Periphyton Based Aquaculture : A Review

By : P. Ruby , B. Ahilan , E. Prabu

Page No: 35-48

Abstract
Fisheries and aquaculture are vital to the national economy in terms of nutrition, income, employment generation and foreign exchange earning. Periphyton-based aquaculture system is a modern concept and eco-friendly approach in closed water aquaculture. The rapid growth in aquaculture has triggered new technological advancement such as periphyton based aquaculture. Periphyton is comprised of groups of algae, filamentous bacteria. Periphyton technology works on the basis of introduction of substrates into the water to support the growth of periphyton, which becomes food for fish. To minimize costs, a considerable part of pond research concentrated on enhancing the phytoplankton based food web to reduce the need for external production inputs and to improve nutrient efficiencies. In periphyton-based aquaculture, the various invertebrates that colonize the hard substrates provided in ponds supplement artificial feed, while the sheltering substrates minimize the territorial effects of the cultured animals. Therefore, periphyton can increase the productivity and efficiency of aquaculture systems.

Authors :
E. Prabu, B. Ahilan and P. Ruby
Fisheries College and Research Institute, Ponneri, Tamilnadu, India.