Welcome to the 369 annual Aquaculture boot camp
Transcript of Welcome to the 369 annual Aquaculture boot camp
Welcome to the 369th annual
Aquaculture boot camp
In spite of yesterday’s gloomy
weather. There is sunshine in the
future
And yes we are on the hunt for #5
Famous Emma is everywhere
Aeration Choices
How Much O2 is necessary? Two Approaches
1) Based on feeding. Dr. Boyd says 1#/ feed requires 1#
o2/day. Keeping in mind that fish can consume of to 13x’s
as much 02 when stomachs are full.
2) Average Consumption method: .02 - .05 lbs/ o2/hr/100#’s of
fish.
Oxygen demand in typical fish ponds
50% plankton
30% sediment
20% fish
… Why Aeration??
Fish: poor growth, habitat, health, fish kills
Overproduction of algae
Organic sludge accumulation – 02 will reduce this
Nutrient processing
Clarity-plankton, turbidity
Debris/trash/surface film
Mosquito control – Zika, West Nile
Water quality & AerationWHAT AERATION CAN DO
Mixes water for uniform distribution of temperatures, pH, nutrients, planktonic food.
Fish have full access to the water column
When pond mud has oxygen, it buffers the release of phosphorus into the water system.
Aerated organic solids have better settlability.
Higher oxygen levels stimulate bacteria that consume organic sludge.
The quick answer to support
aeration is. You do not want to
plant your fish
Pond aeration two strategies
Feed the gain. Aerated to get fish to harvest faster. Shorten the risk.
Aerate to increase density and more pounds per acre
Oxygen transfer tests
0 -98% saturation
20 degrees C
Result is lbs/o2/hp/hr. Then….What
do you do with that?
Does not take into account salinity
or altitude. Or the closer you get
to saturation the more difficult it is
to add oxygen.
D.O. Tips Do not let it get below 3 pm at 6 AM - Les Torans
research
Diurnal fluctuation. Small fish stressed with wide
fluctuations
Feed conversion gets better as D.O. increases
Oxygen reduces the formation of unionized
ammonia
Pure Oxygen Threshold
Somewhere around ½# of fish per gallon of water.
Densities as high as 1.9 # of fish per gallon of h20
New strategies on some catfish
ponds
Split ponds with circulators @ various rpm
Up to 20,000 pound/acre
Best feed conversions 1.87:1
8 hp/acre
Adds .086 cents to production costs per pound – cost of
production .75. selling price $1.15. average farm size 450
acres
$2.2 million profit every 17 months
better cheaper
Can run in winter but do not shut
them off in the extreme north
Net pen aquaculture
Surface aerators Diffusers
Regenerative blower
High volume
Low pressure
Bank of blowers Airstones
Deeper ponds
Old Style – Carbon vanes
Noisier
Maintenance
10 psi limited
More power
Better volume
New air sources for ponds
Quieter
Better pressure (deeper and smaller diameter air tubing)
Not as much maintenance
Not quite the same volume
Less amps
Linear Compressors – Quiet, low
amp draw, pressure limited
Septic
Koi
Bait tanks
Bio-Assay
Labs
Lift stations
Aquariums
Medical
Aquaponics
Lifting mixing with diffusers
2.5 amps at 120 volts –
Handles 2 diffusers –
3400 gpm per diffusers @ 15’ of
depth = 9.7 million gallons a day
Winterkill prevention – 1-2% surface
open
Diffuser maintenance
Pond/lakes stratification – Fish kills
last summer when we destratified
Venturi type – causes directional
flow
De-Icing – prevent waterfowl but
attract water fowl – protect
equipment
Kasco De-Icers Saved the Day in the
Whale Rescue Effort that Inspired the
Movie
“Big Miracle” !
De-icing
Oyster/clam circulation/upweller
1-3 mm seed to field size
Reduces predation
Circulates more food past
them
Shaved a year off of
production cycle (cost
per unit gain was
positive)!
Solar aeration
FELL APART $6000
Solar line voltage
They now have sensors that if the
wind stops it will turn on to 120volt
air pump.
Negatives of windmill by itself. P
puffing
Remote valve set up to take the
place of solar or wind
Can run for long
distances with
rocking piston
compressors
What our aeration can do to fish
growth. UN of FL study
In an emergency, any type of
aeration is better than none
Bush Hogerator Outboarderator
Google Earth
Water moccasin – perils of the job
Black Widow- Monday in our
factory- they are not native to WI
Fire ant HQ in the control panel – Customer
could not figure out why his aerator was not
working
WI farmers do have the attention of
decision makers