Thursday, August 3, 2017

04/08/2017: Feeding system for larvae and juveniles

by Miguel Arostegui, Managing Director, FishFarmFeeder, Spain

FishFarmFeeder is a Spanish company specialising in manufacturing aquaculture feeding systems, currently supplying automatic feeders in European, American and Middle Eastern markets

With our headquarters based in the main aquaculture production region of Spain and our already established international distribution network, we know first-hand the threats and challenges that aquaculture farmers are facing today, many of which are mainly related to feed externalities.
 

Image credit: Fish Farm Feeder

“Hatchery Central Feeder”
After 18 months of research, development, prototyping and tests, FishFarmFeeder reached the first central feeder for hatcheries, a solution for the success of hatcheries, through implementing automatic feeders with micro-diets between 150-500μm of grain size.

The Hatchery Feeder will manage, monitor and control the feeding process based on different parameters (dissolved oxygen, temperature, etc) and operate with a high precision instead of the current artisanal and manual feeding processes for fingerlings.

It is supported by software fully programmable with learning ability from species-specific feeding regimens generating a continuous improvement of feeding protocols. The system is provided with the ability to make decisions based on both the interpretation of in-situ rearing parameters and the accumulated experience.

The Hatchery Feeder will reduce direct feed costs, while diversifying the farmed species due to their low profitability associated to their early feeding stages.

Objectives

The Hatchery Feeder covers the following objectives:

1. To optimise the fingerlings’ stock viability by reducing direct feed purchasing.
2. To decrease hatcheries’ production costs through technicalisation, reducing mortality and deformity rates.
3. To diversify farmed fish species due to precise parameter control and protocol optimisation for suitable species.

Operational workflow
Our hatchery feeders will operate in hatcheries to keep specific Pathogenic Free Standards (SPF) and the technology is capable of monitoring and managing feeds between 150-500μm of grain size as follows:

1. Feed storage. This is carried out in a number of four silos/hoppers for different feed sizes (from 150 to 500 μm) and types.
2. Feed composition and frequency calculation by the software based on the data logged parameters (water temperature, dissolved oxygen and hoppers capacity).
3. Feed dosage mixing and provision. Feed dosage based in software decision is prepared in the intermediate silo until matrix outlet assignation.
4. Matrix delivery positioning. This is the one of the most critical technical developments of our technology. The system consists in a mobile distributor along a matrix of outlets, where each one corresponds to a specific rearing tank.
5. Blower transportation from the matrix through the 20mm hose system fabricated in polyethylene to maintain pressures between two and four bar.

Based on the SPF standards and hatcheries conditions, our hatchery feeder is suitable for high relative, humidity environments, allowing guaranteed feed bio-stability, feed dosage precision, and the meeting of all the biohazard requirements common to industrial hatcheries.

Our software gives full access to all production figures including growth, feed consumption, FCR, and mortality rate, whilst also managing historical data, with the ability to make a prediction of these data for the future batches Lucía Barreiro, from the Centro Tecnológico del Cluster de la Acuicultura – (CETGA) in Spain testifies, “The adaptability of the hatchery feeder allows the spreading of feed in each tank to attend to the feeding behaviours of different species in each growing phase. Thanks to control of blow pressure, the user can control the sinking percentage for each size of pellet, adapting to alimentation in surface layers, intermediate or in the bottom of the tank.”

He continues, “This allows a best exploitation of feeding reducing lost. Intake rate is higher at disposal of feeding with more frequency, allowing for early weaning with pellets of 150 microns.”

Quality of diets in time are maintained thanks to isolation of silos, where pellets are introduced directly, which translates in higher growing rate and survival of larvae. All this allows for the reduction consumption of Artemia and the consequent reduction of costs in larvae production.”


Read the full article, HERE.

Visit the Fish Farm Feeder website, HERE.

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