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Skretting introduces water conditioner for larval rearing
Published: 11/25/2011
Global production at marine hatcheries roughly tripled over the past five years, but the capacity to produce water-conditioning algae is not keeping pace. This gap and comments from customers about erratic quality prompted feed producer Skretting to develop an off-the-shelf alternative. The result, Neptune, is a green water conditioner to replace algae over the larval rearing phase in marine hatcheries.
According to Skretting, trials show that it provides a calming environment, softening the light to reduce blinding and improving contrast so that the larvae can readily identify rotifer prey. Neptune is a dry powder with a two-year shelf life. It is prepared by mixing with water, which is then added to the larval rearing tank.
Eamonn O’Brien, Product Manager for Skretting Marine Hatchery Feeds, explains, “Developing a water conditioner was a new venture for Skretting but customers were telling us they had problems with current products being too expensive and inconsistent in performance. We designed Neptune to eliminate those problems and deliver the performance our customers wanted.”
Neptune is a blend of algae with minerals, flocculants and coagulant media that Skretting says provides several benefits, including a calming environment, filtering the light to produce translucent green water just like a natural environment. Also, because the larvae can see the rotifer more easily they feed better.
Following market trials, Skretting’s first commercial introduction of Neptune was to customers at a marine hatchery workshop in Turkey during June. At the workshop there were people from virtually all the sea bass and sea bream hatcheries in the country.
“They were clearly interested in this ready-made conditioner and in its flocculating and coagulating components that help keep the water clear; aggregating metabolites so that they sink, taking away undesirable bacteria that tend to attach to the metabolites,” noted O’Brien.