The Center for Aquaculture Research and Development is constructing new facilities at Mote Aquaculture Park (MAP) to replace the aquaculture research facilities located at the main campus on City Island. We have 7 independent broodstock maturation and spawning rooms completed and are designing the live feeds facilities and the secondary and final filtration facilities. In 2004, we began construction of the larval rearing, nursery and growout marine fish facilities.

Live Feeds Research

The Live Feeds Research laboratories are still under construction. This facility will contain separate rooms for growing the algae, brine shrimp, rotifers, copepods and other live feeds. The algal culture laboratory construction is nearly complete.  Due to the demand for high-salinity seawater in the production of live feeds, construction of the other live feeds laboratories will continue when the seawater filtration systems are completed.

The Live Feeds Research laboratories will provide the food needed to culture fish, shrimp and queen conch. Marine fish larvae are typically much smaller than freshwater fish larvae and require very small live prey. Live feeds for marine fish larvae can range in size from 30 to over 500 micrometers in size (1 micrometer = 0.0000394 inches).  Copepods and rotifers are the generally accepted as the first food for these fish larvae. As the fish grow, they are fed larger live feeds, including newly hatched brine shrimp (Artemia).

Broodstock Primary Filtration System
Each broodstock tank has an independent filtration system positioned outside the maturation and spawning room.  Each filtration system includes a “PolyGeyser” drop bead filter for mechanical (particulate) filtration, a moving bed biological filtration tower, and a foam fractionator. The “Polygeyser” is a newly designed mechanical filtration device that concentrates solids and reduces the water loss associated with removal of solids from tank water. Before water is returned to the tank it passes through the Biofilter and foam fractionator and is then pumped through an Ultraviolet light sterilizer. When fish spawn in the tank, eggs are passively collected using an egg collector pipe that skims the floating eggs at the water surface. Eggs are then carried into the egg collection tank, which contains a fine mesh bag that traps the eggs and allows system water to be filtered through the foam fractionator.

Broodstock Secondary Filtration System
In order to maintain optimal water quality in the broodstock maturation systems, water from each broodstock tank is filtered through a secondary filtration system, which is constructed in the Marine Aquaculture Research facility.  This filtration system is located in the Water Treatment section of the Marine Aquaculture Research building diagram.   Approximately 20% of the water from each broodstock tank is filtered in this system and is returned to the tanks each day.   The water entering the secondary filtration system is continuously taken from each tank throughout the day and filtered through a denitrification system, a moving biomedia filter, an ozone unit, and a protein skimmer.  Currently there are 3 different denitrification units being tested in the secondary filtration system to determine the most efficient unit.