Marine Recirculation Systems Design and Evaluation
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Recirculating systems that filter and re-use water are environmentally compatible, provide biosecurity to protect farmed animals from disease and insure good water quality conditions for farmed fish. The opportunity to develop and expand marine fish farming to inland locations using recirculating technology addresses both land and regulatory constraints Florida's aquaculture producers face. The need to move marine aquaculture inland is based on skyrocketing coastal property costs and the need to develop sustainable inland production methods that are safe for the environment and that expand opportunities for Florida's aquaculture industry. To establish inland marine fish farms, recirculating aquaculture systems that operate with minimal water loss must be designed and tested at commercial production scale.
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| The Systems In 2004, Mote designed and built a three-stage recirculating system for marine broodstock. We connected a primary filtration system (System A) to each broodstock tank, which included a solids filter, a moving bed biofilter, foam fractionator, ultraviolet light (UV) sterilizer and heater/chiller. Approximately 25% of the clean water from multiple broodstock tanks is circulated through a secondary filtration system (System B) each day. This system includes denitrification, foam fractionation, UV, ozone and carbon filtration. The waste from Systems A and B is filtered through a final filtration system (System C) that includes a solids filter, a moving bed biofilter, foam fractionator, denitrifier, UV, ozone and carbon filtration. Solids are dewatered and captured in a sand-drying bed or a geotube.
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| Evaluation We have made substantial progress toward evaluating the performance of filtration equipment and the economics associated with these systems. High-density marine fish fingerling production trials using a pilot-scale recirculating system revealed limitations in filtration equipment performance. Additional improvements in the marine fingerling production recirculating systems are in process to insure optimal water quality conditions. Now that we've developed and tested pilot-scale marine broodstock and larval systems, we're ready for commercial-scale production. |
Mote Marine Laboratory has been a leader in marine research since it was founded in 1955. Today, we incorporate public outreach as a key part of our mission. Mote is an independent nonprofit organization and has seven centers for marine research, the public Mote Aquarium and an Education Division specializing in public programs for all ages.
