Nitrogen and phosphorus budgets of a polyculture system containing Penaeus vannamei, Siganus guttatus, and Selenotoca multifasciata

Abstract

AbstractThe study was designed and conducted to optimize the structure of polyculture for Penaeus vannamei, Siganus guttatus (omnivorous fish), and Selenotoca multifasciata (carnivorous fish), and to compare the changes in yield, survival, and utilization rates of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Five treatments were performed as follows: Control (C) (0.0719 kg/m3, 0, 0), PSS1(0.0719 kg/m3, 0.0018 kg/m3, 0.0008 kg/m3), PSS2 (0.0719 kg/m3, 0.0033 kg/m3, 0.0016 kg/m3), PSS3 (0.0719 kg/m3, 0.0047 kg/m3, 0.0023 kg/m3), and PSS4 (0.0719 kg/m3, 0.0064 kg/m3, 0.0031 kg/m3) (with P:Penaeus vannamei, S:Siganus guttatus, and S: Selenotoca multifasciata). The yield and survival of P. vannamei in different treatments were significantly different (P<0.05), with the highest yields being P. vannamei (718.75 kg/hm3), S. guttatus (32.97 kg/hm3), and S. multifasciata (15.63 kg/hm3) for treatment PSS2. The highest survival of P. vannamei was 89.4 ± 1.6% for treatment PSS2, while the highest N and P utilization rates were 27.7% and 37.5% for treatment PSS3. The polyculture mode when using a suitable density can improve production and survival of P. vannamei, as well as the utilization rates of N and P.