AQ-6 Tilapia farming made profitable!- Taiwan

AQ-6 Tilapia farming made profitable!- Taiwan

2010 Aquaculture Case Study AQ-6
Growing Tilapia (Nile River perch) with
Biofeeds Water Enhancement Technology
Environmental & Infrastruatural Technologies, Inc.
January, 2010
Environmental & Infrastructural Technologies, Inc (EITCO) of Taipei,
Taiwan conducted an aqua-farm water enhancement demonstration
project in Guantien, Tainan County, Taiwan from March to December
2009 using two probiotic products from Biofeed Solutions, Inc. (BSI) of
Glendale, Arizona, USA.
Figure 1 Demo Pond
Guantien is the capital of tilapia farming in Taiwan, with some 200 tilapia
aqua-ponds concentrated in the area. A one-hectare demonstration pond
(demo pond)(Fig. 1) owned by Master Huang, Jinfa(Master Huang), a
renowned tilapia farmer in Guantien, was chosen for the study. About
25,000 tilapia fingerlings of varying sizes were released into the
approximately 16,000 cubic meter of water of the demo pond from late
March to early April, 2009. Similar amount of fingerlings were released
to a neighboring pond of equal surface area and water volume as the
“blank pond”(Fig. 2).
Figure 2 Blank Pond
The initial numbers of fish in the ponds were calculated using the total
weight of the released stock divided an estimated average weight of the
fish from several catches that made up the stock. Because the actual
number and weight distribution of each catch were different, these initial
numbers of tilapia fingerlings in the two ponds were rough estimates.
These tilapia ponds are all mechanically fed with formulated fish feed
(Fig. 3). Fish farmers control the amount of the feed by visually
“gauging” the consumption rate. The fish feed pellets are designed to
float on top of the water for hours. When enough pellets are observed on
the water surface, it is a sign that the fish have enough to eat.
EITCO and Master Huang agreed that besides the fish feed, no antibiotics,
pesticides, or any other biologically harmful materials will be used in or
around the demo pond.
Figure 3
Automatic Feeder Tube and Tilapia Feeding
Beginning the third week of April, 2009, 16 liters each of BSI’
s
TM
TM
AquaPro and Aero were manually sprayed and poured into the demo
pond at two-week intervals (Fig. 4). The use of AeroTM was to control the
algae growth in the pond, a major concern in all densely stocked
aqua-ponds in southern Taiwan during the summer months. The use of
AeroTM was suspended after several typhoon-induced torrential
rainstorms in July and August, 2009.
Figure 4 Biofeed Products Simple Application Process
Due to its non-toxic growth method (no antibiotics, pesticides and other
toxic materials) adopted, the tilapia raised in the demo pond was
pre-ordered in July for raw consumption (sashimi) in Japan. Because of
strict food import standards in Japan, samples of the fish were subjected
to irregular inspections by the buyer throughout the growth cycle.
Because of the better water condition and growth environment, Master
Huang discovered that the demo pond required less fish feed than the
blank as well as all his other ponds, which resulted in at least $2,000 of
saving on fish feed during the growth cycle.
Harvest of the demo and the blank ponds took place in early December
2009. The fish were repeatedly netted (Fig. 5), weighed (Fig. 6), stored an
oxygen-saturated water tanks (Fig. 7) and shipped to processing plant
until most of the matured tilapia were caught.
Figure 5 Netting Operation
Figure 6 Electronic Weighing
Figure 7 Temporary Storage in Oxygen-rich Tank
The harvested tilapias were sold according to their weight. Fish was sold
at $1.81/kg if weighed more than 1 kg, $1.25/kg if weighed below 1 kg or
at $1.13/kg if weighed below 0.8 kg. Fish weighing less than 0.6 kg was
regarded immature.
At the final count, the total sale from the demo pond was $5,000 more
than that from the blank pond. If the initial fingerling size distributions in
the two ponds were close to each other, Master Huang should have
harvested about 3,200 kg more tilapia from the demo pond.
It is concluded that the use of BSI’
s AquaProTM and AeroTM can
significantly improve tilapia farming in Taiwan. Together with the saving
of $2,000 on fish feed, applying the probiotic products to a one-hectare
area tilapia aqua-pond can generate at least $7,000 of additional revenue
per year.
Seasonal water quality data analyzed by Zhong Shan University’
s Ocean
Environment Research Lab in Kaohsiung are shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The
data revealed that, comparing with the blank pond, the use of AquaProTM
and AeroTM effectively controlled the total phosphorous (TP), total
nitrogen (TN), total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), chlophil-a (chl-a), and
turbidity in the demo pond. The influence on nitrite and nitrate was less
significant.
NO2-
NO3-
0.4
1.2
1.15
1
0.25
0.2
mg/L
mg/L
1.4
0.374
0.35
0.3
0.15
0.1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.05
0
0.01
4/21
0.005
0.007
Blank
6/1
9/14
12/4
0.57
0.58
0.46
0.2
Blank
0
4/21
6/1
Date in 2009
9/14
12/4
Date in 2009
0.08
1.2
0.073
0.07
1.07
1
0.8
0.05
mg/L
mg/L
0.06
0.04
0.03
0.82
0.6
0.4
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.005
0.004
0.66
0.49
0.2
Demo
0
Demo
0
4/21
6/1
9/14
12/4
4/21
6/1
Date in 2009
9/14
12/4
Date in 2009
TKN
TN
7
5
4
5.82
6
4.3
3.12
3
mg/L
mg/L
5
2
1.3
3
2
1
Blank
0.57
3.7
4
1.76
1.16
Blank
1
0
0
4/21
6/1
9/14
4/21
12/4
6/1
12/4
6
4.64
5.14
5
3.1
2.83
3.33
3.92
4
mg/L
mg/L
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
9/14
Date in 2009
Date in 2009
4.47
3.5
3
2
Demo
Demo
1
0
4/21
6/1
9/14
Date in 2009
12/4
4/21
6/1
9/14
Date in 2009
Figure 8 Water Quality Result 1
12/4
TP
Turbidity
0.6
0.5
200
0.56
0.51
150
NTU
mg/L
0.51
0.47
0.4
0.3
177
165
147
100
93
0.2
50
Blank
對照池
0.1
0
4/21
6/1
9/14
Blank
對照池
0
12/4
4/21
6/1
Date in 2009
0.8
300
0.53
0.53
0.5
0.38
0.3
297
250
NTU
mg/L
0.6
200
150
132
100
0.2
Demo
示範池
0.1
0
4/21
6/1
9/14
12/4
Date in 2009
113
50
49.2
0
4/21
6/1
9/14
Date in 2009
Chl-a
200
169.5
155.94
μg/L
150
173.42
140.05
100
50
Blank
對照池
0
4/21
6/1
9/14
12/4
Date in 2009
250
μg/L
200
196.72
178.73
150
125.99
140.59
100
50
Demo
0
4/21
12/4
350
0.76
0.7
0.4
9/14
Date in 2009
6/1
9/14
12/4
Date in 2009
Figure 9 Water Quality Result 2
Demo
示範池
12/4