Effect of new filtration medias on water quality, biomass, blood parameters and plasma biochemistry of common carp (Cyprinus Carpio) in RAS

Base on the principle of developing a suitable aquaculture system that will fit the present climate and environmental challenges to enhance breeding and production in aquaculture. Against the backdrop of issues connected to water quality in recirculating aquaculture system which has negative impact on the fish comfort, feeding rate and blood biochemistry, this may later affect its growth performance and general wellbeing. Although, the rate of waste disintegration and the bacteria species present in the filter system determine the physicochemical parameters of the treated water, which further affect the biological characteristics of the fish. This study intends to reveal the effect of biological filtration media (wood coal, rice hulls and wheat hay) on water properties and its further effects on growth performance, plasma biochemistry, liver and gills histopathology of common carp in RAS. After the acclimation interval, 24 tanks were stocked with 8 fish average initial weight of 15.74 g. However, treatments were assigned to each tank at random sampling to make four treatments. The results showed a significant effect on Common carp growth and body biomass, for those with filter media compared to the control. Though, a better growth performance of Common carp culture in water exposed to wheat hay and rice hulls were recorded at significant level with lower FCR. Hence improvement in fish productivity was observed in the treatments compared to the control. Moreover, there are significant changes on cell counts, and plasma biochemistry parameters. In synopsis, the study reveals the benefits in using additional media such as wheat hay and rice hulls as a biological filter media to improve water quality and growth performance of common carp in aquaculture. The use of this new media should be encourage since the installation of this biological filter media is simple, affordable and can be retrofitted into existing systems, to increase water management and aquaculture productivity.