Tecnologia de bioflocos (BFT) no desempenho de peixes ornamentais

Abstract

Ornamental aquaculture has been gaining space in the world market, for the ease of creation and beauty of the animals. In Brazil, the commercial production of ornamental fish is a highly profitable activity, although still in structuring. The development of this activity causes an increase in the effluent generation that can harm the natural environment. Thus, new production technologies are needed. The aim of this work was to evaluate the zootechnical performance of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and convict cichlid (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) raised in a system of bioflocos or clear water. The experimental period was 56 days, using 120 animals, 60 of each species, housed in twelve experimental units. The experimental design was completely randomized, with 4 treatments and 3 replicates, and 10 animals were distributed per replicate. The treatments were: Z = zebrafish control (clean water); ZB = zebrafish with bioflocos; A = acara congo control (clean water) and AB = acará congo with bioflocos. The animals received 5% of live weight in ration twice a day. The following zootechnical parameters were analyzed: weight, total length, survival, condition factor, apparent feed conversion and specific growth rate. Histological analysis was also performed to verify the stage of gonadal development. The values of weight, apparent feed conversion, specific growth rate were higher for the cichlids in AB when compared to A. Weight and feed conversion ratio were also superior for zebrafish in the same system. Water consumption presented difference, demonstrating the superiority of biofloc technology in terms of the use of water resources, which was at least 12.6 times lower than the clear water system. For histology, the BFT system allowed to accelerate sexual maturation for zebrafish, and maturation stage was verified, even for young and small animals. Gonadal maturation of convict cichlid males was not affected by the systems, although growth was higher in the biofloc system.