Prepared By;

Gokhale Govinda Satish

M.F.Sc (Aquaculture)

Introduction

As the human population continues to grow, food

production industries such as aquaculture will need to
expand as well.

Shrimp farming has become competitive and as such the

technology utilized needs to be efficient in all aspects
productivity, quality, sustainability, bio-security and to be
in line with market demand.

In order to preserve the environment and the natural

resources, this expansion will need to take place in a
sustainable way.

Three Goals.

The prime goal of aquaculture expansion must be to produce

more aquaculture products without significantly increasing the
usage of the basic natural resources of water and land.

The second goal is to develop sustainable aquaculture systems

that will not damage the environment.

The third goal is to build up systems providing an equitable

cost/benefit ratio to support economic and social sustainability.

All these three prerequisites for sustainable aquaculture

development can be met by biofloc technology

Definition:The Biofloc is a protein rich macro aggregate of organic

material and micro-organisms including diatoms, bacteria, protozoa,
algae, fecal pellets, remains of dead organisms and other
invertebrates.

Biofloc Technology
Biofloc technology is a technique of enhancing water quality in
aquaculture through balancing carbon and nitrogen in the system.

The technology has recently gained attention as a sustainable

method to control water quality, with the added value of
producing protein rich feed in situ.

The basic technology was developed by Dr. Yoram Avnimelech

in Israel and initially implemented commercially in Belize by
Belize Aquaculture.

Biofloc technology has become a popular technology in the

farming of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei

Cont..

It is possible that this microbial protein has a higher

availability than feed protein.

The basic requirements for biofloc system operation include

high stocking density, high aeration and lined ponds.

A crucial factor in the system is the control of biofloc in

ponds during operation. Fish /shrimp are fed with a lot of
feed

About 70-80% of it remains in the pond, in the water or the

sediment.

Ponds contain a high load of nutrients

The outcome.
What are the outcomes?
-We waste Feed/Money (Quite a lot!)
- Toxic residues (Sulphides, Ammonia etc)
accumulate.

- Fish growth is affected.

- Intensification is limited (loose income, not being able to raise
production)

- Use industrial RAS (Recycling Aquaculture systems)

Quite expensive )
- use biofloc technology.

Basic of BFT in Shrimp Farming

1. High stocking density - over 130 150 PL10/m2

2.
3.
4.
5.
6
7.

High aeration 28 to 32 HP/ha/ PWAs

Paddle wheel position in ponds
HDPE / Concrete lined ponds
Grain (pellet)
Molasses
Expected production 2025 MT/ha/crop

High density

High aeration

Grain pellet

Bioflocs

Dark Vannamei

Paddle Wheels position

HDPE lined pond

Pond Operation
High Aeration

Siphoning

STAGES
FLOC Development stages (vol) in pond
Stage 1 : Floc found but cannot measured (subjective)

Stage 2 : Floc found in small quantity, < 1.0 ml/litre

Stage 3 : Floc found abundance, 1.0 5.0 ml/litre

Stage 4 : Floc found abundance, 5.1 10.0 ml/litre

Stage 5 : Floc found abundance, > 10.1 ml/litre

Sampling Method
Measuring procedure
1 liter / 2 places/ 15 cm deep/ between 10-12 am

Let it settled for 15-20

minutes

Read density of flocs in

cone (ml/l)

Floc Development
Average Floc Development

Floc (ml/L)

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
20

30
Floc

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130
DOC (days)

Control Biofloc
Black gill

Black biofloc

Biofloc- general view at surface

Brown biofloc

Green biofloc

What is BFT?
We limit water exchange

Organic residues
accumulate
We mix and aerate.
Ideal conditions for
bacteria
Bacteria control water
quality.

Fish eat bacteria

Feed is recycled

Conditions for bacteria

There is a lot of available food for bacteria. The pond is
loaded with organic residues.
The pond is fully aerated (needed for proper fish growth).

The pond is well mixed (typically 24 hours a day)

The number of bacteria in such ponds is 10 up to 10

Bacteria in one cm3!!!!

The pond becomes a biotechnological industry Biofloc

Technology

Manipulating bateria
Normally, there is enough nitrogen in ponds for new cell
production.
By adding carbohydrates( eg Starch, flour, molasses,
cassawa etc) to the pond, heterotrophic bacterial growth is
stimulated and nitrogen uptake through the production of
microbial proteins takes place.
Then, there is a need for nitrogen.
If carbon and nitrogen are well balanced in the solution,
ammonium in addition to organic nitrogenous waste will be
converted into bacterial biomass.
The way to do it: Keep C/N ratio higher than 10

The bacteria now take the nitrogen from the water and control
water quality

Cont..

This promoted nitrogen uptake by bacterial growth

decreases the ammonium concentration more rapidly than
nitrification.

Immobilization of ammonium by heterotrophic bacteria

occurs much more rapidly because the growth rate and
microbial biomass yield per unit substrate of heterotrophs
are a factor 10 higher than that of nitrifying bacteria.

Can we feed fish or shrimp with bacteria?

Bacteria are very small.

Luckily, when we have a dense

culture,

They tend to form bioflocs,

containing bacteria, other
organisms and organic particles.

Mechanism of floc formation

The flocculation of microbial communities is a complex

process.

Within the floc's matrix, a combination of physical, chemical

and biological phenomena is operating.

The exact mechanisms and the methods to engineer

microbiological flocs remain largely unknown.

The main constituents that can be found within the floc matrix
are the extracellular polymeric substances.

These structures form a matrix that encapsulates the microbial

cells, and play a major role in binding the floc components
together.

Cont..

They are typically made up out of polysaccharides,

protein, humic compounds, nucleic acids and lipids.

They are produced as slime or capsule layers under

various nutritional conditions but particularly in case of
limitation by nutrients like e.g. nitrogen.

Factors influencing floc formation and floc structure in

bio-flocs technology

Mixing intensity

DO

Organic carbon source

Organic loading rate

Temperature

pH

APPLICATION OF BIOFLOC
TECHNOLOGY IN
AQUACULTURE

Nursery phase is defined as an intermediate step between

hatchery-reared early postlarvae and grow-out phase.

Such phase presents several benefits such as optimization of

farm land, increase in survival and enhanced growth
performance in grow-out ponds.

BFT has been applied successfully in nursery phase in different

shrimp species such as L.vannamei , P. monodon , F. paulensis ,
F. brasiliensis and F. setiferus.

Better nutrition by continuous consumption of biofloc

The growth enhancement of L. vannamei post larvae reared in

nursery BFT is related to a better nutrition by continuous
consumption of biofloc, which might positively influence growout performance of L vannamei .

Enhance growth performance

-It was observed that presence of bioflocs resulted in

increases of 50% in weight and almost 80% in final biomass in F.
paulensis early postlarval stage when compared to conventional
clear-water system.

Increased the survibility rate

reported survival rates of L vannamei in BFT nursery pond

range from 55.9% to 100% and 97% to100%, respectively.

Maintain favorable water quality and enhance production.

the addition of substrates in BFT systems increased growth and

further enhanced production, while also contributing to more
favourable water quality conditions. According to the same study,
growth and survival was not affected by stocking density (2500
vs 5000 PL/m2), therefore greater production outputs were
achieved at the higher density.

The F. brasiliensis postlarvae grow similarly with or without

pelletized feed in biofloc conditions during 30-d of nursery
phase, which was 40% more than conventional clear-water
continuous exchange system.
Decrease FCR and reducing cost in feed

Grow out

In grow-out, BFT has been also shown nutritional and zoo

technical benefits.

It was estimated that more than 29% of the daily food intake
of L. vannamei consisted of microbial flocs, decreasing FCR
and reducing costs in feed.

The reference showed that juveniles of L. vannamei fed with

35% CP pelletized feed grew significantly better in biofloc
conditions as compared to clear-water conditions.

It was showed that controlling the concentration of particles

in super-intensive shrimp culture systems can significantly
improve shrimp production and water quality

Also, the same authors demonstrated that environmentally

friendly plant-based diet can produce results comparable to a
fish-based feed in BFT conditions.

It was evaluated the stocking density in a 120d of L. vannamei

BFT culture, reporting consistent survival of 92, 81 and 75%
with 150, 300 and 450 shrimp/m2, respectively.

Moreover, the study performed in a heterotrophic-based

condition detected no significant difference in FCR when feeding
L. vannamei 30% and 45% CP diets and 39% and 43% CP diets,
respectively.

floc biomass might provide a complete source of cellular

nutrition as well as various bioactive compounds even at high
density.

It is not known exactly how microbial flocs enhance growth.

Is well known that protein, peptides and amino acids

participate fully in synthesis of new membranes, somatic
growth and immune function and biofloc can potentially
provide such ingredients.

Application in Breeding

The BFT has been successfully applied for grow-out, but little
is known about biofloc benefits on breeding.

Biofloc in a form of rich-lipid-protein source could be utilized

for first stages of broodstock's gonads formation and ovary
development.

Furthermore, production of brood stock in BFT could be

located in small areas close to hatchery facilities, preventing
spread of diseases caused by shrimp transportation.

BFT could enhance spawning performance as compared to the

conventional pond and tank-reared system, respectively (i.e.
high number of eggs per spawn and high spawning activity

As an alternative for continuous in situ nutrition during the

whole life-cycle, breeders raised in BFT limited or zero water
exchange system are nutritional benefited by the natural
productivity (biofloc) available 24 hours per day.

better control of water quality parameters and continuous

availability of food (biofloc) in a form of fatty acids protected
against oxidation, vitamins, phospholipids and highly diverse
native protein, rather than conventional systems which
young breeders are often limited to pelletized feed.

The continuous availability of nutrients could promote high

nutrient storage in hepatopancreas, transferred to hemolymph
and directed to ovary, resulting in a better sexual tissue
formation and reproduction activity.

 Excess of particulate organic matter covered breeders gills

and could limit oxygen exchange, might resulting in
mortalities

Application in animal food industry

The cost of diets in several animal cultures is predominantly

due to the cost of protein component.

Fishmeal is prime raw material as a component of aquaculture

feed.

The quality attributed to fishmeal includes high palatability,

high content of digestible protein, highly unsaturated fatty
acids (HUFA) and minerals.

Recently the aquaculture industry has been facing some

important limitation i.e increasing price of fish meal

pressure on natural
stock (overfishing)

Increasing price of fish meal

competition with animal cultures
(swine and poultry)
and differences in quality.

Aquaculture industry needs to investigate alternative source of

proteins to replace less sustainable ones

The microbial particles can provide important nutrients such as

protein , lipids , amino acids and fatty acids.

Biofloc act as raw material to produce biofloc meal.

Biofloc meal (also called single-celled protein), added to

compounded feed is currently focus of intensive research in
nutrition fields.

However, to produce this protein ingredient some processes are

required such as drying, milling and storage.

In this context, nutritional characteristics could be affected (by

i.e. temperature during drying)

Nutritional composition of biofloc differs according to

environmental condition, carbon source applied, TSS level,
salinity, stocking density, light intensity, phytoplankton and
bacterial communities and ratio, etc

Crude
protein (%)

Carbohydr
ates (%)

Lipids (%)

Crude fiber
(%)

Ash (%)

Reference

43.0

12.5

26.5

McIntosh D.
et all 2000

31.2

2.6

28.2

Tacon AGJ
et all 2002

12.0-42.0

2.0-2.8

22.0-46.0

Soares R et
all 2004

31.1

23.6

0.5

44.8

Wasielesky
W.et all
2006

26.0-41.9

1.2-2.3

18.3-40.7

Ju ZY et all
2008

30.4

1.9

12.4

38.9

Ju ZY et all
2008

49.0

36.4

1.13

12.6

13.4

Kuhn DD et
all 2009

38.8

25.3

<0.1

16.2

24.7

Kuhn DD et
all 2010

28.8-43.1

2.1-3.6

8.7-10.4

22.1-42.9

Maic PF,et
all 2012

The use of bioflocs as a bio-control

measure

Intensive aquaculture of crustaceans is one of the fastestgrowing sectors in aquaculture production.

Despite its huge success, shrimp culture is facing severel

outbreaks of infectious diseases, which have caused
significant economic losses.

Due to the haphazard mishandling of antibiotics in

aquaculture, pathogenic bacteria are now becoming resistant
to numerous antibiotics and as a result, antibiotics are no
longer effective in treating bacterial disease.

The disruption of quorum sensing, bacterial cell-to-cell

communication with small signal molecules has been proposed
as a new strategy to control bacterial infections in aquaculture

As this cell-to-cell communication mechanism regulates the

expression of virulence factors.

recently found that bioflocs grown on glycerol were able to

protect gnotobiotic brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) against
pathogenic Vibrio harveyi, and that the beneficial effect was
likely due to interference with the pathogen's quorum sensing
system

Another interesting feature of bioflocs to further investigate

with respect to biocontrol effects is the capability to accumulate
the bacterial storage compound poly--hydroxybutyrate (PHB).

PHB and PHB accumulating bacteria have been shown to

protect different aquaculture animals from bacterial infections.

PHB-accumulating bacteria that are present in bioflocs has

PHB levels of between 0.5 and 18% of the dry matter.

Bioflocs might also contain immunostimulatory compounds

since biofloc technology deals with bacteria and bacterial
products

Use of biofloc in aquaponics

Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system that

combines a traditional aquaculture with hydroponics in a
symbiotic environment.

Nowadays, BFT have been successfully applied in

aquaponics. The presence of rich-biota (microorganisms of
biofloc) and a variety of nutrients such as micro and
macronutrients originated from un-eaten or non-digested
feed seems to contribute in plant nutrition.

A well known example of biofloc and aquaponics interaction

was also developed by UVI. However, the application of
BFT in aquaponics needs particular attention, mainly on
management of solid levels in water.

High concentration of solids may cause excessive adhesion of

microorganism on plants roots (biofilm), causing its damage,
lowering oxygenation and poor growth. Filtering and settling
devices are often needed

Aquaponics system a t University of Virgin Islands

Commercial Interest

Commercial interest in biofloc technology is threefold,

for bioflocs provide high productivity, low feedconversion ratios (FCRs) and a stable culture
environment.

Also, with emerging viral problems and rising costs for

energy, biofloc technology appears to be an answer for
sustainable production at lower cost.

The technology has not only been applied at commercial

shrimp grow-out farms, but also in super-intensive
raceways to produce more than 9 kg shrimp/m3.

The raceway applications have supported nursery

and grow-out to shrimp broodstock rearing and
selection of family lines.

Presently, a number of studies by major universities

and private companies are using biofloc as a protein
source in shrimp and fish feeds

BIOFLOC TECHNOLOGY WORLD WIDE

Belize, Central America

Biofloc system culture

Belize Aqua Ltd A view

Belize Aqua Ltd - ponds

BELIZE SHRIMP FARM (McIntosh, 2000b&c)

L. vannamei Mexican strain
Pond size 1.6 hectare
Pond type Fully HDPE lined
Aeration input 48 HP of PWA
System Heterotrophic zero water exchange
Production 13,500 kg/ha/crop
Carrying capacity 550 kg shrimp/HP of PWAs

Malaysia
Biofloc System initiated on going
Well designed farm layout

BAB Semi biofloc (8-9 MT /0.8ha

pond -Target)

Seawater Intake
2.6 km offshore
Biofloc

Shrimp Farms in Indonesia &

Malaysia
Blue Archipelago Malaysia

Global Medan Indonesia

Bali, Indonesia

CPB Lampung, Indonesia

Nyan Taw Shrimp Farming GAA 2005

Potential of BFT PERU

Lined and covered

Piura - Intensive with

freshwater covered

Piura -Inside covered pond

Grain

Tumbes-Extensive with SW
Piura Intensive FW Nursery

Potential for BFT GUATEMALA

Lined with high energy input
Pasca Shrimp Farm 1

Potential for BFT CHINA

Lined, covered & high energy input

Covered ponds

Inside covered & lined ponds

Covered ponds

Inside covered & lined ponds

Development of BFT (Productivity)

NT- Advised by long visits
NT Managed at site
NT Advised by short visits

YA -Advised by email
RM- Managed at site

According to Shrimp News International (2006) No one knows how many shrimp
farms are employing the bio-floc technology. The best examples of the of farms that
have implemented the new technology are: 1. Belize Aquaculture, Ltd., in Belize. 2.
OceanBoy Farms in Florida, USA, and 3. PT Central Pertiwi Bahari in Indonesia.

Advantages/ Disadvantages
Advantages

1. Bio-security very good (from water) to date WSSV negative

using the system.
2. Zero water exchange less than 100% exchange for whole culture
period.
3. Production (Carrying capacity): 5-10% better than normal system
4. Shrimp size bigger by about 2.0 g than normal system
5. FCR low between 1.0 to 1.3 (without GP)
6. Production cost lower by around 15-20 %.
Disadvantages

1. High energy input paddlewheels 28HP/ha.

2. Power failure critical maximum one hour at any time (better zero
hour failure)
3. Full HDPE lined ponds minimum semi-HDPE lined
4. Technology similar but more advance need to train technicians