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Effects of hydraulic retention time on the performance of algal-bacterial-based aquaponics (AA): focusing on nitrogen and oxygen distribution

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

The effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the performance of algal-bacterial-based aquaponics (AA) were investigated in this study. Both the highest fish growth and algal biomass increase were observed in the AA system at 2-day HRT, resulting in the highest nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE) (39.28%) in this microcosm. On the contrary, ammonia oxidation bacteria (AOB) abundance at 4-day HRT was approximately ten times higher than that at 2-day HRT, since longer HRT would benefit bacterial growth. The 15N labeling study showed that microalgae assimilation was the main pathway of NH4+ removal in the AA system, and oxygen produced by microalgae could in situ support complete nitrification, thus leading to much lower NH4+ concentrations at 2-day HRT. Accordingly, better water quality was achieved at 2-day HRT. Considering all the factors, HRT of 2-day was considered to be optimal for the AA system.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51878388), Shandong Provincial Key Research and Development Plan (No. 2017GSF216011), Fundamental Research Funds of Shandong University (No. 2017JC025), and Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2018QEE006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Yingke Fang, Xinhan Chen, Zhen Hu & Hang Gao

  2. Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd., Shandong Academy of Environmental Science, Jinan, 250100, China

    Daoxing Liu

  3. Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Research Center, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, Shandong, China

    Lichao Nie

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  1. Yingke Fang
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  2. Xinhan Chen
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  3. Zhen Hu
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  4. Daoxing Liu
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  5. Hang Gao
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  6. Lichao Nie
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Correspondence to Zhen Hu.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

This article used fish (Cyprinus carpio) as an experimental object. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Fang, Y., Chen, X., Hu, Z. et al. Effects of hydraulic retention time on the performance of algal-bacterial-based aquaponics (AA): focusing on nitrogen and oxygen distribution. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 102, 9843–9855 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9338-1

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