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If an algal production laboratory and tanks are required a separate area should be constructed for this purpose within or adjacent to the hatchery. Typically when the hatchery produces its own algae, a quarantined room is used for the laboratory-scale culture production up to 10–20-litre volumes. Facilities are required for sterilizing the water and hygienically transferring algal stocks. Larger algae volumes of 500–5 000 litres, in tanks or large plastic bags, are cultured in a dedicated area indoors or outside.
However, in recent years, commercially grown microalgae, which are then concentrated for sale, can often be more cost-effective for a business than growing its own, when construction, operational and staffing costs are factored in.
There are two main methods for producing rotifers to be used as a feed for larvae:
High-density rotifer production systems can dramatically reduce the number of rotifer production tanks required for a hatchery. An example of a high-density rotifer production system, designed to produce rotifers for fish larval production at the Darwin Aquaculture Centre (DAC), Northern Territory, Australia, which has also been adapted to produce rotifers for mud crab production in Micronesia.
An Artemia hatching system sized to meet the demand of the mud crab larval rearing facility at peak demand should be installed in close proximity to the larval rearing area to minimize technicians’ work in transferring of feed to stock. Artemia hatching systems and methods are detailed in numerous publications.
