The abbreviation stands for “Control of microbiology in aquaculture recirculation systems” and is a cooperative project funded by the DBU, which we will continue to carry out with our partner, the Hanover University of Veterinary Medicine Foundation, at the Bioflock facility in Hesse until 2022 (www.die-landgarnele.de).
Project title: “Development of operational and process engineering solutions for sustainable, nitrogen-efficient and animal-friendly indoor shrimp production based on Biofloc Technology (BFT)”, Ref: 34855/01-23.
Ultimately, the aim here is to verify how sustainable Biofloc technology is on an industrial scale, what the key production figures are, and how the microbiome is composed as the central control unit of the biological processes. The complexity and the volume of data to be documented and evaluated requires a database support. We had already developed the DeltA database with a software company in the previous KoMARe project, Phase I, but the database had become technologically obsolete and in the meantime it has now been placed with a new technology, enhanced with new functions.
Our approach is to measure BFT in terms of the targets of increased biosecurity, animal justice, and sustainability using comprehensive data collection in commercial facilities, and to further develop it based on experimental studies. In a second focus, this project will contribute new knowledge to the still very incomplete understanding of the influence of plant operating conditions (aeration, nutrient supply, stocking) on the composition of the microbial community in the Bioflocs, their purification performance and their nutrient properties and thus their interaction with the overall system – with the aim of defining control options.
Database DeltA
Another focus is the development of a web-based database for indoor aquaculture facilities as a prerequisite for a better data management and support concepts. The name DeltA stands for: Database of European land- and technology-based aquaculture facilities.
DeltA combines all important information about an aquaculture facility, easily available and easy to process, from any PC with internet connection and for multiple users. Thus, DeltA represents an up-to-date and central information and communication platform.
Functions of DeltA:
- In DeltA, operators and supervisors can continuously simultaneously access and update the relevant technical and biological variables describing the aquaculture facility and its functions.
- Clarity and flexibility of structure: Whether operational data, data about the water quality or the aquaculture organism (e.g. shrimp), whether own or analytical data from assigned laboratories: everything is organized, recorded and evaluated facility specific.
- DeltA can be used in a secured way by all responsible participants with different rights and thus offers all of them access to the same database.
- All data can be imported into DeltA in csv format and also exported in this format, e.g. to be processed for further evaluations (pivot reports).
- In addition to manually entered data, automatically recorded data from the plant control system can also be imported into the database. Important technical parameters on operating hours, values of measuring probes (salinity, pH and temperature) can be imported automatically in this way in a high data density and analyzed promptly. This connection has already proven its worth for troubleshooting in plant control and in monitoring the breeding process.
- DeltA also helps to interpret the aquaculture data:
- Guideline and limit values can be displayed
