Myla S. Chakravarty, P. R. C. Ganesh, D. Amaranth, B. Shanthi Sudha and Y. Naga Sateesh
A comparative study on survival, food conversion ratio (FCR) and production of the white-legged shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in relation to water parameters (Temperature, pH, Salinity, Dissolved Oxygen, Alkalinity, Hardness, Nitrite- Nitrogen, Ammonia, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron) in culture ponds fed with 2 bore water - and 3 sea water - ponds at Ramathirtham village of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh was studied. Dissolved oxygen, hardness, nitrite-nitrogen, calcium and iron of sea water showed low values when compared to those of bore water. Temperature, pH, salinity, hardness, alkalinity, ammonia & magnesium of bore-water were lower than sea-water. The stocking density was approximately 4 lakhs/pond and 5 lakhs/pond in sea- and bore-water ponds respectively. The shrimps were fed with an average feed of 10,106 kg in bore water ponds, 8,457 kg in sea water fed ponds. The average survival rate was 68.35% in bore water ponds and 87.64% in sea water ponds. The average FCR was 1.45 in bore water ponds and 1.3 in sea water ponds. The shrimps were harvested at about 50 count in three months and the average production of bore – and sea - water ponds was 6,865 kg and 6,412 kg respectively. Basing on the results it may be concluded that Litopenaeus vannamei can also be cultured in bore waters, besides sea water.
