Different carbon sources affects biofloc volume, water quality and the survival and physiology of African catfish Clarias gariepinus fingerlings reared in an intensive biofloc technology system

Fermenting rice bran as a carbon source for biofloc technology improved the water quality, growth, feeding efficiencies, and biochemical composition of African catfish Clarias gariepinus juveniles

“…While this could be viewed as indications of more available energy due to better nutrition, this was not supported by the liver glycogen or growth data. In fact, this seemingly contradictory response was previously observed in C. gariepinus when using RRB as a carbon source compared to sucrose or glycerol in biofloc-based systems (Dauda et al, 2017). Research regarding biochemical changes in animals cultured in biofloc-based systems with different carbon sources are still limited, however, one study showed that the use of complex carbohydrates with BFT significantly decreased the crude lipid content in L. vannamei compared to the use of sugarcane molasses or control (Rajkumar et al, 2016).…”

“…Rice bran fulfils these criteria in most Asian and African countries that farm C. gariepinus (FAO, 2014;Oladosu et al, 2016). However, the sole use of rice bran in biofloc-based systems can delay the removal of ammonia-N (Khanjani et al, 2017;Serra et al, 2015) and, in the case of C. gariepinus, was believed to be the cause for excessive mortalities (Dauda et al, 2017). It has been suggested that improving the water solubility of complex carbohydrates could facilitate the conversion of dissolved nitrogenous waste by heterotrophic bacteria into microbial biomass (Dauda et al, 2017;Ekasari et al, 2014).…”

“…For example, the use of complex carbohydrates over simple sugars led to a better growth performance to L. vannamei and the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon , which was believed to be due to a higher nutritional value of the bioflocs (Kumar et al, ; Serra et al, ). On the other hand, simple sugars or glycerol is more effective at removing ammonia‐N in biofloc‐based systems compared to complex carbohydrates (Dauda et al, ; Khanjani et al, ; Serra et al, ). In the case of C. gariepinus , the slower utilization of rice bran subsequently led to excessive ammonia‐N levels, which was believed to substantially reduce survival in a biofloc‐based system (Dauda et al, ).…”

“…On the other hand, simple sugars or glycerol is more effective at removing ammonia‐N in biofloc‐based systems compared to complex carbohydrates (Dauda et al, ; Khanjani et al, ; Serra et al, ). In the case of C. gariepinus , the slower utilization of rice bran subsequently led to excessive ammonia‐N levels, which was believed to substantially reduce survival in a biofloc‐based system (Dauda et al, ). It has been suggested that water quality management could be achieved by enhancing the water solubility of rice bran through pre‐treatments with microorganisms, enzymes and/or fermentation (Dauda et al, ; Ekasari et al, ).…”

“…For example, the use of complex carbohydrates over simple sugars led to a better growth performance to L. vannamei and the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon, which was believed to be due to a higher nutritional value of the bioflocs Serra et al, 2015). On the other hand, simple sugars or glycerol is more effective at removing ammonia-N in biofloc-based systems compared to complex carbohydrates (Dauda et al, 2017;Khanjani et al, 2017;Serra et al, 2015).…”