Replacement of fishmeal by vegetable meal mix in the diets of Litopenaeus vannamei reared in low-salinity biofloc system: effect on digestive enzymatic activity

Biofloc (consortium of diverse microorganisms associated to suspending substrates) was developed from waste of shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei postlarvae culture under low salinity (5 g L-1) to provide an additional nutritious biomass and reduce fishmeal inclusion in feeds in a 28-day indoor shrimp nursery trial conducted in 15 experimental containers (250 L stocked at 600 org m(-3)). Four experimental diets (isoproteic and isocaloric) containing different percentage of fishmeal: 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% substituted by vegetable meal mix (corn, sorghum and wheat) were formulated and elaborated. A control treatment consisted of a commercial feed. The main water quality parameters were monitored, and no significant differences were found among treatments. The growth and survival were similar among treatments. In general, digestive enzymatic activities showed differences being greater in the biofloc system compared with clear water. It was concluded that low-salinity shrimp nursery could be successfully developed with minimum inclusion of fishmeal in feeds, without significant effect on production response. The adjustment of C : N ratio allowed the increase of microbial biomass in the bioflocs, which contributed to maintain good water quality, provide live food and enhance digestive enzymatic activity of cultured organisms.