Technology has been met with success worldwide by balancing natural plankton
The prevalence of numerous diseases that affect the shrimp and prawn aquaculture industry has promoted the development of various health management strategies. Some include greater biosecurity and sourcing of specific pathogen free animals, and in more extreme cases using chemicals and antibiotics.
However, because of the nature of open pond aquaculture, where most farmed shrimp is produced globally, it often not possible to farm animals in a bubble by completely eliminating the presence of all pathogens.
In fact, in traditional pond systems, the continual build-up of sediments and subsequent deterioration of water quality are known to encourage the growth of many pathogens including pathogenic Vibrios. Promoting microalgae growth can help maintain water quality, but this can something be hard to manage, and these systems are prone to Ph and dissolved oxygen fluctuations that can stress the animals.
Biofloc technology was introduced to tackle some of these issues. This is accomplished by the addition of extra carbon to the water leading to the conversion of potentially harmful organic matter and sludge into consumable biomass such a process can eliminate or significantly reduce the need for water exchanges, and is thus more environmentally friendly while also offering greater biosecurity.
Biofloc technology has been met with success around the world however; the operating costs can be significantly higher to maintain bioflocs in constant suspension. A potentially more balanced approach between using both microalgae and biofloc in aquaculture is known as Aquamimicry. In this article, I present a simple description of the protocol and implications for its use to assist farmers considering this concept, which I believe will become a widespread standard practice in the industry.
Source : Aqua International