environmental and energy requirements forndifferent production densities of nile tilapia(oreochromis niloticus) in recirculating aquaculture systems: laboratory and computer r simulation studies

Description

A Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) attempts to provide sustainable utilization of the available water resources by reducing water pollution and water acquisition costs. Improper matching of RAS components yields inflated cost of production and consequently leads to system failure. The significant challenges in RAS are to maintain favorable water quality for the fish and create conducive conditions that minimize the cost of energy required. In Kenya, many Recirculating Aquaculture Systems have not been able to strike a balance between the optimal levels of water parameters and the cost of energy required to run the system. This study, therefore, aimed at evaluating environmental and energy requirements for different production densities of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in a RAS. In this study, both production density and water flow rates were varied, and water quality parameters namely Dissolved oxygen, ammonia, pH, EC, and temperature monitored. Tilapia stocking densities were varied between 2.3 kg/m3 and 10 kg/m3 while flow rate was varied from 2.0 L/min and increased at intervals of 1 L/min to a flow rate of 10 L/min. The energy consumed for the different stocking densities and flow rates was also monitored using installed electricity meters.