Abstract:
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector, according to FAO report. Romanian
aquaculture has an estimated production of 10000 tones per year, most of it being provided by
cyprinids pond aquaculture production systems. However, pond aquaculture rises certain problems
regarding the sustainability, as large concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus may be recorded in
effluents. Therefore, the aim of our study is to evaluate the sustainability of a single pond based
cyprinids production system, situated in Galaţi - Romania, by analysing the water quality of the
effluent. Water samples were collected from the pond effluent and the following analysis were
determined: temperature (T°C), dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, nitrites (NO2), ammonia
(NH3),orthophosphates (PO4),total zinc (Zn) chlorides (Cl-), bicarbonates (HCO3-), electro
conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS).The results were compared to the present national
legislation (HG no. 202/2002) regarding the water quality in cyprinid farming and also to water
quality criteria for aquaculture. Statistical analysis included normality test Kolmogorov Smirnov in
order to determine the distribution of the registered data and Pearson correlation coefficient was
applied for the analyzed parameters. The main conclusion of this research was that the technological
water of the studied fish pond is suitable for fish rearing and sustainable for the environment, in terms
of temperature, DO, pH, Cl-, HCO3-, Zn, EC and TDS. However, NO2, NH3 and PO4 concentrations
were above the admissible limit imposed by the romanian legislation. Therefore, in order to improve
sustainabily it is recommended that various modern multi-trophic technics should be applied, so that
phosphorus and nitrogen compounds are valorized at maximum capacity.
