Abstract

One of the emerging technologies that aims to optimize production and minimize environmental impact in aquaculture is biofloc technology (BFT). This technology controls ammonia buildup by adding carbon to encourage the growth of heterotrophic bacteria. This study aimed at describing and characterizing the composition, size, and sedimentation rate of bioflocs formed using three different carbon sources (molasses, chancaca, and seaweed meal) while rearing the northern river shrimp Cryphiops caementarius in rectangular tanks (107 x 63 x 45 cm). The C/N ratio of 15 was maintained for all treatments. The size range of the predominant biofloc in BFT with chancaca and molasses was from 70 to 1.2 mu m, representing 59.6% and 64.63%, respectively, while with algae meal, it was from 20 to 1.2 mu m, representing 56% of the total biofloc.The average settling velocities for bioflocs were 0.1133 +/- 0.1226 cm s-1 for molasses and chancaca and 0.1132 +/- 0.1225 cm s-1 for seaweed meal. Overall, this study showed that the choice of carbon source utilized affects the composition, particle size, and settling velocity of biofloc and water quality. Understanding the influence of carbon sources on biofloc properties is relevant for the design of gravity and physical removal devices utilized for enhancing BFT systems.