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A new additive for shrimp in aquaculture

In a joint venture, two companies have come together to create AQUAVI® ProPond specially tailored for shrimp in aquaculture, which can reduce the need for marine feed sources and improve water quality and animal health.

Evonik and the Qingdao Vland Biotech Group’s (Vland) AQUAVI ProPond contains three strains of bacteria that remove ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite from the water. As ammonia arises from the excretions of the animals, it can have acute and chronic toxic effects and is therefore a critical parameter for water quality. Nitrate and nitrite are also harmful to animals in higher concentrations.

“Our new additive is suitable for improving the animals’ living conditions by breaking down toxic compounds, for keeping animals healthy, and for reducing environmental impact caused by too frequent water exchanges,” says Dr. Christoph Kobler, head of RD&I for the Animal Nutrition business line at Evonik.

AQUAVI® ProPond, which has been extensively lab and field tested for safety and efficiency, has been tailored specifically to meet the requirements of shrimp farming in ponds, consisting of AQUAVI ProPond, AQUAVI® Met-Met, omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA from Veramaris algae oil, and AMINOShrimp®.

AQUAVI Met-Met is a methionine product developed specifically for shrimp, allowing for shrimp feeding without almost any fish meal. To further protect marine fish stocks and preserve marine biodiversity, Veramaris provides the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA necessary for healthy shrimp development, replacing fish oil in the feed. The addition of the AMINOShrimp software allows for adjustments to the ideal amino acid composition of the feed, to the respective developmental stage of the animals.

The additive will be piloted by a large shrimp farming market in China, starting this summer.