Chicken Eggshell as an Innovative Bioflocculant in Harvesting Biofloc for Aquaculture Wastewater Treatment.

Implementation of biofloc technology (BFT) system in aquaculture industry shows high productivity, low feed conversion ratio, and an optimum culture environment. This study was divided into two phases. The first phase involved maintaining the water quality using the optimum carbon-to-nitrogen ratio by manipulating pH in culture water. The second phase examined the performance of harvesting biofloc (remaining phytoplankton and suspended solids in the system) using chicken eggshell powder (CESP). This study showed that pH 7 to 8 were the best biofloc performance with high removal percentage of ammonia (>99%) with a remaining ammonia concentration of 0.016 mg L^-1 and 0.018 mg L^-1, respectively. The second phase of this study was performed to determine the optimal formulation and conditions of using CESP as a bio-flocculant in harvesting excess biofloc. The use of eggshell showed a higher harvesting efficiency of more than 80% under the following treatment conditions: 0.25 g L^-1 of eggshell dosage; with rapid and slow mixing rates of 150 and 30 rpm, respectively; 30 min of settling time; settling velocity of 0.39 mm s-1 and pH of 6 to 7. Therefore, the results indicated that biofloc would be the best green technology approach for sustainable aquaculture wastewater and the CESP is an organic matrix that environmental-friendly bio-coagulant for biofloc harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]