Aquaculture
Just like technology such as the drum filter, MBBR is also used in the fish farming sector. It must be combined with other parameters for the biological treatment in aquaculture:
- solids removal
- an extra disinfection
There are several pollutants present in the effluents of the fish farm as :
- Bacteria/viruses
- ammoniacal nitrogen
- suspended solids
These pollutants can cause a relatively important disturbance on the ecosystem in which they will be poured.
Koi carp
The most suitable installation for the filtration of Koi ponds is without hesitation the drum filter. It offers a high quality filtration with low maintenance and low cost (see Drum Filter)
However, for a more perfect treatment and ever more shining koi, we recommend you to adopt this installation. This is to treat the carbon and nitrogen that can affect the quality of your pond.
Although your drum filter can work independently without the MBBR, the reverse is not true. Actually, a biological treatment cannot work alone without the presence of a mechanical filter upstream. The unfiltered particles will stick to the filtering media, leading to the development of heterotrophic bacteria more rapidly than autotrophic ones. As a result, the efficiency of your MBBR linked to these famous autotrophic bacteria will be greatly impaired.
Biological treatment for ponds
It is important to choose the right type of media when starting to breed a species. First of all, it is necessary to define which setting will be the most suitable to ensure the well-being of your fish. Then you can choose which type of media will be the most interesting to get the ideal environment.
The filter should be used to its full potential by ensuring that its flow aggressively moves the water surface. This increases the dissolved oxygen content in the water.
There are several different filter media for different purposes:
- Charcoal will allow you to eliminate unwanted odors or improve the clarity of your water.
- Pellets of peat are recommended if your goal is to acidify your environment and create the type of tropical conditions that blackwater fish in South America find themselves in.
For the health and survival of your fish, you must ensure that there is strong biological filtration, and in this case, you could use Fluval BioMax and/or Fluval Bio-Foam.
Biological treatment for aquaponics
Aquaponics is a cultivation method that combines three types of living beings: bacteria, fish and plants. This mutual benefit relationship is expressed in the following way:
- Aerobic bacteria converts nitrogen waste such as ammonia produced by fish (urea)
- plants’ roots in suspension will then absorb them
- This way, they will be provided with access to the necessary nutrients while eliminating the waste products emitted by the fish.
However, although this system may appear self-sufficient, adding a drum filter can be beneficial. This is because the substrate and roots will tend to clog up due to water impurities. This will require additional and regular maintenance.
To avoid clogging, it is necessary to choose the appropriate filtration mode to avoid :
- Any possibility of overheating the water in summer, the filtration system must be buried.To avoid clogging, it is necessary to choose the appropriate filtration mode to avoid :
- Energy consumption, it would be better if it worked by gravity.
- The clogging should be slow enough to limit maintenance and easy to clean, while producing clear water.
- Although it allows the recovery of mud, it can also be used as fertilizer.
But a drum filter alone will not keep your fish farm running smoothly.
In aquaponics, if the bacteria’s colonization capacity is insufficient, you must increase the surface area of your culture medium. This is the advantage of using a biological treatment of aquaculture, the MBBR technology. This biological filter will be an important part of your system, ensuring that the plants have enough nutrients to grow properly while cleaning the water for the fish to live in.
Biological treatment in aquaculture
Biological treatment at the entrance and exit of the fish farm
The notion of entry and exit is found in an open network. Water is pumped from an external environment to supply the tank and ensure the well-being of the fish. The water from the waste pond will therefore be released into the environment.
- The purpose of an MBBR at the entrance of a fish farm is to ensure a biological filtration of the water entering the pond. The water that reaches the pond is cleaned of carbon, nitrogen and other substances that can harm the fish.
- Moreover, equipped with a UV purifier, it will ensure an elimination of pathogens.
- This equipment guarantees a high quality hygiene and avoids geosmines (muddy taste) in the fish flesh.
- The accumulation would lead to an economic disaster for the fish farmer. Microorganisms, such as cyanobacteria or even actinomycetes, are responsible for this kind of incident. They are non-toxic producers of volatile organic compounds. Therefore, it is essential to filter these microorganisms.
Putting a filtering system at the exit of a fish farm is as essential as the one at the entrance. Indeed, without it, the pollutants produced by the fish (organic matter, nitrogen, carbon) may contaminate the environment. They would result in eutrophication of the environment, which would lead to anoxia and an ecological disaster. The MBBR is therefore highly recommended in a fish farm at the entrance and exit of the system.
For total effectiveness, it is recommended to add a biological filtration to the aquaculture drum filter to avoid contamination.
Why biologically treat the recirculated water
Biologically treated recirculated water restores the quality of your pond’s wastewater for later reuse.
Biological filters are filtration techniques that use living organisms/bacteria. Their goal is to remove :
- a number of toxic water compounds
- nitrite in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for fish farming
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