Evaluation of Tilapia Effluent with Ion Supplementation for Marine Shrimp Production in a Recirculating Aquaculture System

Reuse of fish effluent for the culture of marine shrimp, such as Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, could provide an opportunity for the US shrimp farming industry to ease constraints (e.g., environmental concerns and high production costs) that have limited them in the past. In this study under laboratory‐scale conditions, the feasibility of culturing L. vannamei in effluents derived from a commercial facility raising tilapia in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), supplemented with various salt combinations, was compared to the shrimp’s survival and growth in well water supplemented with 17.6 (control) and 0.6 (freshwater treatment) g/L synthetic sea salt. Three independent trials were conducted in RAS in which survival and growth in the control, the freshwater treatment, and two effluent treatments were compared. Water quality during this study was within safe levels and no differences (P < 0.05) between treatments were observed for dissolved oxygen, nitrite, pH, total ammonia nitrogen, and temperature. However, average nitrate and orthophosphate levels were consistently more than an order of magnitude greater in the effluent treatments compared to the control and the freshwater treatments. Survival and growth of shrimp over 6‐wk periods did not vary significantly between the control and the freshwater treatments; however, shrimp tested in the tilapia effluents often exhibited significant effects (P < 0.05) depending on the salts added. In the low‐salinity waters, correlations (P < 0.05) were observed between Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, K⁺, Na⁺ : K⁺ and Ca²⁺ : K⁺, and shrimp survival and growth. The results of this study revealed that L. vannamei can be raised in tilapia effluent when supplemented with synthetic sea salt (0.6 g/L), CaO (50 mg/L Ca²⁺), and MgSO₄ (30 mg/L Mg²⁺).