September | October 2014

The live feed revolution

The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry
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I NCOR P OR AT I NG
F I SH FAR MI NG T ECHNOL OGY
L
ive feed production is the bottleneck
for many shellfish, marine finfish,
and shrimp hatcheries. Industrial
Plankton is a Canadian company
manufacturing live feed equipment focused
on biosecurity and automated production.
The equipment stabilizes hatchery yields by
increasing the predictability and reliability of
on-site live feed production.
Last year Industrial Plankton released
an automated 1000L algae bioreactor for
aquaculture hatcheries, followed this year
by a 500L version with additional features
for researchers. Other high tech live feed
technologies will be launched in the coming
year, including a zooplankton reactor, and a
system to control algae densities for feeding
or greenwater.
Biosecurity is the focus of algae reactor,
which is capable of automatically cleaning and
sterilizing itself between culture runs. The lid
is sealed, and the air is micron filtered as it
enters and exits the tank. Incoming water is
micron filtered, then UV sterilized at the point
of entry to the tank, and a biosecure pinch
valve is used for the automated harvest. The
harvested algae is ideal for feeding shellfish
larvae, spat and broodstock, providing green-
water for shrimp and marine finfish hatcheries,
or providing feed for zooplankton. The large
volumes produced also make a great inoculant
for larger tanks or raceways.
Stable culture parameters are also impor-
tant for biosecurity. Large fluctuations in
water temperature, nutrient availability, light
levels, and other factors, can cause a por-
tion of the algae culture to die off. The
decomposing cells spike the total organic
carbon (TOC), creating an environment that
encourages the growth of early colonizers,
often pathogenic bacteria like vibrio. Vibrio
spp are the most common and serious patho-
gen in fish and shellfish marine aquaculture
worldwide (Chatterjee, et al. 2012). Despite
efforts to maintain biosecurity in the algae
room, pathogenic vibrio species can often be
found in algae bag cultures, and even in stock
cultures at aquaculture hatcheries (Elston, et
al. 2008).
However, healthy algae cultures can natural-
ly limit vibrio growth, reducing vibrio counts in
the incoming water by 99 percent in 24 hours
(Lin Wei, Chen Dou, Liu Xiu-yun. 2000), and
even significantly reducing vibrio counts when
added to larval rearing tanks (C. Regunathan,
S.G. Wesley. 2004). Unstable culture condi-
tions can have the opposite effect by increasing
TOC and encouraging vibrio to proliferate.
To boost the productivity, a star shaped
tank is used to double the surface area
exposed to light, letting cultures grow denser
before self-shading limit cell growth.
A touchscreen gives the operator control
over the various parameters, such as scale up
density, nutrient additions, light levels, harvest
density, etc. The bioreactor monitors the
culture, graphs the data onscreen, and logs it
for later analysis.
When you want to start a new culture,
press a button on the touchscreen that will
drain the existing culture and automatically
pressure wash, then sterilize the tank. Come
back in 2 hours and the bioreactor will be
ready for a new culture. A 20L carboy is
an ideal amount to add as a starter culture.
The control system will scale this 20L up
to 1000L in 7-10 days, depending on the
species. Once the reactor is full it will
start harvesting small portions of the culture
periodically, based on feedback from the
culture density sensor, automatically topping
up water and nutrients after each harvest.
Alternatively, the whole tank can be har-
vested as a batch.
Regarding algae production costs, including
capital costs, in most situations the PBR-1000L
is the most economical option for producing
medium volumes of high purity algae, with
each reactor producing a few hundred liters
of algae each day. Larger ponds and raceways
can produce algae even more economically,
but you sacrifice control over contaminants
and culturing parameters. Which system to
chose really depends on what the algae will
be used for. For sensitive life stages in fish,
shellfish, and shrimp hatcheries, or when
producing large volumes of pure inoculant the
PBR 1000L is the perfect solution.
Revolution
The Live Feed
14 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | September-October 2014
FEATURE
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Aquafeed_Aeroglide_en_es_cn.indd 1 12.03.2014 13:30:59
www.aquafeed.co.uk
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Efficacy of a
pharmaceutical preparation
based on glycyrrhizic acid
in a challenge study of white spot syndrome in
Litopenaeus vannamei
The live feed revolution
VOL UME 17 I S S UE 5 2014 - S EPT EMBER | OCTOBER
I NCORPORAT I NG
F I SH FARMI NG T ECHNOL OGY
Fish Farming Technology supplement
- RAS Technology
The Chinese Conventional
Freshwater Fish Industry
The global surveillance of
Antimicrobial resistance
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