Supplementing air with CO2 stripped from recirculating aquaculture improves growth of two green microalgae in aquaculture wastewater

Abstract

To improve sustainability and to implement the principles of circular economy in aquaculture, we tested the possibility to boost the capture of nitrate by two green microalgal species from recirculating aquaculture system's (RAS) wastewater by supplementing air with carbon dioxide stripped from a RAS. Carbon dioxide addition increased cell densities of Monoraphidium griffithii and Haematococcus pluvialis in photobioreactors during 9-day growing periods. However, growth rates and nitrate uptake rates were only improved for M. griffithii. Addition of CO2 decreased pH of the medium with M. griffithii which likely also affected positively on algal growth and nutrient uptake. These laboratory scale experiments suggest that microalgal cultivation to produce valuable biomass could be connected to a RAS to decrease nitrate and CO2 emissions from aquaculture.