Cultivation of black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon (Fabricius 1798) at the nursery stage in biofloc technology (BFT) system

Abstract

A 120-day experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of Penaeus monodon postlarvae (PL) reared 
during the nursery phase in a BFT limited water exchange system. The PL25 (0.19 ± 0.01g) were divided into two 
treatments: clear water (CW) and Biofloc system (BFT) at a stock density of 200 PL m-2. Three replications were 
applied in each treatment. The PLs were fed three times per day applying a 38% commercial crude protein diet. 
Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found between treatments in all water quality parameters except in terms 
of water temperature. The BFT treatment showed higher water quality parameters with the exception of 
dissolved oxygen. The mean final weight, growth rate and biomass in the BFT treatment was higher than the 
CW treatment (P < 0.05); however, survival did not differ between treatments (P < 0.05). FCR was lower (P < 
0.05) in the BFT treatment than the CW treatment. Results indicate that a BFT system improved the growth 
performance of P. monodon and maintained the water quality within a range which is considered optimal for the 
species