The impact of water quality on the availability of phytoplankton and growth of Litopenaeus vannamei

This research analysed the availability of phytoplankton and the growth rate of Vannamei shrimp in relation to water quality changes. The research was carried out in February–March 2021 for a half cycle of shrimp cultivation in two ponds of the Brackish Water Fish Culture Probolinggo Laboratory in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia. The research used a descriptive method and included a survey. Sampling was made every two weeks for two months. Nine parameters were measured and ten shrimps were taken for a specific growth rate (SGR) measurement once per sampling. Data were analysed using the principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Secondary data of water quality were added for the PCA. The results show that the phytoplankton found in the first pond consisted of Chlorophyta, Chrysophyta, and Cyanophyta, whereas the phytoplankton in the other pond included Chlorophyta, Chrysophyta, Cyanophyta, and Dinophyta. The abundance of phytoplankton ranged from 12–80∙103 cell∙cm–3, which indicated eutrophic waters. The PCA demonstrated that pH, nitrate, and total organic matter (TOM) significantly influenced phytoplankton abundance in the pond. In addition, water quality parameters, such as temperature, transparency, salinity, nitrite and phosphate levels, were tolerable in both ponds for the growth of shrimps. However, the level of pH was lower than the aquaculture quality standard, whereas those of nitrate, ammonia, and TOM were higher. The growth rate of Vannamei shrimp increased by 0.76–7.34%∙day–1.