#Algae species feed for oyster spat manual
#Algae species feed for oyster spat software

“And there are a number of other ways that we can display data on webpages to provide actionable insights that would help hatchery operations be more efficient and more automated,” he adds.

They can have alerts sent via text message,” says Gunderson. Once all the electronics are in place, they can use their mobile phones to keep an eye on operations. “Plus, there are different ways that people can interact with the data. It features real-time monitoring and control functions, with a custom graphical user interface created from a large library of alarms, switches, status bars, and charts.

#Algae species feed for oyster spat software

The system’s software is known as RTMC Pro. “It’s an issue of decreasing or increasing the numbers of sensors and data logging equipment as appropriate for the location.” The overall system can be scaled up or down, depending on the size of the hatchery and budget, says Steve Gunderson, a sales application engineer. It’s not unlike how nutritionists advise their patients: eat smaller meals more often and enjoy a variety of vegetables.Ĭampbell Scientific, known particularly for state-of-the-art technology for rugged environments, designed Horn Point’s system with research-grade instrumentation they manufacture. “I like to feed four to six times a day,” Trommater adds. In addition, oysters can be fed up to four algae species a day. “It acts as a helpful fail-safe because sometimes too much food is just as harmful as too little food.” Fluorometer readings again play a role here to ensure that a scheduled feeding won’t bombard larvae with too much food. “So much can happen in such a short amount of time,” Trommater warns.Įvery day she plans the diet of the larvae, looking at the densities of the algae, the age of the culture, and the age of the larvae.

#Algae species feed for oyster spat manual

It’s a dynamic balance of automation and manual overrides. The level of technology at Horn Point in no way diminishes the need for human input and rigorous attention. “This is where the Campbell Scientific hardware and computer software really communicate,” says Trommatter. Because valves are connected to the system controllers, they automatically open and close. PVC pipes – some six miles of them – loop from the air-conditioned greenhouse of algae tanks into the adjacent room of larval tanks into the seed lab and then back to the greenhouse. The biophysiological makeup of algae offers key nutrients and minerals to bivalves that aid internal specialization, shell growth and the overall health of oysters. The star of the system, however, is its feeding functionality. Algae produced for feed can be extremely beneficial to all growth phases of oyster development. The team sprang into action.Īt a time when there are concerns about changing ocean chemistry, this system can also maintain pH automatically. For example, when a valve didn’t open because of an electrical problem, the system’s screen did not register the fluorescence level appropriate after a feeding. The system tracks fluorometer readings in both algal and larval tanks over time so that a technician can see if a tank’s blooming, crashing or even experiencing glitches. “It’s super helpful for us to be able to more easily monitor the growth of individual cultures,” says Trommatter, who serves as a faculty research assistant. But when the lab was rebuilt, automation was introduced to make several processes more efficient.Įvery hour, samples are drawn from every larval tank so that an in-line fluorometer can take a reading, which the system converts to an approximate cell count. If the spat is around 0.38 g, the model estimates a holding stock within the range of the rule of thumb however, if the spat is around 0.04 g, the biomass stock sustained is lower (between 0.7 and 2 tons).In the “olden days” of the hatchery prior to 2003, oyster larvae were fed once a day by hand using a pump, hose and timer.

The model allows to further specify the rule depending on the spat grade to stock. According to a general rule of thumb, 1 hectare of a shallow pond can hold between 1 and 3 tons of spat. The model was evaluated using published data and further tested by simulating a general rule of thumb regarding the spat-holding capacity for a given nursery. The model was implemented for the Pacific oyster ( Crassostrea gigas Thunberg) and is available online. This model applies to nurseries such as floating upweller systems or land-based tanks and estimates (1) the optimal stock as a function of external food concentration or (2) the food concentration required for a given stock. Two species of marine microalgae were grown as oyster feed: a Chaetoceros species diatom and a dinoflagellate, Isochrysis species. Herein, a steady-state single-compartment mass balance model, which includes the feeding activity of oyster spat, was developed. This culture system was outfitted with various filtration technologies and connected to a 4,000-L storage tank and 12, 1,000-L algae culture tanks. This work aims to provide oyster farmers a tool to estimate the stock biomass to hold in their nursery.