Effect of seeding biofloc on the nitrification establishment in moving bed biofilm reactor(MBBR)

In recirculating aquaculture systems,nitrification is usually accelerated by inoculating nitrifier or mature biocarriers.In this study,the performance of the establishment of nitrification in the MBBR according to three different strategies:conventional method(Control group A),inoculation with biofloc recovered from a tilapia biofloc culture system(Group B),and addition with extra nitrite(Group C)in the Moving bed biofilm reactor(MBBR)was compared.Among them,the biofloc-inoculated group considerably accelerated the nitrification process in the MBBR(38 d),which is roughly 18 d faster than the control group(A)(56 d)and 21 d faster than group C(59 d).Less ammonia(8 mg/L NH_(4)^(+)-N,10 mg/L in other groups)and external nitrite(2 mg/L NO_(2)􀀀^(-)N)in the influent caused effluent ammonia to drop more slowly(5 d slower than the control group,8 d slower than the B group),which is detrimental to the nitrification process’development.Notably,the influent’s hydraulic retention time(HRT)was reduced from 12 h to 6 h following the successful establishment of nitrification.During the adaptation to reduced HRT,the MBBR inoculated with biofloc experienced short-term changes in the water quality index of the effluent water,whereas the other groups did not.The biofilm seeded with biofloc had the highest mean gray value ratio(1.42)of live/dead cell fluorescence,which grew better and could cover the entire groove under multiple microscope observations.However,the other groups did not demonstrate a similar trend.In summary,the research found that seeding biofloc use as nitrification bioaugmentation into the MBBR of the recirculating aquaculture system(RAS)to greatly speed up the nitrification process.

Comparing salinities of 0, 10 and 20 in biofloc genetically improved farmed tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) production systems

A 150 days(150-d)experiment was carried out to investigate the production efficiency,inorganic nitrogen syndrome and bacteria community of indoor biofloc technology(BFT)systems used to rear genetically improved farmed tilapia(Oreochromis niloticus)under 0(S-0),10(S-10),and 20 salinities(S20).The start-up period for BFT was 50,60 and 80 d for S-0,S-10 and S-20 groups,respectively.At steady state,the total ammonium nitrogen(NH4þ-N)and nitrite nitrogen(NO2-N)were lower than 3.0 mg/L and 0.34 mg/L,respectively and no nitrate-nitrogen(NO3-N)accumulation was observed.The fish survival rate was above 95%for all the groups.The final fish biomass of the S-10 group(35.83±1.08 kg/m^(3))was not significantly different from the S-0(34.79±1.33 kg/m^(3))group but was significantly higher than S-20(32.6±1.04 kg/m3).The feed conversion ratio for the tilapia in S-20 was 1.46,which was higher than the ratio in S-0(1.40)and S-10(1.39)tilapia.There was no significant difference in the crude protein content of the back muscle from tilapia of the three experimental groups.No significant difference in blood parameters,except for aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase was observed between the three groups.Evaluation of microorganisms in the three BFT systems revealed that Proteobacteria,Bacteroidetes,and Fusobacteria were the top three at the phylum level in all groups.However,a significant difference was observed at the genus level in the bacteria of the three BFTs at different salinity(P<0.05).©2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Shanghai Ocean University.This is an open access article。

Comparison of nitrate-removal efficiency and bacterial properties using PCL and PHBV polymers as a carbon source to treat aquaculture water

Nitrate(NO_(3)^(−))accumulation in recirculating aquaculture systems(RASs)with high stocking densities presents a problem for reared animals and the environment.The use of a biodegradable polymer as organic carbon for heterotrophic denitrification exhibits good performance for NO_(3)^(−)removal from wastewater.A comparison of NO_(3)^(−)–N removal efficiency and bacterial properties using polycaprolactone(PCL)and poly(3-hydroxybutyrateco-3-hydroxyvalerate)(PHBV)as carbon sources to treat aquaculture water was conducted for a 102-day period.The results indicated that the NO_(3)^(−)–N removal rates of 0.27±0.07 and 0.19±0.05 g/L per day,respectively,could be achieved with influent concentrations ranging from 81.1 to 132.75 mg/L and a flow rate of 1 L/h.The removal of NO_(3)^(−)–N versus consumed PCL(1:1 w/w)was significantly higher than that versus consumed PHBV(0.3:1 w/w)(P<0.05).The concentrations of effluent nitrite-nitrogen and total ammonium nitrogen were maintained at an acceptable level.The bacterial community structures between the two types of reactors varied significantly.Acidovorax and Denitratisoma were the top two genera of the bacterial community in the biofilm in the PCL beads with a dominance of 26.83%and 6.67%,respectively.In the PHBV beads,Acidovorax at 17.95%and Bdellovibrio at 6.37%were the top two genera.The PCL-denitrification reactor developed in this study showed better potential than the PHBV-denitrification reactor in removing NO_(3)^(−)from aquaculture water.

Effect of dissolved oxygen on nitrate removal using polycaprolactone as an organic carbon source and biofilm carrier in fixed-film denitrifying reactors

Nitrate-nitrogen（NO_3^--N） always accumulates in commercial recirculating aquaculture systems（RASs） with aerobic nitrification units. The ability to reduce NO_3^--N consistently and confidently could help RASs to become more sustainable. The rich dissolved oxygen（DO）content and sensitive organisms stocked in RASs increase the difficulty of denitrifying technology. A denitrifying process using biologically degradable polymers as an organic carbon source and biofilm carrier was proposed because of its space-efficient nature and strong ability to remove NO_3^--N from RASs. The effect of dissolved oxygen（DO） levels on heterotrophic denitrification in fixed-film reactors filled with polycaprolactone（PCL） was explored in the current experiment. DO conditions in the influent of the denitrifying reactors were set up as follows： the anoxic treatment group（Group A, average DO concentration of 0.28 ± 0.05 mg/L）, the low-oxygen treatment DO group（Group B, average DO concentration of 2.50 ± 0.24 mg/L） and the aerated treatment group（Group C, average DO concentration of 5.63 ± 0.57 mg/L）. Feeding with 200 mg/L of NO_3^--N, the NO_3^--N removal rates were 1.53, 1.60 and 1.42 kg/m3PCL/day in Groups A, B and C, respectively. No significant difference in NO_3^--N removal rates was observed among the three treatments. It was concluded that the inhibitory effects of DO concentrations lower than 6 mg/L on heterotrophic denitrification in the fixed-film reactors filled with PCL can be mitigated.

Dynamics of nitrogenous compounds and their control in biofloc technology (BFT) systemsA review

Controlling toxic nitrogenous substances in biofloc technology(BFT)systems is critical for the success of this novel technology.To effectively control nitrogen accumulation in BFT systems,it is important to first understand the dynamics and the removal pathways of this element and its related compounds from aquaculture water.This review focuses on synthesizing the information of nitrogen dynamics in BFT systems to provide researchers and practitioners with a guide to the fate of nitrogen and its control methods.This paper discusses the different types of nitrogenous compounds in BFT water,the transformation processes of ammonia to nitrites and nitrates,the relationship between the two forms of ammonia(NH3 and NH4+)in water and the equilibrium between them.This paper also discusses nitrification as a major nitrogen removal pathway and the factors that influence the nitrification process.Notably,the control of nitrogen in BFT systems by manipulating the carbon to nitrogen ratio(C/N)using external carbohydrates is described in this paper.This paper suggests that further studies should focus on investigating the various factors that influence nitrogen dynamics in BFT systems and the means of controlling contaminants other than nitrogen.

Performance of feeding Artemia with bioflocs derived from two types of fish solid waste

The production of bioflocs with the solid waste from recirculating aquaculture systems(RAS)and feeding Artemia results in additional nutrient retention and lowers waste discharged from RAS.The solid waste from the drumfilters of two RAS,which stocked European eel(Anguilla anguilla)and Nile tilapia(Oreochromis niloticus),was used as substrate to produce bioflocs in suspended growth reactors,referred to as E-flocs and T-flocs,respectively.Mono-diets consisting of 100%E-flocs and 100%T-flocs were added to culture Artemia,referred as E-Artemia and T-Artemia,respectively,in a laboratory scale test.The efficiency of this feeding regime was investigated.A significant difference was observed in terms of crude protein content(35.59±0.2%)for E-flocs,(29.29±0.95)%for T-flocs,(70.01±0.92)%for E-Artemia and(65.63±0.89)%for T-Artemia.134 out of the total operational taxonomic units(OTUs)were present in E-flocs and T-flocs from the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data.Most of the shared OTUs belonged to cyanobacteria.C18:1n7 of T-flocs was higher than that of E-flocs(P<0.05).C18:2n6 of E-flocs was significantly higher than that of T-flocs(P<0.05).No significant difference was observed in the other fatty acid compositions(P>0.05).The survival rate of E-Artemia was(22±0.02)%,significantly higher than that of T-Artemia(16%±0.02%)(P<0.05).No significant difference was observed between the average body weight of E-Artemia(2.38±0.40 mg)and E-Artemia(2.91±0.21)(P>0.05).The EPA of Artemia fed with E-flocs was(3.00±0.46)%,significantly higher than that of T-Artemia(1.57±0.19%)(P<0.05).This study offers a method for reusing the aquaculture waste,which will be helpful to achieve a zero-pollution discharge for aquaculture systems.