Substrate based black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon culture: Stocking density, aeration and their effect on growth performance, water quality and periphyton development

Abstract Growth performance of black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon juveniles were evaluated in two outdoor experimental trials as a function of two stocking densities and aeration system in substrate based shrimp culture. The experiment 1 had 2 × 2 factorial design with two levels of stocking density and two management systems (with and without substrate addition) resulting in four treatment, each with three replicates. The 12 FRP tanks (1000 L) were stocked with P. monodon juveniles (1.08 ± 0.12 g) at 10 and 20 m 2 as first factor, and with substrate (10 + S and 20 + S) and without substrate (10-S and 20-S) as second factor. In experiment 2, effect of aeration in substrate system was evaluated in 1000 L FRP tanks with P. monodon (3.89 ± 0.12 g) in four treatments: provision of aeration (A) with substrates (S + A), without substrate (C + A), and absence of aeration with (S-A) or without substrate (C-A). In both experiments, bamboo substrates (5 × 2 × 1 cm) were installed in substrate based groups which generated an additional 540 cm 2 surface area for periphyton development. Formulated feed containing 38% crude protein was provided in both the experiments. In trial 1, stocking density did not significantly affect water quality parameters, whereas provision of bamboo substrate significantly reduced nitrate-N level ( P P P P