A simplest definition of a recirculating aquaculture system would

be:
“Recirculating aquaculture encompasses systems used for the rearing of aquatic organisms
where 90% or more of system water is recycled.”

Why Recirculating Aquaculture?

Low water Requirements

 consume considerable less water than other types of culture systems

 Suited to areas with limited water supplies.

 Requires a minimum daily input of water, just enough to clean the waste from the filters
and to replace water lost to evaporation.

Less Land Requirements

 Fish can be safely stocked and grown at high densities.

 The goal which designers are striving to attain is 1 pound of fish per gallon of water.

 Can be located in areas where large amounts of level land are not available.

Control of Water Temperature

 Produce species which could not normally be raised in a given geographic area.

 maximize food conversion

 provide optimum growth,

 Growth can also occur throughout the year, maximizing production.

Control of Water Quality

 To the benefit of the live fish stock to the final product and the environment.

 maintaining dissolved oxygen at optimum levels

 fish have better food conversion and are less stressed,

 greater disease resistance,

  less wasted feed

 Faster stock growth.

 Isolated from potential environmental contaminants such as off-flavor caused by algal

blooms.  

Protection From The Elements and Potential Predators

• Protection from cold weather because tank can be equipped with heater

• Having the fish indoors also permits harvest at times when heavy rain, snow or ice

• Indoor RAS farms are designed to prevent stock escapement and mitigation of potential
conflicts.

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

 Increase in growing season  Increase construction costs

 Decrease labor costs: automation  Increase production costs

 Increase stock security (predators,  Increase complexity (Elect., Mech.,

disease, theft, pollution) Hydraulic)

 Decrease dependency on natural  Increase need for trained operators

resources
 Electrical reliability
 Increase production control
 Increase back-up components
 Increase marketing control
 Increase biological risks

Recirculating Aquaculture System Components:

1. Holding tank

2. Construction materials

3. Biological filters for nitrification

4. Protein skimmers/foam fractionators for removal of dissolved protein

5. Bead filters/screens/sedimentation tanks for solids removal

 6. Aeration/oxygenation systems

7. CO2 removal (diffusers)

8. UV system for disinfections

9. Pump(s)

10. Heaters/coolers

11. Monitoring systems

1. Holding tank
Holding tank is the vessel within which the cultured organism is maintained. Tanks are
constructed in such a way that they are ergonomics. (Safety interaction and most efficient)

The design of individual components of the tank is estimated by the number of fish (fish
biomass) and it’s mass which is used to calculate the feeding rates.

Types of holding tanks that are used in RAS:

 Circular

 Raceway

 D-ended

 Octagonal/hexagonal

 Square/hybrid

 Conical/Silo tank

1. Circular/oval

Advantages Disadvantages

 Big and large cost savings  Difficult to capture fish

 Good water circulation  Poor use of footprint

  Reasonable sludge collection  Difficult to remove dead fish

For oval: For oval:

Advantages same as circular  More expensive

 Hydrodynamic performance may be

poor (dead spaces)

2. Raceway/Rectangular

Advantages Disadvantages

 Good foot printing  Hydrodynamic (plug flow) problems

 Easy to harvest fish Cross-flow raceway

Solves the problems associated with poor

hydrodynamic flow

3. Square/hybrid

Advantages Disadvantages

 Good footprint  Hydrodynamic performance may be

questionable (not so much for
 Easy harvesting hybrids)

 Easy mort removal

4. Hexagonal/octagonal

Advantages Disadvantages

 Uniform water quality  Difficult to remove dead fish

 Good hydrodynamics  Difficult to harvesting and grading

performance
  Okay footprint  Expensive

 Reasonable collection of sludge

 Easy to expand system

 Excellent use of floor space

5. Silo tank

Advantage Disadvantages

 Good footprint  Difficult to harvest

 Difficult to observed

 Tricky to clean

2. Construction materials
Fiberglass  Very light material

 Strong

 Can be molded in various shape

But

 It is expensive

Plastic  Non biodegradable

 Adaptable to all shape

 Inert in marine environment

But

 Strength is limited and is expensive

Concrete  Durable
  Cheap

 Variable shape

But

 Complex shaping can be difficult

Wood  Smooth

 Cheap

 Light

But

 Coating is expensive

 Not durable

 Complex shaping is difficult

 Can harbor pathogen

Steel  Heavy

 Smooth

 Strong

 Inert

But

 expensive

3. Biological filters for nitrification

In closed aquaculture systems the accumulation of nitrogen compounds, as ammonium and
nitrite, has a deleterious impact on water quality and fish growth.
The biological filtration (BOD removal and nitrification) is a fundamental water treatment
process. It mainly digest dissolved organic material (heterotrophic bacteria) and oxidizes
ammonium-ions via nitrite to nitrate (two-step nitrification) by bacteria like:
 Nitrosomona spp
 Nitrospria spp
 Nitrobacter spp

A solid medium is used as substrate for the attachment of the micro flora. There are various
configurations that these substrates are arranged.
 Submerged beds
 Fluidized beds
 Emerged beds
 Trickling beds
 Combinations

Submerged biofilters

 Can either be up-, or down-flowing.

 Over time, submerged biofilters may block due to accumulation of sediments and must
therefore, be flushed.

Trickling biofilters

 Similar to submerged biofilters except that water trickles downwards over the media,
keeping bacteria wet but not entirely submerged.
Ideal characteristics for biofilter are:
• Large surface area: volume ratios
• Long-lasting
• Cheap
• Light

Commonly used media:

 i. Sand – cheap, high specific surface area, low void, heavy
 ii. Gravel – cheap, low specific surface area, medium void, heavy
 iii. Rock (limestone) – cheap, v. low specific surface area, low void, heavy
 iv. Crushed oyster shell - cheap
 v. Plastics (KMT, RBC) - expensive
 eg. B-cell and Kaldnes

The speed of maturation of the

nitrosomonas and nitrobacter colonies can be decreased with addition of ammonia (1-5 mg/l as
ammonium chjloride, hydroxide or phosphate) to the water column or by mixing with old media.

4. Solid removal in recirculation systems

The solid particulates are removed by:

• Gravity separation

• Filtration

• Flotation

The presence and accumulation of particulate wastes in RAS (faeces, uneaten feed, and bacteria
flocs) will impact negatively the water quality by affecting the performance efficiency of the
water treatment units.
High suspended solids load has many disadvantages:

o Particulate matter consumes oxygen during biological degradation which will decrease the
availability of oxygen for fish in culture.
o The brake down of organic wastes will increase the TAN concentration.
o Solids support the growth of heterotrophic bacteria.
o Encourage the proliferation of pathogens and other bacteria responsible for off flavor eg.
geosmin.
o Particles can potentially clog biofilters and reduce their efficiency.

The size of the solid particles determine which separation technique to use
Some methods used are:

 Sedimentation tank

Sedimentation is a physical water treatment process used to settle out suspended solids in water
under the influence of gravity.

Water entering the sedimentation tanks contains suspended particles (sediments). These basins
are designed to allow sediments to settle to the bottom of the tanks. The sludge is then driven to
an outlet using scrapers. Sedimentation Tanks can be circular or rectangular.

Circular sedimentation tanks: Rectangular sedimentation tanks:

(1) allow for easy sludge removal (1) are easy to operate

(2) provide high clarification efficiency (2) have low maintenance costs

(3) small to medium-sized applications (3) are easily adapted to high-rate settlers

(4) best for plants with constant flow rates and (6) are suited to large capacity plants
quality

DEPENDENCE UPON SETTLING VELOCITIES OF PARTICLES AND VOLUMETRIC

FLOW OF WATER PER UNIT SURFACE AREA OF SEDIMENTATION TANK

 Hydrocyclones/swirl separators (filtration)

Media Filters

Media filters are typically composed of a container holding a fixed volume of the filtering media.
Sand and small beads are the most common filtering media.

Media filters can be:

 pressurized

Pressure sand filters consist of a closed chamber holding the filter sand. Raw water is pumped
into a diffuser and filters through the sand. Cleaned water exits through the bottom of the filter.
These filters are very effective at removing particulate waste
  Open-flowing.

Open-flow filters are very limited in the amount of water flow they can handle. The maximum
for sand filters is about 1 gallon/minute for every square foot. This discussion is therefore limited
to pressurized systems.

• Relatively expensive

• Don’t remove fine solids

• Effective at removing TSS

• May remove 85%+ of > 75 mm particles

• Good footprint

 Screen Filters (Flotation)

Screen filtration includes any mechanism where particulate matter is trapped on a thin porous
membrane. The filter membrane may be composed of woven wire or other material, a perforated
plate, or a set of parallel wires with fixed distances between them.

Three factors govern the effectiveness of all screen filtration systems:

1) Efficiency of particulate removal,

2) Rate of clogging, and
3) Ease and efficiency of cleaning.

o Minimal labor

o Good footprint

o Low head loss

o Screen strains water

o $15000

o Similar: disc and belt filters

5. (Protein skimmers) foam fractionators for removal of dissolved

protein
  Also known as protein skimming
 Removes dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) from the
process flow. hydrophobic (such as fats or oils) or hydrophilic (such as salt, sugar,
ammonia, most amino acids
 Compounds are adsorbed onto the surface of bubbles and lifted out of system
 Foam accumulates at top of closed contact column and removed by spray mechanism
 Surfactants: substances removed
 Benefits: reduced clogging, removal of high molecular weight compounds (e.g.,
proteins), increased water clarity, increased aeration, increased pH stabilization (removes
organic acids)
 For maximum efficiency, surfactants in water must mix with bubbles in closed column
 Smaller bubbles = more contact (surface area/volume ratio)
 Ideal bubble diameter is 0.8 mm

6. Aeration/oxygenation systems
Oxygen depletion caused by:
 Respiration
 Biological oxygen demand
 Chemical oxygen demand
 Nitrification

There are two types use to increase the level of oxygen in a system:
1. Aerator
2. Oxygenation
Aerators:
The term aeration is used here to refer to the dissolution of oxygen from the atmosphere into
water as opposed to adding oxygen from a pure oxygen source.

Diffuser aeration Low-pressure air from "airstones" into the

culture tank.
 not an efficient means.
 create more turbulence than the
cultured species can tolerate.
Mechanical aeration Move or splash water into the air to increase
contact surface area between air and water.
The larger contact surface area enhances the
rate of oxygen transfer to the water.

 paddlewheel design
 submersible motor with a propeller

50 percent more efficient at transferring

oxygen than airstone diffusers.
 Packed column aerators
Oxygenation:
Pure oxygen is used in recirculating systems when the intensity of production causes the rate of
oxygen consumption within the system to exceed the maximum feasible rate of oxygen transfer
though aeration.
Downflow bubble contactor low pressure oxygen diffusion system
(cone)
Counter current diffusion
column
U-tube diffusers
An ideal location to aerate and de-gas water
(eg. remove carbon dioxide) is in the recycle
flow-stream .
Proper design criteria include non-flooded
operation and free air exchange through the
reactor.
Use down-flow bubble contact oxygenator (DFBC)
The DFBC system consists of a cone shaped reactor with water
and oxygen input port at the top.
low pressure technology
Utilizes a tall reactor column (approximately 10 feet long)
oriented in a vertical direction. Low DO water flows downward
from the top of the reactor while gaseous oxygen is introduced at
the bottom through a diffuser.
The advantage:
 simple,
 efficient,
 low cost.
Oxygen transfer efficiencies are less than those for DFBC
systems.
Consists of a contact loop, usually a pipe within a pipe , buried
in the ground to at least 33 feet in depth. The contact loop is
placed below tank level to minimize energy requirements rather
than pumping water "up hill" to gain the extra hydrostatic
pressure created by a column of water. Oxygen is mixed with the
water at the entrance to the U-tube and travels with the current to
the bottom of the water column. The additional pressure from the
water column accelerates the rate of oxygen absorption Into the
water.
Advantages
 low energy requirements
 Resistance to clogging with particulate solids.
Disadvantage
 Construction cost of drilling and installing the U-tube.
 Pressurized spray towers Spray towers are pressurized vessels that operate in a non-
flooded mode. Influent water is sprayed as fine droplets into a
reactor containing an atmosphere of enriched or pure oxygen
gas.
 Susceptible to bio-fouling.

Pressurized packed columns Are operated in a flooded mode (water fills the reactor).

The major disadvantage:

 Biological growth building up on the packing media and
the need for periodic cleaning.

7. CO2 removal (diffusers)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a by-product of fish and bacteria respiration within RAS and production is
directly related to the amount of oxygen consumed. Carbon dioxide reacts with water to form
carbonic acid that reduces pH in RAS.

Thus gas-stripping devices must provide a very high airflow, about 3 – 10 times the air volume to
water volume treated. This is achieved using a fan which forces air through towers packed with open
plastic degassing media. 2 ways to do this

– Surface aeration
– Diffusion aerators.
Example: Packed column aerators

8. Water sterilizer for disinfections

Disease control methods commonly are
1. ultraviolet irradiation (UV)
2. ozone.

Ultra Violet Irradiation

Ultraviolet irradiation (UV) is widely used to control pathogens in aquaculture.

The UV used is typically produced by mercury vapor bulbs/lamps. UV radiation at 260nm

provides maximum germicidal activity chiefly due to interaction with components of DNA.

Ozone Sterilizer

Ozone (O3) is a powerful oxidizing agent that is increasingly being used for disease control and
water quality enhancement in RAS, particularly within saltwater systems where it is often used
in combination with foam fractionation.

ADVANTAGES of OZONE
  Control of fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens
 Pre-treatment of POPs
 Reduced biofouling
 Improved fine solids removal
 Control of water color
 Control of off-flavors
 Reductions in TSS, COD
 Removal of nitrite

9. Pump(s)
Most RAS are pump driven to provide the water movement required to deliver oxygen to fish and
remove wastes from culture tanks.

Centrifugal pumps are the most common type used in RAS although mixed flow, axial flow and air-
lift pumps are also used in some systems.
Pump installations include submersible pumps, shaft-driven submerged pumps, flooded suction and
suction lift pumps.

Pump selection is based upon performance specifications required within the RAS design.
Pump performance is described by capacity (e.g. L/min), head, power, pump efficiency, suction
head, and specific speed (rpm). Pump efficiency at the desired performance criteria is particularly
important to reduce the operating cost of pumping. Pump selection criteria should include:
• Operational duty rating
• Pump construction materials.
• Three phase power (415 v) - essential for efficient pump operation and longevity.

Other need of pumps:

1. Moving fish from one tank to another
2. Food propulsion
3. Side systems (skimmers)

10. Heaters/coolers
Water temperature is one of the primary environmental factors that influence the growth rate of fish.
RAS must be able to control water temperature so that optimum growth performance and economic
return can be acquired.

Direct heating of recirculated water through the use

 immersion heaters,
 gas fired boilers
 heat exchangers
 electric heat (and chill) pumps

Thermostatic control systems are available for all heating or chilling equipment.
There are also a number of other natural sources of energy that can be utilized to control water
temperature in RAS such as solar heating, saline solar ponds and geothermal water/heat.

11. Monitoring system

Feeders
Feed management is vital to achieve optimal performance and minimise feed costs in RAS. The
frequency of feeding and amount of feed inputs depend on the size and species of fish.

Water temperature is one of the most important environmental parameter influencing growth and
metabolism, and thus the feed intake of fish.

Commercial RAS may use mechanical feeders (i.e. belt, vibratory or screw feeders) that can be
programmed to deliver set amounts of feed, for a range of feeding durations, a number of times each
day.

These feeders can decrease labour inputs.

Automatic feeders provide the advantage in RAS of allowing more frequent feeds that provide a
more constant load on mechanical and biological filtration.

pH Control
The biofilter oxidises the ammonia that is generated within the RAS. This oxidation is a
two-stage process in which Nitrosomas bacteria oxidise the ammonia to nitrite and
Nitrobacter bacteria oxidise the nitrite to nitrate.

For each gram of ammonia nitrogen oxidized 4.57g of oxygen and 7.14mg of alkalinity as CaCO 3 are
required.
If the alkalinity is not replaced in the RAS the water pH will drop.

One method of replacing the alkalinity consumed is to add sodium bicarbonate to the system at rates
up to 250g for every 1kg of food introduced into the RAS.

Some system use pH probe monitors and controller to inject liquid alkali (NaOH – sodium
hydroxide) to maintain the water pH within selected limits.

Oxygen
Effective management of DO is a key factor in the operation of commercial RAS.
Generally, intensive RAS attempt to maintain system DO at 100% saturation to optimize growth and
system performance (i.e. biofilter operation). At higher levels of saturation, loss of DO to the
atmosphere can be significant.

There is a direct relationship between oxygen consumption of fish, feeding and growth
rate. If oxygen is not at near saturation levels, growth rates will be reduced, extending
grow-out time and thus reducing potential profit.
Another advantage of using pure oxygen is the reduction in pumping costs (i.e. operating, pipe and
plumbing size) by delivering water at levels of saturation greater than 100%. The overall size (i.e.
buildings, tanks) of the RAS may also be reduced using oxygen, providing further savings during
construction.

Other Monitoring System:

 Quarantine and treatment systems
 Microscopes and Water Quality Monitoring Equipment