Elizabeth A. Kastl, Brian Fletcher, Cody Treft, Jill M. Voorhees* and Michael E. Barnes
The increased use of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) makes the development of cost-effective components essential. This paper describes the innovative use of widely available Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC) as part of a fluidized bed biofilter. Four, 946.4-L IBC units, with tops removed, were filled with K1 style media to approximately 92% media-to-IBC total volume. A regenerative blower to push 2,718 L/min of air at a pressure of 12.46 kPa through two diffusers to fluidize the bed in each IBC unit. Flow rates through the entire system was 303 L/min, or approximately 75 L/min through each IBC unit. The biofilter was evaluated in two trials during rearing of larval walleye (Sander vitreus). Trial one included 640,000 larval walleye, temperatures ranged from 17.5°C to 23.6°C, ammonia levels reaching 0.59 mg/L, feeding rate of 12.4 kg/day, and pH of 7.5. Trial two included 480,000 larval walleye, temperatures ranged from 17.5°C to 22.5°C, ammonia levels reaching 0.70 mg/L, feeding rate of 14.9 kg/day, and pH of 7.2. Based on these results and additional rearing experiences, this Fluidized Bed Biofilter is suitable for production level rearing of fish in RAS.
Select your language of interest to view the total content in your interested language
