The potential use of constructed wetlands in a recirculating aquaculture system for shrimp culture

A pilot-scale constructed wetland unit, consisting of free water surface (FWS) and subsurface flow (SF) constructed wetlands arranged in series, was integrated into an outdoor recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) for culturing Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). This study evaluated the performance of the wetland unit in treating the recirculating wastewater and examined the effect of improvement in water quality of the culture tank on the growth and survival of shrimp postlarvae. During an 80-day culture period, the wetland unit operated at a mean hydraulic loading rate of 0.3 m/day and effectively reduced the influent concentrations of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5, 24%), suspended solids (SS, 71%), chlorophyll a (chl-a, 88%), total ammonium (TAN, 57%), nitrite nitrogen (NO2-N, 90%) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N, 68%). Phosphate (PO4-P) reduction was the least efficient (5.4%). The concentrations of SS, Chl-a, turbidity and NO3-N in the culture tank water in RAS were significantly (P