Shrimp Nursery Trials with no Water Exchange

Postlarvae (PL) nutrition and adequate oxygenation and mixing of the culture medium are all factors that have a major impact on shrimp performance in any culture systems and more so in intensive zero-exchange, biofloc-dominated production systems. Feeding of properly formulated high quality liquid or dry feed can be more convenient and cost-effective than live Artemia-based diets. However, offering the PL with the correct feed quality, quantity, and the particle-size for their body size is a prerequisite for PL performance especially in intensive nursery systems where availability of natural food is limited. The high shrimp performance, low green colony forming units Vibrio concentrations, and comparatively lower ammonia, and nitrite concentrations observed in these trials may demonstrate the benefits from using inoculum of nitrifying-rich water, probiotic, and nitrifying bacteria during the nursery phase of this species.