ARS | Publication request: DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE USDA/ARS-HBOI SUSTAINABLE TANK AQUACULTURE RECIRCULATING RESEARCH (STARR) FACILITY FOR LOW-SALINITY FINFISH PRODUCTION

Submitted to: Book of Abstracts Aquaculture America
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 1, 2004
Publication Date: February 1, 2005
Citation: Pfeiffer, T.J., Davis, M., Freeman, D.W. 2005. Design characteristics of the USDA/ARS-HBOI Sustainable Tank Aquaculture Recirculating Research (STARR) facility for low-salinity finfish production [abstract]. Book of Abstracts, Aquaculture America. p. 324.

Technical Abstract: Water treatment components of a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) consist mainly of: solid removal devices, biofiltration, aeration and degassing units, and water distribution mechanisms. For each component, multiple options are available and the selection is based on system volume and hydrodynamics as well as fish and feed loading rates. A goal of the Sustainable Marine Aquaculture Systems collaborative Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and USDA/ARS program is to evaluate recirculating system components for the economically development of the marine finfish aquaculture industry. A galvanized steel covered building of approximately 9850 m2 was used to house two different 4-tank recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) designs, each replicated four times inside the greenhouse. The four fiberglass culture tanks per RAS unit are circular with dual drains and are 3 m in diameter with a sidewall height of 1.1 m and a five-degree bottom slope towards a center tank sump. The central bottom sump of each tank is connected to a swirl separator for the low-volume, high solids effluent flow out of the tank. Flow from each tank solid separator joins the high volume flow from the tank sidewall and total flow from all four tanks pass into a 60 micron drum filter. The biofiltration process is a fixed film submerged application employing floating beadbed technology using 25 ft3 propeller-washed bead filters or a moving floating-beadbed bioreactor. O2 saturation cones are placed after the biofilters of each system to transport oversaturated oxygenated water directly back into the culture tanks. Water quality parameters are obtained with a YSI 5200 monitoring system include pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. A synopsis of the design characteristics and operating criteria of the STARR system was presented.