Article info.

ABSTRACT

Received 16 Jan 2017
Revised 17 Mar 2017

Accepted 29 Jul 2017

This study is aimed to determine appropriate photoperiod regime for growth of white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in super-intensive tank culture system applying biofloc technology. The experiment was set up indoor and randomly designed with different photoperiod treatments including (i) 24-hour in dark condition (0L:24D); (ii) 6-hour light: 18-hour dark (6L:18D); (iii) 12-hour light: 12-hour dark (12l:12D); (iv) 18-hour light: 6-hour dark (18L:6D) and (v) 24-hour light (24L:0D). In the photoperiod treatments, a 55w compact fluorescent (light intensity ~ 6000 lux) was installed above each culture tank. Shrimp with initial weight and body length at 0.84 g and 4.45 cm, respectively were stocked at the density of 150 inds/m³ in biofloc system (C:N=15:1) in 300 L tanks at salinity of 15‰. The results showed that after 90 days of culture, water quality was in suitable range for shrimp growth. Mean body weight of shrimp was from 18.28 to 22.96 g each in different treatments. In which, mean body weight of shrimp in total darkness condition (i) was the lowest and significantly lower than the others (p<0.05). The highest survival rate of shrimp was recorded in continuous photoperiod treatment (v) (i.e. 71.9%), and there was no significant difference compared to the treatment 12L:12D (66.7%) and 18L:6D (68.9%). Similarly, shrimp biomass reached the highest in the continuous photoperiod (v) treatment (2.47 kg/m³), there was no significant difference from the treatment 18L:6D (2.23kg/m³) but it was significantly higher than the others. Besides, shrimp in the photoperiod treatments (v) showed darker color compared to shrimp in total darkness condition (i).

Keywords

Biofloc, photoperiod, white leg shrimp

Cited as: Viet, L.Q., Ngan, T.V., Phu, T.M., Hai, T.N., 2017. Effects of photoperiods on growth and quality of white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus van-namei) in biofloc system. Can Tho University Journal of Science. Vol 6: 83-92.