Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Aquaponic System Raised Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus x Orechromis Aureus) Physiology, Immunology, and Muscle Tissue Retention

Aquaponics offers a unique opportunity to combine hydroponics and aquaculture. Hydroponics is beneficial in agriculture because it allows a farmer to grow crops under controlled conditions thereby enhancing their yield. However, the farmers must add chemical based nutrients to the water incurring both the cost of the chemicals themselves and the disposal of the wastewater. They also incur a higher risk with their employees as they handle these chemicals. Aquaculture is also beneficial to a farmer as it provides a consistent crop with reduced costs involved in fishing. However, because this method involves the use of holding ponds or tanks fish waste can become problematic and require expensive chemical water treatments. Aquaponics provides all of the benefits of both these methods while eliminating all of the drawbacks. The fish waste is converted from harmful ammonia to nitrate by nitrosomas bacterium. The nitrate is then used by the plants in place of chemical fertilizers. The potential benefits of this system in the farming industry indicates a need for research based in this system to enhance our ability to exploit this resource effectively and efficiently. Our objective, for this experiment, was to determine if the addition of nutraceuticals such as, Omega-3 fatty acid to the diet of farmed tilapia in an aquaponics system will have an effect on their physiology (metabolism, hematology, growth), immunology (hematology, immune response), and nutritional values (tissue composition). We will discuss all these in details in the conference. Experiment was funded by Get Fresh Farm, Fort Wayne, IN, USA