Enhancing Water Quality, Growth Performance and Profitability of Outdoor Earthen Pond Shrimp Aquaculture Using Biofloc Technology

Authors

  • Benedict Terkula Iber

    1. Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia; 2. Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi P.M.B. 2373, Nigeria
  • Shahadat Hossain

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Mohd Nazli Mohd Nor

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Suhairi Mazelan

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Nurul Hayati Ismail

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Mohamad Jalilah

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Ahmad Shuhaimi Draman

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Wahidah Wahab

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Mohd Syafiq Mohd Razak

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Hidayah Manan

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Ahmad Ideris Abdulrahim

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Amyra Suryatie Kamruzzan

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Azmie Ghazali

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Mohd Ihwan Zakariah

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
  • Nor Azman Kasan

    Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/re.v7i4.10221
Received: 27 May 2025 | Revised: 31 May 2025 | Accepted: 4 June 2025 | Published Online: 9 October 2025

Abstract

Global seafood demand has continued to rise amidst challenges to traditional aquaculture operations. Current shrimp aquaculture practice requires high water exchange and discharges toxic effluent to the environment. Biofloc technology (BFT) is self-sustaining and emphasizes nutrient cycling through microbial activity to maintain water quality. The effect of BFT on water quality and profitability of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) culture was determined over a 70-day period. Ponds P1, P2, and P3 were treated with BFT and compared to a control group (P4) without BFT. Bacillus infantis cultured inoculum initiated biofloc development while molasses-maintained C:N ratio of 15:1. One-way ANOVA determined the mean differences in Temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solid, alkalinity, salinity, ammonia (NH3), nitrates, nitrites (NO2⁻), calcium, magnesium, as well as shrimp body weight (BW) and total length (TL) across treatments. Profitability was determined by comparing the cost of production with sales and plotting it on a bar chart. BFT shrimp exhibited significantly higher BW (13.6 g) compared to 8.1 g in the control, and maintained a higher survival rate (80–90%) by day 70. Water quality was better managed in BFT, with NH3 consistently kept below 0.5 mg/L; transient peaks of NO2⁻, more stable pH (averaging at 7.5), and better DO management, maintained above 5 mg/L. BFT provided higher profitability of Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 11,019.67 (P1) and RM 8651.83 (P2) compared to financial losses in the non-biofloc system. Although operational challenges were reported, BFT  showed superior resilience, suggesting that proper technical training and farm management are crucial for its optimization.

Keywords:

Bacteria; Bacillus Infantis; Carbon Source; FCR; Microbial Activity; Penaeus Vannamei; Survival

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Iber, B. T., Hossain, S., Mohd Nor, M. N., Mazelan, S., Ismail, N. H., Mohamad Jalilah, Draman, A. S., Wahab, W., Mohd Razak, M. S., Hidayah Manan, Abdulrahim, A. I., Kamruzzan, A. S., Azmie Ghazali, Mohd Ihwan Zakariah, & Kasan, N. A. (2025). Enhancing Water Quality, Growth Performance and Profitability of Outdoor Earthen Pond Shrimp Aquaculture Using Biofloc Technology. Research in Ecology, 7(4), 214–232. https://doi.org/10.30564/re.v7i4.10221

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Vol. 7, Iss. 4 (October 2025)(in progress)

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Article

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Copyright © 2025 Benedict Terkula Iber, Shahadat Hossain, Mohd Nazli Mohd Nor, Suhairi Mazelan, Nurul Hayati Ismail, Mohamad Jalilah, Ahmad Shuhaimi Draman, Wahidah Wahab, Mohd Syafiq Mohd Razak, Hidayah Manan, Ahmad Ideris Abdulrahim, Amyra Suryatie Kamruzzan, Azmie Ghazali, Mohd Ihwan Zakariah, Nor Azman Kasan

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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