During the culture process, ponds may lose water color or algae loss due to many different reasons. If left untreated, this phenomenon will adversely affect the health of shrimp, especially in the first month of stocking.
Watercolor is a combination of organic and inorganic compounds (soluble or insoluble), including algae growth. In shrimp ponds, algae is the main factor used to color the water because it is both a natural food source for shrimp and increases the dissolved oxygen content in the water through photosynthesis, while helping to reduce the amount of oxygen in the water. Toxic gases from the decomposition of organic matter. When the water is well colored, beneficial algae will quickly grow and make the pond water yellow-brown (silica algae – Bacillariophyta) or light green (green algae – Chlorophyta) are the two most suitable water colors for shrimp culture.
Water color reflects the quality of the shrimp’s habitat
However, during the farming process, the pond water may become discolored, especially in the first month, due to objective reasons (such as prolonged heavy rain, sudden temperature rise and fall) and subjective reasons such as:
- Not making water color good enough before stocking, causing algae to grow slowly or not to develop;
- Poor management of the farming environment causes the pond to lack nutritional salts (N, P, K…), with too many mosses and algae strain that inhibit the growth of algae;
- Overfeeding, causing high levels of suspended organic matter, causing turbidity and hindering algae photosynthesis;
- Improper use of chemicals, resulting in mass death of algae (algae collapse).
If algae collapses due to improper use of chemicals, farmers need to immediately add dissolved oxygen in the pond to prevent and rescue shrimp from floating on the water surface due to lack of oxygen. Then, use TA-Pondpro probiotic to decompose dead algae, absorb toxic gases NH3, H2S, NO2 to clean pond water, avoiding adverse effects on shrimp. With a pond of 1000m3 of water:
- Soak 500g TA-Pondro with 4 liters of clean water, incubate anaerobically for about 12 hours;
- At 1 o’clock at night, splash 03 kg of No79 mineral into the pond, then continue to use the TA-Pondpro mixture.
The pond water is mossy green due to algae blooms
After using probiotic to clean the algae, if the clarity of the water is too high, the water color must be made to the appropriate level of 30-40 cm. While waiting to make water color, artificial colors can be used to reduce the light shining on the bottom (causing toxic algae on the bottom to grow rapidly and difficult for shrimp to catch feed). It is best to cause water color in the settling pond first and then supply it to the culture pond, according to the formula:
- 1kg TA-Gold +10kg rice bran + 5kg soybeans (ground) + 4kg molasses for 500 to 2,000m3 of water;
- Incubate 12-24 hours before pouring into the pond.
In other cases, it is necessary to clearly determine the cause and level of algae loss in order to have appropriate treatment. However, prevention is better than cure, in order to avoid the loss of water color, farmers need to regularly check and maintain water environmental factors at a stable level. Should periodically 5-7 days, add probiotics to the pond to support the development of microbiota and decompose excess organic matter; and every 10 days, use mineral N79 and probiotic TA-Pondpro to supplement trace minerals and stabilize alkalinity and pH of water. Besides, it is necessary to strictly manage the diet to avoid excess organic matter, affecting water quality and environment.
To maintain water color, it is necessary to maintain stable water environmental factors. To do this in the farm, it is necessary to have a pond system with a depth of >1m.
