Growth, biochemical indices and carcass quality of red tilapia reared in zero water discharge based biofloc system in various salinities using inland saline ground water

Biofloc based aquaculture is important in waste recycling in intensive aquaculture and is a promising avenue for inland saline aquaculture. In the present study, growth, biochemical and carcass quality of red tilapia reared in inland saline waters of different salinities based on biofloc technology was estimated during 90 days culture period. Fifteen experimental tanks (500 L each) were filled with inland saline ground water to represent 5 biofloc treatments with variable salinities such as T1 (5 ppt), T2 (10 ppt), T3 (15 ppt), T4 (20 ppt) and control (0 ppt) in triplicates. Red tilapia fry with average body weight of 13.78 ± 0.62 g were stocked at the rate of 150 no.m ‐3 in each biofloc unit. The units maintained at higher salinity (20 ppt) obtained significantly better (P