Evaluation of water quality and growth performance in biofloc technology system rearing tiger puffer (<i>Takifugu</i> <i>rubripes</i>)

<p>Biofloc technology (BFT) system is a type of recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) that keeps a community of microalgae and autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria with little water exchange. The present study aimed to compare the effect of the BFT system and RAS on water quality and tiger puffer growth performance. RAS and BFT systems were created for a comparison. Water quality, such as ammonia and nitrite concentration, was measured. Growth performance parameters such as specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion rate (FCR) were also investigated. Although safe levels of ammonia and nitrite were observed in both systems during the experiment, the BFT system showed better water quality. In the BFT system, fish had higher body weight than in RAS (BFT: 245.67 ± 20.21; RAS: 214.5 ± 11.89). FCR in the BFT system was 1.62, which was about 0.19 lower than that in RAS. SGR and survival rate (SG) in the BFT system were 1.62 and 83.29, respectively; they were also higher than in RAS. Growth performance and survival rate of the BFT system were higher than RAS.</p>