Valoración del uso de bacterias nitrificantes para el control de nitritos en cultivos intensivos de camarón (litopenaeus vannamei ).

Abstract

The use of nitrifying bacteria for nitrite control in intensive shrimp cultures represents a sustainable strategy to improve water quality. In this study, the efficiency of probiotic products composed of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter in reducing nitrites in intensive aquaculture systems was evaluated. Sediment and water were collected from a freshly harvested pool at the FRANMAR shrimp farm (Huaquillas) and a completely randomized experiment was designed with three treatments and three replications. The treatments included a control without the addition of bacteria (TC), a treatment with a concentration of 20 billion CFU/g (T1) and another with 1300 billion CFU/g (T2). Ammonia, nitrite, dissolved oxygen and pH measurements were made three times a day. The results showed that the application of nitrifying bacteria significantly reduced nitrite levels, with a greater impact in the treatment with a higher bacterial concentration. No significant variations in pH were observed, but the bacteria treatments maintained higher dissolved oxygen levels compared to the control. Nitrite reduction started on Day 4 in T2 and on Day 5 in T1, being completed on Day 7 and 8, respectively. And regarding OM reduction, nitrifying bacteria managed to reduce it by 61% in all treatments. These findings highlight the importance of bacterial concentration to optimize water quality and improve the sustainability of aquaculture systems.