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Application of Biofloc in Aquaculture: An Evaluation of Flocculating Activity of Selected Bacteria from Biofloc

  • Chapter
Beneficial Microorganisms in Agriculture, Aquaculture and Other Areas

Part of the book series: Microbiology Monographs ((MICROMONO,volume 29))

Abstract

Over the last decade, synthetic flocculants such as polyacrylamide, polyethylene amine, and aluminum sulfate have been widely used as flocculating agents in wastewater treatment process. Despite their effective flocculating activity, there are problems regarding their safety status in terms of high potential to cause carcinogenic and neurotoxic effects on human health. Therefore, natural flocculation process, a new biological method known as bioflocculation, offers an alternative way for safety water treatment especially in aquaculture industry. Bioflocculation (or biofloc) is a dynamic process resulting from the synthesis of extracellular polymers by flocculant producing microorganisms. Hence, this study was aimed to assess the bioflocculant production by 13 marine bacteria which were isolated from the Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park owned by Blue Archipelago Berhad at Setiu, Terengganu. In this study, screening of bioflocculant-producing bacteria was carried out and the flocculating activity of bioflocculant-producing bacteria was measured based on the day of culture (DOC): 0, 30, and 70 days. A total of 5 g/L kaolin suspension was used to measure the flocculating activity of each bacteria species using kaolin clay suspension method. Isolates of bioflocculant-producing bacteria were identified using Gram staining method and a series of biochemical test. There were dominant species of bioflocculant-producing bacteria such as Corynebacterium kutscheri, Corynebacterium xerosis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Lactobacillus fermenti, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus azotoformans, Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus sp., Bacillus sp., Vibrio sp., Neisseria sp., Serratia sp., and Yersinia sp., which were identified in the biofloc samples. Among all identified bioflocculant-producing bacteria, Streptococcus sp. showed the highest (14 %) flocculating activity. Therefore, the bacteria that show best flocculating performance in terms of the highest flocculating activity could be suggested as potential bioflocculant agents in treating wastewater from aquaculture industry.

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Malaysia (MOE) for the financial support under Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, FRGS (Vot no. 59260). We also acknowledge Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park, Blue Archipelago Berhad at Setiu, Terengganu, Malaysia for allowing us to access their shrimp ponds. Also, to all staffs at the School of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences and Institute of Tropical Aquaculture (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for their full cooperation throughout the study periods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Nor Azman Kasan, Shaziela Mohamad Said, Nurarina Ayuni Ghazali & Nurul Fakriah Che Hashim

  2. Institute of Tropical Aquaculture (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Nor Azman Kasan

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81300, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

    Zaharah Ibrahim

  4. School of Fundamental Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Nakisah Mat Amin

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  1. Nor Azman Kasan
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  2. Shaziela Mohamad Said
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  3. Nurarina Ayuni Ghazali
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  4. Nurul Fakriah Che Hashim
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  5. Zaharah Ibrahim
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  6. Nakisah Mat Amin
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Correspondence to Nor Azman Kasan .

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  1. Universiti Sains Malaysia, School of Industrial Technology, Penang, Malaysia

    Min-Tze Liong

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Kasan, N.A., Said, S.M., Ghazali, N.A., Che Hashim, N.F., Ibrahim, Z., Amin, N.M. (2015). Application of Biofloc in Aquaculture: An Evaluation of Flocculating Activity of Selected Bacteria from Biofloc. In: Liong, MT. (eds) Beneficial Microorganisms in Agriculture, Aquaculture and Other Areas. Microbiology Monographs, vol 29. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23183-9_8

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