Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Outdoor pond cultivation of the subtropical marine red algaGracilaria tenuistipitata in brackish water in Sweden. Growth, nutrient uptake, co-cultivation with rainbow trout and epiphyte control

  • Published:
Journal of Applied Phycology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pond cultivation of the subtropical, euryhaline macroscopic red algaGracilaria tenuisipitata var.liui Zhanget Xia was carried out in brackish seawater (6–7‰) in the Gryt archipelago on the east coast of Sweden, using four outdoor tanks of 30–40 m3. Growth rate and nutrient uptake in batch culture were measured with the aim of estimating the water purification capacity ofG. tenuisipitata in outdoor conditions. Its ability to withstand epiphytic infections was also studied. An average growth rate of 4‰ biomass increase per day was recorded during two seasons with a maximum growth rate of 9‰ d−1. The initial biomass was usually 1 kgFW m−3 (FW, fresh weight). The nutrient uptake capacity was on average ca. 1 g Ni kgFW−1 d−1 and 0.08 g Pi kgFW−1 d−1 and the uptake rates for NH4 +-N were higher than those for NO3 −-N. Both the growth rate and the nutrient uptake rate were highest at the highest water temperature. Co-cultivation with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was tested: with trout fodder as the only nutrient inputG. tenuistipitata could grow and maintain low levels of Ni and Pi with optimum efficiency at a trout: alga ratio of 1:1 (w:w). Epiphytic growth of filamentous green and brown algae was limited, probably as a result of the high pH values caused by inorganic carbon uptake byG. tenuistipitata. The growth ofEnteromorpha intestinalis, the only significant epiphyte, was completely inhibited and the majority of plants died by a few days treatment with 100 µg 1−1 Cu2+, a concentration that did not severely affectG. tenuistipitata. We conclude thatG. tenuistipitata can be cultivated in outdoor ponds in southern Sweden during 5–6 months of the year using aerated or unaerated batch cultures and that wastewater from trout cultivation may be used as a nutrient source, resulting in purification with respect to N and P.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackefors H, Enell M (1990) Discharge of nutrients from Swedish fish farming to adjacent sea areas. Ambio 19: 28–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antia NJ, Harrison PJ, Oliveira L (1991) The role of dissolved organic nitrogen in phytoplankton nutrition, cell biology and ecology. Phycological reviews 11. Phycologia 30: 1–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asare SO (1980) Animal waste as a nitrogen source forGracilaria tikvahiae and Neoagardhiella baileyi in culture. Aquaculture 21: 87–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axelsson L, Uusitalo J (1988) Carbon acquisition strategies for marine macroalgae I. Utilization of proton exchanges visualized during photosynthesis in a closed system. Mar. Biol. 97: 295–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidwell RGS, McLachlan, J Lloyd NDH (1985) Tank cultivation of Irish moss,Chondrus crispus Stackh. Bot. Mar. 28: 87–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiang YM (1981) Cultivation ofGracilaria (Rhodophycophyta, Gigartinales) in Taiwan. In Levring T (ed.), Proceeding of Xth International Seaweed Symposium. Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin, New York, 569–574.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen I, Neori A (1991)Ulva lactuca biofilters for marine fishpond effluent. I. Ammonia uptake kinetics and nitrogen content. Bot. Mar. 34: 475–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeBoer JA, Guigly HJ, Israel TL, D'Elia CF (1978) Nutritional studies of two red algae. I. Growth rate as a function of nitrogen source and concentration. J. Phycol. 14: 261–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeBusk TA, Ryther JH (1984) Effects of seawater exchange, pH and carbon supply on the growth ofGracilaria tikvahiae (Rhodophyceae) in large-scale cultures. Bot. Mar. 27: 357–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • D'Elia CF, DeBoer JA (1978) Nutritional studies of two red algae. II. Kinetics of ammonium and nitrate uptake. J. Phycol. 14: 266–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans LV (1981) Marine algae and fouling: a review, with particular reference to ship-fouling. Bot. Mar. 24: 167–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedlander M, Ben-Amotz A (1991) The effect of outdoor culture conditions on growth and epiphytes ofGracilaria conferta. Aquat. Bot. 39: 315–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedlander M, Galai N, Farbstein H (1990) A model of seaweed growth in an outdoor culture in Israel. In Lindstrom SC, Gabrielson PW (eds), Thirteenth International Seaweed Symposium. Developments in Hydrobiology 58. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 367–373. Reprinted from Hydrobiologia 204/205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fujita RM (1985) The role of nitrogen status in regulating transient ammonium uptake and nitrogen storage by maroalgae. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 92: 283–301.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman C, Newall M, Russell G (1976) Rapid screening for copper tolerance in ship-fouling algae. Int. Biodetn. Bull. 12 (3): 81–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haglund K, Pedersén M (1988) Spray cultivation of seaweeds in recirculating brackish water. Aquaculture 72: 181–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haglund K, Pedersén M (1992) Growth of the red alga Gracilaria tenuistipitata at high pH. Influence of some environmental factors and correlation to an increase carbonic-anhydrase activity. Bot. Mar. in press.

  • Hanisak MD, (1987) Cultivation ofGracilaria and other macoralgae in Florida for energy production. In Bird KT, Benson PH (eds), Seaweed Cultivation for Renewable Resources. Developments in Aquaculture and Fisheries Science 16. Elsevier, Amsterdam/Oxford/New York/Tokyo, 191–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanisak MD, Ryther JH (1986) The experimental cultivation of the red seaweed Gracilaria tikvahiae as an ‘energy crop’: an overview. In Barclay WR, McIntosh RP (eds), Algal Biomass Technologies. Beih. Nova Hedwigia 83. J. Cramer, Berlin, 212–217.

  • Harlin MM (1978) Nitrate uptake byEnteromorpha spp. (Chlorophyceae): applications to aquaculture systems. Aquaculture 15: 373–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlin MM, Thorne-Miller B, Thursby GB (1979) Ammonium uptake byGracilaria sp. (Florideophyceae) andUlva lactuca (Chlorophyceae) in closed system fish culture. In Proc. Int. Seaweed Symp. 9: 285–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krom MD, Neori A (1989) A total nutrient budget for an experimental intensive fishpond with circularly moving seawater. Aquaculture 83: 345–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapointe BE (1987) Phosphorus- and nitrogen-limited growth ofGracilaria tikvahiae (Rhodophyceae) in the Florida Keys: an experimental field study. Mar. Biol. 93: 561–568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapointe BE, Ryther JH (1978) Some aspects of the growth and yield ofGracilaria tikvahiae in culture. Aquaculture 15: 185–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapointe BE, Ryther JH (1979) The effects of nitrogen and seawater flow rate on the growth and biochemical composition ofGracilaria foliifera var.angustissima in mass outdoor culture. Bot. Mar. 22: 529–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehnberg W, Schramm W (1984) Mass culture of brackishwater-adapted seaweeds in sewage-enriched seawater I. Productivity and nutrient accumulation. In Bird CJ, Ragan MA (eds), Eleventh International Seaweed Symposium. Developments in Hydrobiology 22. Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, 276–281. Reprinted from Hydrobiologia 116/117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis AG, Metaxas A (1991) Concentrations of total dissolved copper in and near a copper-treated salmon net pen. Aquaculture 99: 269–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lignell Å (1988) Physiology and cultivation of marine seaweeds with emphasis on Gracilaria secundata (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales). Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis 120: 48 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-2148-2.

  • Lignell Å, Pedersén M (1987) Nitrogen metabolism inGracilaria secundata Harv. In Ragan MA, bird CJ (eds), Twelfth International Seaweed Symposium. Developments in Hydrobiology 41. Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, 431–441. Reprinted from Hydrobiologia 151/152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lignell Å, Ekman P, Pedersén M (1987) Cultivation technique for marine seaweeds allowing controlled and optimized conditions in the laboratory and on a pilotscale. Bot. Mar. 30: 417–424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu SJ (1987) Study on the commercial cultivation ofGracilaria in south China. Chin. J. Oceanol. Limnol. 5: 281–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markager S, Sand-Jensen K (1990) Heterotrophic growth ofUlva lactuca (Chlorophyceae). J. Phycol. 26: 670–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohanty N, Vass I, Demeter S (1989) Copper toxicity affects photosystem II electron transport at the secondary quinone acceptor, QB. Plant Physiol. 90: 175–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy J, Riley JP (1962) A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Analyt. Chim. Acta 26: 31–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neish AC, Shacklock PF, Fox CH, Simpson FJ (1977) The cultivation ofChondrus crispus. Factors affecting growth under greenhouse conditions. Can. J. Bot. 55: 2263–2271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neori A, Cohen I, Gordin H (1991)Ulva lactuca biofilters for marine fishpond effluent. II. Growth rate, yield and C:N ratio. Bot. Mar. 34: 483–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince JS (1974) Nutrient assimilation and growth of some seaweeds in mixtures of sea water and secondary sewage treatment effluents. Aquaculture 4: 69–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Provasoli L (1968) Media and prospects for the cultivation of marine algae. In Watanabe A, Hattori A (eds), Cultures and Collections of Algae. Proceedings US — Japan Conf, Hakone, Jpn. Soc. Plant. Physiol., 63–75.

  • Ryther JH (1977) Preliminary results with a pilot-plant waste recycling-marine aquaculture system. In D'Itri FM (ed.), Wastewater Renovation and Reuse. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York and Basel, 90–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryther JH, Corwin N, Debusk TA, Williams LD (1982) Nitrogen uptake and storage by the red algaGracilaria tikvahiae (McLachlan, 1979). Aquaculture 26: 107–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryther JH, DeBoer JA, Lapointe BE (1979) Cultivation of seaweeds for hydrocolloids, waste treatment and biomass for energy conversion. Proc. Int. Seaweed Symp. 9: 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rönnberg O, Ådjers K, Ruokolahti C, Bondestam M (1992) Effect of fish farming on growth, epiphytes and nutrient content ofFucus vesiculosus L. in the Åland archipelago, northern Baltic Sea. Aquat. Bot. 42: 109–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santelices B, Doty MS (1989) A review ofGracilaria farming. Aquaculture, 78: 95–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shang YC (1976) Economic aspects ofGracilaria culture in Taiwan. Aquaculture 8: 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solórzano L (1969) Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnol. Oceanogr. 14: 799–801.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas TE, Harrison PJ (1987) Rapid ammonium uptake and nitrogen interactions in five intertidal seaweeds grown under field conditions. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 107: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tseng CK (1981) Commercial cultivation. In Lobban SC, Wynne MJ (eds), The biology of seaweeds. Botanical Monographs Vol. 17. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Beccles and London, 680–725.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ugarte R, Santelices B (1992) Experimental tank cultivation ofGracilaria chilensis in central Chile. Aquaculture 101: 7–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood ED, Armstrong FAJ, Richards FA (1967) Determination of nitrate in seawater by cadmium-copper reduction to nitrite. J. mar. biol. Assoc. U.K. 47: 23–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JF, Xia BM (1988) On two new Gracilaria (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) from south China, In Abbott IA (ed.), Taxonomy of economic seaweeds, with reference to some Pacific and Caribbean species, Vol. II, California Sea Grant College Program, University of California, La Jolla, CA., 131–136.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiological Botany, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 540, S-751 21, Uppsala, Sweden

    Kurt Haglund & Marianne Pedersén

Authors
  1. Kurt Haglund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marianne Pedersén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Haglund, K., Pedersén, M. Outdoor pond cultivation of the subtropical marine red algaGracilaria tenuistipitata in brackish water in Sweden. Growth, nutrient uptake, co-cultivation with rainbow trout and epiphyte control. J Appl Phycol 5, 271–284 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02186230

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02186230

Key words

Search

Navigation