Co-cultivation of Daphnia magna (Straus) and Desmodesmus armatus (chod.) Hegew. in recirculating aquaculture system wastewater
Abstract
The study focused on the development of co-cultivation
schemes for Daphnia magna (Straus) and Desmodesmus armatus
(Chod.) Hegew. Wastewater from a recirculating aquaculture
system (RAS) was used as a medium for co-cultivation. Three
schemes for D. magna and algae co-cultivation that differed in the
timing of the introduction of Daphnia into the system were tested.
Initially, D. armatus algae were cultivated to the exponential
growth phase until cell numbers reached 5 × 104 cell × l-1. This
algal culture was introduced into the system for joint cultivation.
D. magna was added immediately on the same day or three or six
days after the algae. The number of D. magna individuals and the
number of D. armatus cells were analyzed. It was established that
the optimal scheme is the simultaneous introduction of algae and
crustaceans into the cultivating system. By implementing this
system it was possible to increase the number and biomass of D.
magna by ten times in comparison to initial values.The
biochemical composition of the D. magna obtained after
co-cultivation and Daphnia that was fed traditionally once every
48 h with the same algae or yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was
also compared. The scheme applied for D. magna and D. armatus
simultaneous co-cultivation rendered it possible to obtain
a biomass of Daphnia that was characterized by a protein content
of 82.5% lipids of 6.7%, and carotenoids of 15.3 mg × g-1