The Utilization of Gracilaria verrucosa as shrimp ponds wastewater biofilter

Abstract

Gracilaria verrucosa as biofilter can absorb and utilize inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus contained in pollutants for its growth. This research aims to know the ability of G. verrucosa as shrimp pond waste biofilter, to know the difference in the quality of shrimp pond wastewater before and after treatment, and to learn more about the absorption capacity of G. verrucosa capability against shrimp pond wastewater. The experiment was conducted on a laboratory scale using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of four treatments with three replications using G. verrucosa of different weights which were 100 g, 150 g, 200 g, and controls. The parameters observed in the study were water quality parameters, seaweed biomass, and seaweed absorption. The results obtained were temperature 27.2-30.1°C, TSS 7-76 mg.L-1, pH 7.42-8.83, salinity 16-18 ppt, DO 1.7-5.3 mg.L-1, biomass 74-210.7 g, ammonia effectively decreased on 10th day by 90%, nitrate on 20th day was 22.2% and phosphate value on 30th day was 20.1%. G. verrucosa absorbed nitrogen (N) 0.08% and phosphorus (P) 0.35%. G. verrucosa is potential as a biofilter and can be used as a species candidate for IMTA system.