RESEARCH FACILITIES

 
 
 

 
 
Auburn University

North Auburn Nutrition Laboratory

 
The nutrition laboratory is located at the North Auburn Fisheries Station (Hwy 147N). The facility includes a building containing three wet laboratories and a support laboratory.  Additionally, outdoor tanks are available for holding animals and running small outdoor experiments.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Wet laboratory facilitates can be utilized as a single pass flow through system using pond or well water as a semi-closed recirculation system. Running in recirculation mode, gives us better control over environmental conditions and water quality. Also, this system allows a vast range of type-water gradient from freshwater to full strength sea water.    This arrangement greatly diversifies our research program. Each of the recirculation systems consists of a sump tank with submerged biological filter, sand filter, circulation pump, culture tanks, drainage systems and supplemental aeration.



 
 
                                                  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Low Salinity System

To facilitate the development of culture techniques for low salinity culture of L. vannamei, three identical research systems (16-32 tanks each) have been constructed. These system were pre-constructed at our laboratory and then installed at two farm locations to allow replicated on site research. The third system, was installed at the Claude Peteet Mariculture Center. These system are designed as flow through (on farm systems) and re-cycle systems (CPMC) and utilize water from a production pond as the make up water. This allows replication of pond conditiosn with the presense of some primary production but a more stable environemt as dissolved oxygen is not an issue.



 
 


 
 
 
 
Claude Peteet Mariculture Center
Alabama Department of Conservation and 
Natural Resources Marine Resource Division

 
 
 
 
In conjunction with the Marine Resources Division, a number of professors are conducting marine research on fish, shrimp and oysters. Pond facilities include thirty-five 1,100 m2 outdoor ponds which are used in cultivation of an array of research species including shrimp, red snapper, phytoplankton/zooplankton and oyster. 

 
 

 
 


 
 
 
Shrimp Research 

 
 
Shrimp research has been conducted on both native species for bait as well as the Pacific white shrimp for food. In terms of food produciton the 0.1 ha ponds are stocked at 35 shrimp/meter and typically cultured for 120 days. Ponds are equipmed with 1 hp spiral aerators and are maintiated with limited water discharges. Systematic improvements in culture protocols has resulted in consisten production of > 5,000 kg/ha with FCR of 1.2-1.4.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
University of Texas at Austin

Marine Science Institute
Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory

 
While at the University of Texas, I had the opportunity to build a number of research systems.  Each was designed specific to animal sizes.  The system on the left was constructed out of 28 gallon trash cans and made for an excellent research system for juvenile (0.5-20 g) fish and shrimp.  The middle system consisted of 55 gallon square polytanks and was used for cultivating advanced fingerlings (10-60g).  The system on the right consisted of 180 gallon polytanks used to rear fish as large as 2 lbs.  Each system was run as a semi-closed recirculation system consisting of culture tank, drainage system, reservoir, biological filtration, sand filtration, with circulation pump and aeration.

 
 
This latest system added is currently being used to conduct larval research. It consists of 125 gallon circular tanks plumbed to use either an external or internal standpipe. The central standpipe uses an external screen that can draw water from any portion of the water column. The system is run as both a static larval system and a semi-closed recirculation system for larval rearing.

 

Home