SOIL AND WATER QUALITY

CRITERIA
SOIL AND WATER CRITERIA/REQUIREMENTS FOR AQUACULTURE

• Important - site characteristics

• Bottom soils - undesirable - Potential acid sulphate soils, saline soils, high organic
matter content, excessive porosity etc

• Poor quality water - highly acidic, alkaline, turbid, high BOD, rich in nutrients and
organic matter, high in suspended solids or polluted with industrial or agricultural
chemicals

• Higher amount of nutrients and organic matter due to excessive organic menuring
and feed wastage - lead to poor water quality and bottom soil condition
WATER QUALITY CRITERIA IN AQUACULTURE

• Influence greatly on the growth and survival of aquatic organism.

Dissolved oxygen of water

• The optimum dissolved oxygen - of 5.0 mg/l

• A fish might survive 0.5 ppm DO for few hours

• An average condition, 3.0 ppm DO or less regard as hazardous for fish

Temperature of water

• Temperature sets the pace of fish metabolism by controlling molecular dynamics

(defeasibility, solubility, fluidity) and biochemical reaction rates

• The optimum temperature range for several cold water and warm water fishes are
14-18o C and 24o-30o C respectively

Effects of Do levels on fish production

DO (ppm) effects
< 1.0 lethal on exposure for more than few hours
> 1.0 – 5.0 fish survive but poor growth
> 5.0 normal survival and growth
BOD5

• The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) - the amount of oxygen required to

microorganisms to decompose the organic matter in a water sample under specific
condition of the pond management

• Has direct bearing on the oxygen balance of water

• BOD5 values in fish ponds varied between 5 – 20 ppm

• The optimum BOD5 value is 10 – 20 ppm for fish ponds

Turbidity of water

• Turbidity - due to suspended soil particles, Planktonic

organism and humic substances

• The optimum Secchi disc visibility of fish ponds is considered to be 40-60cm.

Ammonia of water

• Fish are very sensitive to unionized ammonia (NH3-N); optimum range - 0.02-
0.05mg/l

Hydrogen sulfide in water

• Fresh water fish ponds should be free from hydrogen sulfide

• At concentration of 0.01mg/litre of hydrogen sulfide fish loose its equilibrium and

subjected to sub lethal stress
pH

• pH - measure of hydrogen ion concentration in water and indicate how much

water is acidic or basic

• Water pH - affects metabolism and physiological process of fish

• Considerable influence on toxicity of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide as well as

solubility of nutrients and thereby water fertility

Effect of pH on fish

pH Effect
4.0 Acid death point
4-6 Slow growth
6-9 Best for growth
9-11 Slow growth, lethal to fish
overlong period of time
11+ Alkaline death
Total alkalinity

• The ideal range of total alkalinity for fresh water fish ponds is 60-300mg/liter as
CaCO3

Total hardness

• Total hardness for fresh water fish ponds should be greater than 40mg/litre as
CaCO3

Carbon dioxide

• Fresh water fish ponds should contain a low concentration of free CO2 below 5 .0
mg/litre

• In intensive aquaculture free CO2 level may fluctuate between 5 and 10 ppm with
at ill effects on fish
SOIL QUALITY CRITERIA FOR AQUACULTURE

• Bottom soil - determines the productivity of a pond

• The productivity of ponds - depends on the availability of different nutrients

• Bottom soil is - Chemical Laboratory of the Pond

Soil Texture

• The nature and its properties of the parent material determine the soil texture

• An ideal pond soil - should not be too sandy to allow leaching of the nutrients or
should not be too clayey to keep all the nutrients absorbed on to it
Cation exchange capacity

• It is the total quality of cations which a soil can adsorb by cation exchange is
termed as C E C of the soil

• Expressed as milli equivalents / 100 gm soil (meq / 100 gm of soil )

• Higher C E C - more concentration of easily exchangeable

• The cations are called exchangeable bases.

• Ca++, Mg++, Na+ and K+ ions.

– Water holding capacity – capacity of soil to hold water; Clay-silt soils are best
for fish ponds
– Soil porosity, particle density, bulk density - physical quality’s of pond soils
– Help to aeration, filtration, percolation, adsorption of nutrients etc
Soil acidity

• The ideal range of soil pH - 6.0-8.0

• Water passing over acid soil tends to be a acidic with low alkalinity and hardness

• High concentration of metal ions particularly aluminum (A1+++) and Iron (Fe+++) to
soil acidity

• Acid ponds do not respond well to fertilization

Acid sulphate soils

• Acid sulphate soils from mine spills and coastal mangroves contain high levels
phyrite (Fe82 1-6%)

• Sediments containing pyrites on oxidation results in sulfuric acid

• Sulfuric acid reduces the pH of water when pond is filled

• Acid sulphate soils usually originate is pond dykes

Bottom soil oxidation

• Aeration and water circulation are beneficial in improving bottom soil oxygenation

• The surface layer of soil may still become anaerobic in intensive fish culture ponds
due to settlement of suspended particulate matter
Soil reaction (pH)

• One of the most important factors for maintaining pond productivity - controls
most of the chemical reaction in the pond environment

• Near neutral or slightly alkaline pH - ideal for fish production

• If the pH is too low - strongly acidic - reduce the availability of key nutrients in the
water and lower the pond productivity
Organic Carbon Content

• Acts as the source of energy for bacteria and other microbes that release nutrients
through various biochemical processes

• Pond soils with less than 0.5% Organic carbon - unproductive

• 0.5-1.5% and 1.5-2.5% Organic carbon - medium and high productivity respectively

• Organic carbon - more than 2.5% - may not be suitable for fish production
Carbon to nitrogen ratio

• C: N ratio of soil influences the activity of soil microbes

• Affects the rate of release of nutrients from decomposing organic matter

• Nutrient release - very fast - C:N ratio - less than 10

• Nutrient release - medium- C:N ratio - 10-20

• Nutrient release – More - C:N ratio – more than 20

• Soil C:N ratios between 10 and 15 are considered favorable for aquaculture

• Ratio of 20:1 or narrower gives good results

Nutrients

• Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium - major nutrients required by

phytoplankton

• Pond soil with 30 ppm, 30-60 ppm, 60-120 ppm and more than 120 ppm available
phosphate (P2O5) - high productive

• Ponds with less than 250 ppm available soil nitrogen - low productivity

• Soil nitrogen concentration - 250 to 500 ppm and above 500 ppm - medium and
highly productive respectively

• Relatively small amounts of potassium are needed in fish ponds

• The best method for preventing soils and water quality problems is aquaculture
ponds is to select a site with good soil and an adequate supply of high quality
water

• If this is done, liming, fertilization and aeration can prevent most soil and water
quality imbalances

• Proper pond management viz. liming, fertilization, aeration, water exchange and
bottom soils drying and oxidation are the keys to improve soil and water quality in
ponds
REFERENCES :

1. The nature and properties of soils (7th edition 1969) by Harry O. Buckman and Nyle
C Brady

2. Soils and soil fertility (5th edition 1993) by Frederick R.Troch and Louis M
Thompson

3. Methods in environmental analysis - water, soil and air by P.K. Gupta (2007)