ITB School of Life Sciences and Technology Collaborating with Ministry of Ocean and Fishery Affairs to Create Water-Saving Freshwater Fisheries
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - The Ministry of Ocean and Fishery Affairs is working together with ITB's School of Life Sciences and Technology in developing the Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS) in order to achieve an ideal efficiency in water usage in freshwater fisheries. The announcement was made by the Minister of Ocean and Fishery Affairs, Fadel Muhammad, in the middle of the General Assembly for the Commemmoration of Indonesia's 91 Years of High Education in Engineering held in the Campus West Hall last July. In the same day, the RAS technology was exhibited in the East Hall, showcasing alongside it ITB's top researches and inventions in ocean technology.
ANDUNG, itb.ac.id - The Ministry of Ocean and Fishery Affairs is working together with ITB's School of Life Sciences and Technology in developing the Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS) in order to achieve an ideal efficiency in water usage in freshwater fisheries. The announcement was made by the Minister of Ocean and Fishery Affairs, Fadel Muhammad, in the middle of the General Assembly for the Commemmoration of Indonesia's 91 Years of High Education in Engineering held in the Campus West Hall last July. In the same day, the RAS technology was exhibited in the East Hall, showcasing alongside it ITB's top researches and inventions in ocean technology.
The final objective of RAS is so that the same water can be recycled and reused in aquaculture processes. This was previously impossible due to the increase in the amount of amonium ions from fish faeces, where if the substance exceeds a certain level it would be fatally dangerous for fishes. This is why the water to be reused must undergo several cleaning processes first.
Treatments involved in RAS are the filtering of large particles using settling tank equipped with nets to serve as filters, the elimination of large biological mollecules using protein skimmer, the elimination of radical mollecules using active carbons, and the use of biofilter as final treatment. Inside the biofilter are several compounds such as limestones, gravels, and bioballs.
Bioballs are plastic substances with spherical frames used to trap dirt as well as where denitrification microorganisms stick themselves on. These microorganisms are essential in the treatment process due to their ability to convert excess amonium ions into nitrate ions. Nitrate, as opposed to amonium, is nutritious for fish growth.
Together with the School of Life Sciences and Technology, the ministry has applied this treatment system to numerous fish farms in its cooperation with local fish farmers. One of the programs that has worked is in Cianjur, as Fadel showed in a video in the middle of his speech. Also conducted in the assembly was the signing of an agreement between the ministry and ITB to commit in further collaborations in order to increase Indonesia's aquaculture efficiency and quality.
Treatments involved in RAS are the filtering of large particles using settling tank equipped with nets to serve as filters, the elimination of large biological mollecules using protein skimmer, the elimination of radical mollecules using active carbons, and the use of biofilter as final treatment. Inside the biofilter are several compounds such as limestones, gravels, and bioballs.
Bioballs are plastic substances with spherical frames used to trap dirt as well as where denitrification microorganisms stick themselves on. These microorganisms are essential in the treatment process due to their ability to convert excess amonium ions into nitrate ions. Nitrate, as opposed to amonium, is nutritious for fish growth.
Together with the School of Life Sciences and Technology, the ministry has applied this treatment system to numerous fish farms in its cooperation with local fish farmers. One of the programs that has worked is in Cianjur, as Fadel showed in a video in the middle of his speech. Also conducted in the assembly was the signing of an agreement between the ministry and ITB to commit in further collaborations in order to increase Indonesia's aquaculture efficiency and quality. 
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