The utilization of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) aquaculture wastewater in semi-mass Nannochloropsis culture

Abstract

Nannochloropsis is a microalga that is used as feed and can be cultured intensively. One of the obstacles in its culture is high-cost production. Innovations that can be applied to overcome this problem is the utilization of wastewater from whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) aquaculture. The purpose of this study was to assess the population growth of Nannochloropsis sp. culture by using wastewater of whiteleg shrimp with different densities in a semi-mass culture. The research design used in this study was a completely randomized design with four treatments and three replications, namely treatment A (2.5 x 106 ind/ml), B (5 x 106 ind/ml), C (7.5 x 106 ind/ml), and D (10 x 106 ind/ml). The parameters measured were population density, nitrate, phosphate, pH, temperature, salinity, and light intensity. The results showed that the utilization of wastewater from whiteleg shrimp culture had a significant effect on the population growth of Nannochloropsis sp. Treatment A showed the best result with an increase in density by 119% (2.5 x 106 ind/ml to 5.49 x 106 ind/ml) at the adaptation phase, and 1012% (2.5 x 106 ind/ml to 27.8 x 106 ind/ml) at the exponential phase.