Abubakar Bilal Ahmed , Musa Alhaji Musa , Princess Mercy Ogo , Abubakar Lawan Saleh

Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Federal University Gashua, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 5   
Received: 17 Jul., 2026    Accepted: 27 Aug., 2026    Published: 12 Sep., 2026

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.

This study evaluated the effect of water renewal intervals of 3, 5, 7, and 9 days on the growth performance of juvenile Clarias gariepinus and the effects of recycled culture water on Amaranthus hybridus cultivation in an integrated system. A total of 180 juvenile C. gariepinus were stocked in plastic tanks, with each tank linked to a corresponding A. hybridus plot over 56 days. Findings indicated that water renewal frequency significantly influenced water quality parameters (P < 0.05). Dissolved oxygen levels decreased with longer renewal frequency, from 5.83 mg/L (3-day) to 5.01 mg/L (9-day). Concurrently, pH levels and water temperatures also dropped significantly with less frequent renewals. Conversely, Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN) and nitrate nitrogen concentrations increased over the same period. Growth performance in C. gariepinus showed optimal results under the 3-day renewal treatment, yielding a mean final weight of 40.06 g substantially higher than the 7 and 9-day renewal frequency. A. hybridus growth performance also varied, with the highest leaf count and plant height observed in the 3-day renewal frequency. The study concluded that a 3-day water renewal interval is optimal for C. gariepinus, while a 5-day interval is recommended for achieving a balanced production of both fish and quality vegetables, especially regarding the leaf quality of A. hybridus. This study provides practical insights into optimizing water management strategies for integrated aquaculture systems, contributing to efficient resource utilization and sustainable fish-vegetable production. Overall, these findings provide evidence-based guidance for improving water use efficiency and the sustainability of integrated fish-vegetable production systems, especially in water limited and climate vulnerable areas.

Water renewal frequency; Integrated aquaculture; Clarias gariepinus; Amaranthus hybridus; Fish-vegetable system