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IMPACT OF SOLAR OPERATED AERATOR ON DISSOLVED OXYGEN AND FISH

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Kamal Sarma A. Rahman

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 J. Exp. Zool. India Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 1041-1046, 2018 www.connectjournals.com/jez ISSN 0972-0030

IMPACT OF SOLAR OPERATED AERATOR ON DISSOLVED OXYGEN AND

FISH GROWTH
Kamal Sarma*, A. Rahman and A. Dey
ICAR- Research Complex for Eastern Region, ICAR Parishar, Bihar Veterinary College, Patna - 800 014, India.
*e-mail : kamalsarma6@rediffmail.com
(Accepted 22 June 2018)

ABSTRACT : A study was conducted to see the impact of a sprinkling type solar aerator on dissolved oxygen ‘DO) concentration
of pond water and the growth and survival of rohu (Labeo rohita). The aerator is made of 750W DC induction motor energized
by 900Wp solar array. Results revealed that use of a solar aerator can enhance overall oxygen reserve in the pond by 26.1
percent compared to the control. The growth performance of rohu in terms of weight gain (p<0.05), percentage weight gain
(p<0.05), percentage specific growth rate and FCR were found to be significantly higher in the aerated pond over the control.
From the present study, it is can be concluded that the use of solar powered aerator is an efficient system for improving dissolved
oxygen level in water thereby increasing growth and survival of fishes.
Key words : Dissolved oxygen, temperature, solar panel, aerator, L. rohita.

INTRODUCTION and water together is the most effective way to add

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the most important and
critical water quality parameter for success of an
aquaculture operation. Aquatic organism constantly
requires DO for survival and growth. The atmosphere is
the main reservoir of oxygen (21%) but as oxygen is
slightly soluble in water and hence the rate of direct
diffusion is very slow. Oxygen dissolves in water mainly
through diffusion from the atmosphere and produced
during photosynthesis by aquatic plants and algae. In
natural waters DO produced usually exceeds the amount
required by respiration and decomposition. However, in
an aquacultural pond the total biomass in the form of
fishes, plants, microbes and organic matters are much
higher than in natural water and oxygen is exhausted
faster than it produced. Apart from above, the other
environmental factors like pressure, salinity and
temperature are also play important roles in dissolution
of DO in water. Moreover, the demands of oxygen further
increases with the increase in temperature due to
accelerated respiration rates and BOD that remove DO
from the water column (Boyd and Lichtkoppler, 1979;
Boyd, 1998). Aeration is a potential mechanism of aqua-
farming to enhance dissolved oxygen and thereby enhance
growth and production of fish at higher stocking densities
(Sultana et al., 2017). Aerators influence the rate of
oxygen transfer from air to water by increasing turbulence
and surface area of water in contact with air (Boyd, 1998).
Surface agitation by wind or other means that mixes air
*Corresponding author
atmospheric oxygen into the water column. Aeration may
also be a suitable method for managing thermal
stratification (Miles and West, 2011). Circulation of pond
water by aerators also facilitates mixing of pond water
and thereby reducing vertical stratification of temperature
and chemical substances (Boyd and Martinson, 1984;
Boyd. 1998). In general aerators work mainly on two
principles: (1) aeration by splashing water into air i.e.
paddle wheel aerator, vertical pump, pump sprayer, gravity
aerators etc. or (2) aeration by bubbling air into water
i.e. propeller aspirator, diffused aeration system etc.
(Kumara et al, 2013). Most of these aerators are
operated by electricity. However, many fish culture
practices are located in remote areas where there is no
continuous supply of electricity and prevents the farms
from the use of aerator as it needs for intensification.
Hence, solar powered aerator can be highly beneficial to
these remote areas.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food industry in
the world and with the increase in demand and scarcity
of land area for further extension, enhancing the water
productivity is becoming a prime area of research. In
this regards solar radiation can be a potential source of
power to run the aeration system and thereby higher
productivity can be achieved. In this regard the present
study has been designed to explore the use of a solar
operated aerator in the fish pond and its impact on water
quality and fish growth.
1042
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Experimental animals
Healthy stunted yearling of Labeo rohita (97.8 ±
7.81g) were collected from institute fish farm and 100
fish/tank of stocking density was maintained for the
experiment. Two identical fish ponds were selected and
surface area of each pond was 800 m2 (40m × 20m) and
water depth maintained in the ponds was 1.3 m.
Formulated floating fish feed (protein level 22%) was
applied to each of the fish pond at the rate of 2% of the
body weight daily in the morning hours. Study was carried
out for 75 days and first sampling was done at the end of
30 days to record the weight gain in both the ponds.
Growth and survival study
Monthly sampling was carried out to ascertain weight
gain, FCR and survival of the fish using the following
formulae:
Final weight – Initial weight
_____________________________________
Weight gain (%) =
Initial weight
Number of fish survived after
90 days
Weight gain (%) = _____________________________________ × 100
Initial number of fish stocked
(Ln final weight – Ln initial
weight
Specific growth rate (SGR%) = __________________________________ × 100
Number of days
Total feed given
Feed Conversion ratio = ________________________________
Animal weight gain
Solar operated pump
On the bank of a fish pond a set of solar panel and
pump have been fixed. The detail schematic diagram is
illustrated in the Fig. 1. System is designed with 1 HP
solar centrifugal surface pump having DC induction motor
of 750W. This pump is energized by 900Wp solar panel.
This 900 Wp solar panel is of 4 modules, each of 225 Wp
with open circuit voltage VOC = 36V and short circuit
current I sc = 8.11 A. Through series and parallel
combination of modules the net Isc = 30.4A and Voc =
29.1 V. This arrangement was made keeping in view, the
V-I characteristics of pump motor. Though the motor
pump rating is 750W, but keeping in view the solar
radiation intensity in this region, ranging from 3.4-6.7 kWh/
m2/day, the solar panel size was taken 900Wp.
Water quality estimation
Every day at 8 am the pump was operated and run in
the same condition till 5.00 pm. The dissolved oxygen
and temperature was measured using HANNA multi-
parameter analyzer (model number HI 9829, Germany)
Kamal Sarma et al
at different depths (surface: 0.10 cm, column layer 0.5
m and bottom 1.0m) and distance 0 m (from the pump
set), 10 m, 15 m and 20 m. The solar pump has been
fitted on the embankment (Fig. 1) on the middle of the
breadth of the pond (breadth of the pond is 20 m). The
other water quality parameters such alkalinity, hardness
and pH were estimated during the study following methods
described by APHA (1989).
Data analysis
The data obtained in the present experiment were
subjected to student “t” test using Statistical Package,
SPSS version 11 to determine the differences among
treatment means at P<0.05.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Dissolved Oxygen is the most critical and important
water quality parameter in an aquaculture operation. As
aerobic aquatic organisms like fish need a constant supply
of DO to survive, low dissolved oxygen level especially
× 100
during night hours can be a constant threat for the survival
of the cultivable species. Aeration is the most common
method for increasing DO level in water. In the present
study a water sprinkler (one end closed perforated heavy
duty plastic pipe) has been fitted to a 1 Hp pump to splash
water to the air and the pump was fitted with the solar
panel. Hence with the help of solar power, pump sucks
water from the bottom and sprinkling/ showering the
water above the pond surface to increase the DO level.
Diurnal variations in dissolved oxygen
Data pertaining to dissolved oxygen level and water
temperature in different layers like surface (Fig. 2),
column (Fig. 3), bottom water (Fig. 4) and combined of
all the layers (Fig. 5) for treatment pond and control ponds
have been illustrated below. In all the layers similar trend
of dissolved oxygen and temperature has been followed.
In the morning surface water temperature and DO
was almost same in treatment and control ponds (Fig. 2).
Thereafter, the gap between control and treatment for
DO was increased by 110% and 94.5%, respectively.
Similarly in temperature, there was increase of 4.7% and
6.3%, respectively. This indicated that after the use of
aerator, the dissolution capacity of DO was increased
and temperature decreased over control. In case of
column water, the DO level and temperature was also
showed similar trends (Fig. 3). But, the percentage
increase in treatment and control was 125.4% and 87.8%
in DO and 4.4% and 5.0% in temperature, respectively.
This indicated that performance of pond fitted with aerator
was better than control. However, in the bottom water
the performance was significantly better (Fig. 4). Here
 Impact of solar operated aerator on dissolved oxygen and fish growth
Fig. 1 : The schematic diagram of the solar operated pump.
Fig. 2 : Comparison dissolved oxygen and temperature between
treatment and control ponds of the surface water.
increased in treatment and control was 60.4% and 33.6%
for DO and 1.9% and 2.49% temperature respectively.
This indicated that aerator facilitate almost 26.8 % higher
DO level from the control pond at the bottom. Percentage
change in temperature of the bottom was insignificant.
Overall performance of aerator on DO and temperature
in treatment and control pond is illustrated in Fig 5. Here
percentage increase was 99.8% and 73.7% in DO and
3.7% and 5.6% in temperature, respectively. This indicated
that overall DO level in water of the solar operated
aerator facilitated around 26.1% higher DO reserve
compared to control pond.
Spatial and diurnal variations of dissolved oxygen level
and water temperature of surface water are illustrated
in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively. It is recorded that DO level
at the 10 m from the aerator was better than 15 and 20
1043
Fig. 3 : Comparison dissolved oxygen and temperature between
treatment and control ponds of the Column water.
m, moreover DO level near to the pump (0 m) is always
lower than 10 m. This is mainly because of low DO water
was constantly getting sucked from the bottom and
sprinkled water was not falling in that area (Fig. 1). In
case of other water quality parameters like pH, alkalinity
and hardness, no significant difference (P<0.05) between
the treatment and control ponds was recorded. The pH
was 7.88± 0.14 and 7.90 ± 0.21, alkalinity was 179.67
±7.26 ppm and 184.50 ± 8.59 ppm and hardness was
157.83 ± 8.12 ppm and 144.00± 4.75 ppm respectively
and are within the acceptable limit of fish culture
operation.
Growth and survival
Data pertaining to body weight gain and percentage
survival of L. rohita is illustrated in Fig. 8. From the figure,
1044 Kamal Sarma et al

Fig. 4 : Comparison dissolved oxygen and temperature between Fig. 5 : Overall dissolved oxygen and temperature between
treatment and control ponds of the bottom water. treatment and control ponds.

Fig. 6 : Spatial and diurnal variations of dissolved oxygen level in Fig. 7 : Spatial and diurnal variations of temperature (0C) in the
the treatment pond fitted with solar operated sprinkler. treatment pond fitted with solar operated sprinkler.

Fig. 8 : Average weight gain (g) of L. rohita at the end of 75 days of Fig. 9 : Specific growth rate percentage (SGR%) and percentage
culture. Data are expressed as mean ±SE. Bar with different gain in weight (% gain) of L. rohita at the end of 75 days of
alphabets differ significantly (P<0.05). culture.

it is clear that the average weight gain is maximum 73%. Percentage weight gain in treatment and control
(P<0.05) at aerated pond (treatment) compared to the was 211.4% and 119.8% and the specific growth
control. Similarly the survival percentage was also higher percentage was 1.51% and 1.05%, respectively (Fig. 9).
in treatment pond, i.e., 84% compared to control pond, On the contrary, the feed conversion ratio of aerated pond
 Impact of solar operated aerator on dissolved oxygen and fish growth
was lower (1.2) than the control pond (1.75), which was
similar to the results obtained by Zhang and Boyd (1988).
This indicated that requirement of feed was lower to
achieve higher production in aerated pond compared to
non aerated pond.
From the study, it revealed that aeration can be a
potential mechanism to enhance the growth and survival
of rohu. The growth performance of rohu in terms of
weight gain, percent weight gain, specific growth rate-
which can ultimately translated into higher production-
were found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in the pond
fitted with solar operated sprinkler type of aerator
(treatment) than the control pond. The higher weight gain,
specific growth rate, FCR and survival rate obtained in
the treatment pond of present study compared to non-
aerated ponds might be due to higher in DO content,
better aquatic environment and enhanced efficiency in
feed conversion (Das et al, 2004, Bergheim et al, 2006;
Duan et al, 2011, Sultana et al, 2017). Higher survival
rate of fish in aerated pond has also been reported by
several scientists (Hollerman and Boyd, 1980; Das et al,
2004; Qayyum et al, 2011; Sultana et al, 2017). Thus the
present study indicated that day time aeration also has
significant effect on the overall condition and production
of fish. Jana and Sengupta (1992) also reported that day
time aeration in fish pond itself significantly enhance total
fish production and they attributed that to higher rates of
net primary productivity of phytoplankton, lowered
ammonium and nitrite values as well as a low N/P ratio.
Modern aquaculture experience suggests that about 2,000
kilograms (kg) per ha of most species of shrimp and fish
can be produced in ponds without aeration while with
proper aeration, it is reasonable to expect a production
of up to 6,000 kg/ha (Oakes, 2011). Zhang and Boyd
(1988) reported 31.5% higher fish production in an aerated
pond while Das et al (2004) reported 42.8% a higher
production in fish pond fitted with mechanical aeration
than that in control ponds while ensuring good water
quality in the ponds.
CONCLUSION
From the present study, it can be concluded that the
use of solar powered sprinkler type of aerator can be an
efficient system for improving dissolved oxygen level in
water thereby increasing growth, survival and overall
production of fish. The day time operation increases
oxygen level of water vis-à-vis breaks thermal
stratification and hence producing uniform dissolved
oxygen profile in pond water. The oxygen rich bottom
layers serves as an oxygen reserve for following night.
However, the major limitation of this type of system is
that solar operated pump can only run only during the
1045
day time, whereas demand of DO is the maximum during
night hours. Hence, alternative arrangement like charging
a battery using solar panel during day time and using them
at night can be very effective. However, it is costly and
shall require larger size panel because solar panels
conversion efficiency is still very low (Tanveer and
Sivakumar, 2016). Hence, more systematic studies may
be initiated so that we can move towards more use of
green energy, which is more environmental friendly.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are thankful to the Director, ICAR
Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna for
providing facilities to conduct the experiment. Authors
also express special thanks to Mr. Amrendra Kumar for
his help during collection of data.
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