Use of probiotic consortium technology during the grow-out of Penaeus vannamei juveniles (Boone, 1931) in a biofloc system

The objective was to evaluate the effect of probiotic consortium technology (PCT) on the performance of Penaeus vannamei juveniles in the biofloc system in a short time. The experiment had four treatments with four replicates. In each experimental unit, 35 animals (3.15 ± 0.53 g and 7.80 ± 0.54 cm) were stocked in a biofloc system for 35 days. The treatments were: control - control without probiotic; PCT1 - probiotic in the diet (3 mL kg-1) and water (0.5 ppm - three times a week); PCT2 - probiotic in the diet (3 mL kg-1) and water (1 ppm - daily), and PCT3 - probiotic in the water (1 ppm - daily). For water quality and Vibrio, no significant differences were observed among treatments (P > 0.05). Regarding the zootechnical performance, the treatments with the probiotic promoted higher final biomass, biomass gain, and a more efficient feed conversion rate (P < 0.05). The performance improvement promoted by the probiotic may be related to increased concentrations of amylases, chymotrypsin, and lipases in the hepatopancreas (P < 0.05). It was concluded that PCT2 promoted the best zootechnical performance of P. vannamei during the grow-out phase in the biofloc system.