Role of artificial substrates on growth performance of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) in semi-arid lands

A culture experiment was conducted to study the role of artificial substrates on pond water quality parameters and growth of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei in zero water exchange system (0.1 ha) for a period of 105 days in high density polyethylene (HDPE) liner ponds. Artificial substrate (fabricated by nylon net material (216 m(2)) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes) fixed ponds were considered as treatment and those without were designated as control. Both control and treatment ponds were randomly assigned and triplicated. Shrimp juveniles (SPF) at uniform size (1.74 +/- 0.46) were stocked at the rate of 50 pcs/m(2) in control and treatment ponds. Feeding, sampling and water quality parameters viz; temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, transparency, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, alkalinity and calcium were recorded during culture. On termination of the experiment, shrimps were harvested; growth, survival and biomass were recorded. Significant difference (p < 0.01) in pH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and phosphate were observed between control and treatment ponds. High average body weight (ABW), survival and FCR were noticed in treatment ponds when compared to control. Treatment ponds showed 25.6 % more biomass when compared to control. Fixing artificial substrate in culture ponds would considerably reduce pH, ammonia and nitrite contents of water and thereby improve water quality and growth of L. vannamei.