O. Adeosun¹ , F.E. Olaifa² , Gbola R. Akande³

1 Department of Fisheries Technology, Oyo State College of Agriculture, Igbo-ora, Nigeria
2 Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Management, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
3 Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, 3, Wilmot Point Road, Victoria Island, P.M.B. 80108, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2017, Vol. 7, No. 2   doi: 10.5376/ija.2017.07.0002
Received: 25 Apr., 2016    Accepted: 24 Nov., 2016    Published: 20 Jan., 2017

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Adeosun O., Olaifa F.E., and Akande G.R., 2017, Seasonal variations in selected physico-chemical parameters of culture systems used in raising African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) in Ibadan, Nigeria, International Journal of Aquaculture, 7(2): 9-14 (doi: 10.5376/ija.2017.07.0002)

This paper examined the effect of culture systems and seasonal change on the physico-chemical properties of pond water used in culturing of Clarias gariepinus. Six farms with the two most common fish culture systems (3 concrete tanks (CTs) and 3 earthen ponds (EPs) were selected based on frequency of harvest and yield. Water quality parameters (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and ammonia) were determined using standard methods. The mean values obtained for each of the parameter were pH (7.23 ± 0.03 - 7.36 ± 0.07), temperature (29.1 ± 0.04^°C - 28.2 ± 0.06^°C), dissolved oxygen (7.5 ± 0.05 mg/L - 6.1 ± 0.01 mg/L) and ammonia (0.4 ± 0.08 mg/L - 0.6 ± 0.03 mg/L) for EP and CT systems, respectively. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in pH values between culture systems and between seasons (p > 0.05). The results indicated that there was significant difference (p < 0.05) in the values of nitrate between season but no significant difference (p > 0.05) between culture systems. Water temperature and pH remained fairly stable in the two culture systems and in dry and wet seasons. Temperature and Ammonia differed significantly (p > 0.05) with the culture systems. Total dissolved solids and nitrate differed significantly (p > 0.05) with the seasons. The physic-chemical water quality recorded in this study showed that water quality was within the range recommended for fresh water fish, hence favourable for the survival of C. gariepinus.

Nitrates; Seasonal change; Clarias gariepinus; Water quality parameters