Aquaculture disease control in a recirculating system
Aquaculture disease control is a particular challenge in a recirculating system, where the same water carries bacterial, fungal and parasitic disease from tank to tank. AquaVet Technologies ran a 90-day evaluation in a recirculating system of four 10 cubic metre tanks, each stocked with 300 hybrid tilapia, with infected fish held in disease reservoir tanks. A HydroFLOW® unit treated the incoming water to one healthy tank, Tank IV, before it reached the fish. After 90 days Tank IV had the highest survival of the four tanks, 74%, against 42% in reservoir Tank III, with lower bacterial counts and fewer infection symptoms.
The Challenge
- Aquaculture disease control was difficult because recirculated water spread disease between tanks
- Disease reservoir tanks contained infected tilapia
- Bacterial, fungal and parasitic pathogens could travel through the water
- Untreated tanks suffered higher mortality
- Chemical treatments add cost and environmental impact
The Solution
- Unit installed: one HydroFLOW® unit
- Installation point: incoming water supply to Tank IV, a healthy control tank
- Tanks: four 10 cubic metre tanks, 300 hybrid tilapia in each
- Trial: 90 days, with clinical fish evaluation and bacterial analysis of water samples
The trial was designed to test aquaculture disease control at the point where water enters a tank. Recirculated water from the system reached Tank IV only after passing the HydroFLOW® unit. Fish were evaluated clinically through the 90 days, water samples were taken for bacterial analysis, and survival was compared across all four tanks at the end.
