
E-mail address: [email protected]. US$ 0.4/m3, i.e. 0.8–4 $/kg fish.

0144-8609/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.aquaeng.2005.04.001
 Y. Avnimelech / Aquacultural Engineering 34 (2006) 172–178 173

Table 1
Schematic presentation of pond intensity levels, approximate annual fish yields and limiting factors
Pond type Intervention Approximate yields Limiting factors
(kg/ha year)
Minimal feed Minimal feeding with grains, <2000 Limits of primary production,
farm and home residues food chain efficiency
Fed ponds Feeding by complete diet pellets 2000–4000 Early morning oxygen
Night time aeration Night time or emergency 4000–10,000 Sludge accumulation,
aerators, 1–5 hp/ha anaerobic pond bottom
Intensive mixed aerated ponds 24 h aeration >20 hp/ha, 20,000–100,000 Water quality control
completely mixed

4. There is a demand for quality control and the potentials of aerated–mixed ponds, water quality
transparency, that are difficult to achieve in has to be controlled.
extensive systems. Three different approaches were used to control
5. Feed utilization may be higher than in conventional water quality:
systems. This may be an important point.
6. In cases where production is close to the market, (a) Replace pond water with fresh water, usually at
space limitation is also of concern. high exchange rates of over five times a day. This
7. Intensification enables easier temperature control. option, though, is in contrast to environmental
8. Intensification and automation may save labor. constrains, bio-security and water scarcity con-
siderations.
However, intensification cost money in both capital (b) Recycle the water through an external unit
investment and operational costs and is not always the (‘‘biofilter’’) that treat and purify the water.
recommended mode of development. (c) Treat water quality within the pond system, using
The evolution of pond intensification can be better algae (partitioned aquaculture ponds) or bacterial
seen in perspective by looking at the whole spectrum communities (e.g. active suspension ponds, ASP).
of pond intensity, as given in Table 1.
Feed, at large does not limit fish growth once fed The use of external bio-filters was practiced
ponds were introduced. The limiting factor in fed successfully for years, in hatcheries, nurseries,
ponds is usually the very low early morning oxygen ornamental fish culturing and to some extent in
concentration. Introducing aeration, though partial culturing of commodity fish. These systems are
and not covering the whole pond area and volume, operative, well tested, proven and can be obtained
provides enough oxygen to some parts of pond and it is commercially. However, they are quite costly, both in
assumed that oxygen is not a limiting factor any more. investment and in operation. As a demonstration, we
The next limitation becomes the high rate of organic can compare municipal waste water treatment plants
matter accumulation on the bottom of the pond, to required bio-filters. Assuming average COD in raw
development of anaerobic conditions and production municipal waste water to be 600 mg/l and waste water
of toxic metabolites (Avnimelech and Ritvo, 2003), production of 300 l/cap day, we get a COD release of
retarding further intensification. This was overcome 180 g/cap day. A town of 10,000 inhabitant has to treat
by thoroughly mixing the pond and aerating it 24 h/ 1800 kg COD/day. In fish farms, feed application is
day, enabling to raise yields to levels not imagined about 20 kg feed day per ton fish. More than half of it
before. is released to the water, i.e. at least 10 kg COD/
Fish (and shrimp) can be grown at very high density ton day. A fish farm holding 180 ton of fish emit about
in aerated–mixed ponds. However, with the increased the same load as the 10,000 inhabitant town. More-
biomass, water quality becomes the limiting factor, over, the standards and demands for fish water
due to the accumulation of toxic metabolites, the most treatment systems are higher than those for waste
notorious of which are ammonia and nitrite. To utilize water treatment. The last ones releases treated water
174 Y. Avnimelech / Aquacultural Engineering 34 (2006) 172–178

having more than 10 mg TAN/l, while in fish farming, The presence of active microbial consortia opens a
less than 1 mg/l is demanded. number of means to control water quality and to
An additional basic feature of the ‘‘biofilter’’ optimize feed utilization. Unlike algae, microbial
approach is the rapid removal of feed residues. population is very stable and active independent of
According the classical biofilter design parameters, light conditions. The metabolism of the organic
one removes as fast as possible any un-used feed or residues in densely populated, aerated and mixed
feed residue, in contrast with the in pond methods, ponds is fast. Microbial breakdown of organic matter
thriving to recycle the non-utilized feed as much as leads to the production of new bacterial cell material,
possible. Feed cost is the biggest component in the amounting to 40–60% of the metabolized organic
cost of producing fish in intensive systems and is matter (Avnimelech, 1999). Nitrogen is needed to
typically, for intensive ponds, in the range of 20–40% produce the protein rich microbial cells. Inorganic
of total production costs (e.g. Losordo and Wester- nitrogen is immobilized when the metabolized organic
man, 1994; Van Wik, 2001). substrate has a high C/N ratio. Adding carbonaceous
Fish nutrition in natural ecosystems or extensive substrate, or the equivalent feeding with a low protein
ponds depends mostly on the natural food web. feed, leads to the diminution of ammonium and other
Moreover, feed materials are naturally recycled in inorganic nitrogen species in the water. Quantitative
those systems. With intensification, the percentage of treatment of the above mentioned processes was
added feed as compared to natural productivity is described by Avnimelech (1999). A point worth adding
rising, up to a total dependence on added feed. With is that the conversion of ammonium to microbial
the immediate disposal of un-utilized feed materials, protein, as such, does not consume oxygen, as com-
recycling within the food web is reduced to practically pared to the high oxygen demand of nitrification, the
zero. alternative mechanism needed to remove ammonium.
Much work was done during the last decades in A proper manipulation of the microbial biomass
order to raise the efficiency of the water quality enables to control water quality, mostly through the
treatment systems (e.g. Wheaton et al., 1994; Hadas conversion of the potentially toxic inorganic nitrogen
and Mozes, 2004) and to raise energy efficiency and species to microbial protein. In turn, the microbial
oxygen uptake efficiency (e.g. Watten, 1994). Not protein may be utilized to feed the fish.
enough attention was paid toward increased feed The ability of tilapia to harvest and utilize the
utilization alone or in tandem with bio-filtration. microbial biomass was demonstrated by using 13C
One example of combining water treatment with enriched cellulose, metabolized by bacteria and
feed recycling in intensive ponds is the development eventually found to enrich fish tissues (Avnimelech
of active suspension ponds, ASP (Avnimelech et al., et al., 1989). The uptake and utilization of microbial
1994; Avnimelech, 2003; Chamberlain and Hopkins, flocs by shrimp was evaluated using N15 tagged flocs
1994; Burford et al., 2003). (Burford et al., 2004) The proportion of daily nitrogen
Intrinsic features of any intensive pond are the high uptake of the shrimp contributed by the natural biota
aeration rates and thorough mixing. These features, was calculated to be 18–29%.
obtained as existing features of intensive ponds, are the An intrinsic problem in intensive ponds is the
ones that we find in almost all biotechnological nitrogen syndrome. Inorganic nitrogen accumulates in
industries, as features maximizing the activity of the pond due to several reasons. Fish metabolize
micro-organisms. An additional characteristic encoura- proteins as an energy source (Hepher, 1988). Fish or
ging microbial dominance in zero or limited exchange shrimp accumulate about 20–25% of protein fed in their
intensive ponds is the accumulation of organic body. The rest is released to the pond as ammonium and
substrates. The organic residues serve as growth organic nitrogen (Boyd and Tucker, 1998). Protein
substrates for bacteria, leading to a transition of the utilization in active suspension ponds is almost
pond to a more and more heterotrophic dominanace. doubled, due to a recycling of the excreted nitrogen
Achieving high heterotrophic biomass and providing into utilizable microbial protein. Avnimelech et al.
optimal conditions toward their activity is an intrinsic (1994) found that protein recovery by tilapia cultured in
trait of intensive ponds with limited water exchange. ASP rises from 23% in the control to 43% in ASP
 Y. Avnimelech / Aquacultural Engineering 34 (2006) 172–178 175

treatment. McIntosh reported on very similar recoveries Un-utilized feed and feed components are discarded
by shrimp (McIntosh, 2000). It is likely that protein in conventional bio-filtered ponds, soon after feed
utilization can be further raised, as indicated by a 63% application. Feed residues have a long hydraulic
nitrogen recovery by shrimp PL growing in an retention in ASP. Food web recycling enable a better
experimental static water microcosm tanks (Velasco utilization of feed. Avnimelech et al. (1994) assumed
et al., 1998). The possibility that grazing of flocs by that feed application in ASP can be 20% lower that
tilapia is independent of feeding was demonstrated in a ponds with a high water exchange rate. Though not
recent study (Avnimelech, un-published). This may be a substantiated, yields were not lower than those of
very important conclusion as to the importance of flocs conventional ponds. It was demonstrated (Panjaitan,
contribution to fish and shrimp culture. 2004) that the feed requirement in ASP shrimp tanks
Protein is a costly component of fish feed. In was reduced to about 70% of that needed in open
addition, there is an environmental concern regarding systems where feed is not recycled and the non-eaten
over-fishing to obtain fish meal based protein. Thus, the portion is wasted. It was observed that fish in ASP tilapia
increased utilization of protein and the resulting lower pond (pond having flocs volume of 20–30 ml/l), were
protein percentage in the feed has major economical not jumping at the feed as fish in conventional ponds,
and environmental implications. Avnimelech et al. though they grew better (Avnimelech, un-published).
(1994) found that feed expenses in ASP, with 20% It seems that this is due to the fact that the fish were
protein in the feed as compared with the conventional feeding continuously in between meals. This observa-
30% led to a lowering of feed expenses from US$ 0.85 tion can be substantiate by the work of Tacon et al.
per kg harvested tilapia to an average of $ 0.56/kg in (2002) finding that the digestive tract of shrimp growing
conventional and ASP systems, respectively. Similar in ASP were full with detritus in-between meals.
results were reported by McIntosh (2001). The feed cost A large fraction, around 50% of the total TSS
in a commercial tilapia farm in California was reduced (Avnimelech, un-published), of the organic suspended
by $ 0.2/kg fish due to the transition from 30 to 20% matter in ponds is found in flocs measuring fractions of
protein (personal communication). a mm and higher (Fig. 1), made of bacteria, algae,

Fig. 1. Flocs in water of tilapia ASP. Floc volume of 30 ml/l, TSS 400 mg/l.
176 Y. Avnimelech / Aquacultural Engineering 34 (2006) 172–178

Fig. 2. Epifluorescence microscope photo of floc from a shrimp ASP, stained with acridine orange. Courtesy of Michele Burford.

inorganic particles and grazing animals, such as ASP systems have some limitations. An excessive
protozoa and zoplankton. The ecology of the flocs is turbidity may have a negative effect on different fish
intriguing and interesting. First, the flocs serve as a species, the sensitivity of which may differ. Excessive
niche containing a highly enriched environment and sludge draining is a mean to control turbidity. Weekly
probably a site responsible to very active series of drainage was practiced in Belize aquaculture for
organic matter transformations. Another interesting and shrimp ponds (McIntosh, 2001) and is practiced daily
probably very significant feature of the flocs environ- of even a few times a day in tilapia ponds (having
ment is their open structure. As seen in elecro- typically a load 10 and more times as compared to
micrographs of flocs (Fig. 2, courtesy of Michelle shrimp ponds) It is not obvious that all cultured fish
Burford, Avnimelech et al., 1982), the floc is made of a species are adaptable to growth in turbid water. ASP
very open, loose and probably very permeable struc- require a higher oxygenation as compared to clear
ture. It seems that unlike the situation in densly packed water ponds, though, about 50% of the additional
biofilms, where the oxygen uptake by heterotrophs may oxygen needed for the microbial metabolism is offset
prevent nitrification (Zhang et al., 1995; Malone, 2003), by the omission of the oxygen requirement for
both intensive heterotrophic activity and nitrification nitrification. In addition, pumping is hardly needed
can take place simultaneously in the flocs. in these ponds. The energy needed for pumping in bio-
Works done in the Oceanic Institute demonstrated filtered ponds is about the same as that needed for
that the quality of microbial based food is high. aeration (Losordo and Westerman, 1994).
Essential amino acid as well as other essential feed It is possible that the design of ASP systems can be
components were found in the flocs at ample levels modified to be made of two compartments, one mainly
(Tacon et al., 2002; Decamp et al., 2003). Microbial for fish culture and the second dedicated to the
flocs contained vitamins and trace metals at levels microbial processes and to a controlled release of
enabling to omit the addition of these growth factors to microbial protein back into the fish compartment.
the feed and thus save about 30% of feed cost. Better turbidity control and higher oxygen transfer
 Y. Avnimelech / Aquacultural Engineering 34 (2006) 172–178 177

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A different approach to the design of intensive ponds as efficient bioreactors for single-cell protein production.
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