Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057

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Aquacultural Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aque

Productivity and economic viability of snakehead Channa striata culture T

using an aquaponics approach
Tran Thi Ngoc Bicha,c, Doan Quang Trib,*, Chen Yi-Chinga, Huynh Dang Khoac
a
Environmental Engineering Department, Da-Yeh University, Changhua, Taiwan
b
Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Environment Research Group, Faculty of Environment and Labour Safety, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh,
Viet Nam
c
Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh, Viet Nam

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study was carried out to investigate the viability of utilizing aquaponic technology in culturing local fish:
Green agriculture snakehead Channa striata and water spinach Ipomoea aquatica. Snakehead was raised for 150 days in a floating
Applied aquaponics plastic pond with an area of 3 × 4 × 1.2 m having a capacity volume of ∼14.4 m3. Fish were randomly arranged
Snakehead into two experimental systems at density of ∼0.3 kg fingerlings/m3 e.g. SAQ – snakehead in aquaponics; SC –
Water spinach
snakehead in normal system where control ponds were continuously aerated with ∼20% daily exchange of
Climate change
water. Fish were fed commercial feed twice a day. Initial results showed that in aquaponics compared with
normal systems the SAQ efficiency exhibited 70% water exchange; five times lower in NH3 level: (0.01–0.03 mg/
L vs. 0.05–0.16 mg/L); three times lower in NO2 level: (0.28–0.58 mg/L vs. 0.56–2.59 mg/L). Snakehead pro-
duction was significantly higher in aquaponics with higher survival ratio of fish: 99.76% vs. 71.40%; ∼3 times
higher in fish yield: 366 kg vs. 130 kg. The production of water spinach was also elevated in aquaponics versus
normal systems 406.4 kg vs. 188 kg. The total income from snakehead and water spinach in SAQ were 4 times
higher than in normal farming systems: 1219.42 $US and 307.04 $US. Based on the results of the current study,
it is expected that applying aquaponics utilizing local available materials and species will enhance the sus-
tainability of the overall system and keep the aquaponics lasting and expanding to social life especially on
sustainable culturing snakehead Channa striata.

1. Introduction reaching 30,000 t in 2018. In 10 years, the area of farming snakehead

In Asia countries, snakehead Channa striata is a popular carnivorous
freshwater fish with high value in the market because of the firm, white
and boneless tasty flesh and flavor (Walter et al., 2004; Sinh et al.,
2014) and the uses of fish for medicinal purposes (Sahid et al., 2018;
Wahab et al., 2015). Cultured snakehead has become an economically
important freshwater fish in developing countries as Thailand, Ma-
laysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Vietnam. In 2016, the total
global capture and aquaculture production of snakehead Channa striata
reached 92,523 t (FAO, 2019). In Vietnam, snakehead has been cul-
tured for 60 years and becomes an important species in Mekong Delta.
The production of snakehead in Vietnamese Mekong Delta increased
from 5300 to 40,000 t (2002–2009) (Chung and Sinh, 2011). An Giang,
Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Vinh Long, and Tra Vinh are provinces dom-
inating of culturing snakehead (Long, 2010). In Tra Vinh province, the
area of farming snakehead has been continuously increasing and
has expanded from 61 ha to 270 ha (2010–2018) (Tra Vinh GSO, 2019).
Intensive culture of snakehead has resulted in increased feed and che-
mical input into natural water bodies that negatively affects water
quality. The traditional farming systems of snakeheads have mainly
used live feed or industrial feed with high protein ratio (∼30%–40%).
Almost the waste from intensive snakehead ponds directly drain to the
environment causing serious environmental pollution and the depletion
of natural aquatic resources in freshwater. Furthermore, according to a
report by Tra Vinh Department of Natural Resource and Environment,
2018, most of intensive cultured snakehead has been using ground-
water to supply water source to ponds that cause depletion of fresh-
water resources. Additionally, combined with climate change, the sal-
inization and pollution of watercourses and bodies, and the increased
degradation of water-related ecosystems, freshwater scarcity is growing
critically.
Moreover, food security is recognized as most concerning issue

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: doanquangtri@tdtu.edu.vn (D.Q. Tri).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaeng.2020.102057
Received 26 June 2019; Received in revised form 16 October 2019; Accepted 15 January 2020
Available online 24 January 2020
0144-8609/ © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
T.T.N. Bich, et al.
related to population growth. To increase food demand, as other de-
veloping countries, Vietnam has promoted the use of pesticides to in-
crease the yield of agricultural products, especially in vegetables (Pham
et al., 2016). Recently, announcements on food poisoning by unsafe
vegetables have been exposed and widely broadcast in media in
Vietnam. Eating foods contaminated with pesticides or other chemicals
had increased the cause of cancer e.g., 125 000 new cases of cancers
(2012) (140 cases per 100 000 population) and predicted to increase to
190 000 new cases by 2020, when 75 000 deaths will result from
cancers per year (84 deaths per 100 000 population) (Nguyen et al.,
2017). The Vietnam Ministry of Health, 2016 reported that there were
677 incidents of food poisoning that affected more than 21,000 people
(2011–2014). Therefore, to demand for healthy and environmentally
friendly food, many Vietnamese consumers willing to pay more for
organic or safe food (Simmons and Scott, 2007; Truong et al., 2012; De
Koning et al., 2015)
Aquaponics could play in producing healthy and sustainable food.
Aquaponics now is considered as a sustainable fishery/agricultural
model in terms of enhancing the productivity by allowing the sustain-
able growth of two crops in one system. Aquaponics is a combination of
aquaculture and plant cultivation to enhance productivity through the
achievement of the symbiotic interaction in reducing the need of che-
mical fertilizer for plant and the discharged water (Rakocy et al., 2006).
Safe and friendly to environment: the mechanical process of the model
is based on a circulating biological filtration rules: wastewater from
aquariums (containing wastewater) is fed to vegetables. The vegetable
bed acts as a circulating biological filtration system: they absorb waste
from the aquarium and supplies clean water return to the fish tank.
There are numerous researches focusing on aquaponics techniques;
type of aquaponics; The comparison on the economics, environmental
and social benefits of aquaponics. Lacking in the literature is a study
focusing on utilize local materials as well as local species to aquaponics
system to reduce investment cost to increase the income, especially
using snakehead Channa striata in aquaponics. Moreover, there has
been little focus on how to apply aquaponics in developing countries
with low – income where is organic food/safe food still very expensive
and impossible to build it in rural area or urban cities. Besides, to
supply enough food to human requirement, intensive aquaculture sys-
tems are developing rapidly, and most located in developing countries
where the major crisis with climate change, pollution and water de-
pletion are felt. Normally, tilapia is the most popular species to culture
in aquaponics systems. Recent efforts by researches have focused on
replacing tilapia with other aquatic species with high market value such
as Catfish (Hasan, 2014); Trout (Petrea et al., 2013); African Catfish
(Mamat et al., 2016); Silver catfish (Da Rocha et al., 2017). However,
little work has been conducted in Vietnam or globally to apply and
promote the rearing and culture techniques of snakehead in aquaponics
combining with utilize available local materials as coconut peat, rice
husk, water hyacinth roots, bamboo tree, Styrofoam, canvas, etc., to
reduce investment cost to increase the potential income to local
farmers. Therefore, it is a need to conduct a study covering all the as-
pects of snakehead fish industry by applying aquaponics to build green
agriculture and improve quality and quantity of food production. The
purpose of the study is culturing high market value fish snakehead
Channa striata in aquaponics to increase the productivity and profits to
farmers. The most importance of applied aquaponics is ultimately re-
used and recycled local materials to reduce initial investment cost and
culture local high value species to increase the potential profits that
strongly attract farmers investment. The results of this study will be
potential to enhance the quality and quantity of industrial farming
snakehead not only in Vietnam but also productive to other countries
developing in commercially culturing snakehead. Furthermore, the
conducted results of our study potentially contribute to develop new
and local design of aquaponics suitable to culture high value local
species to keep the aquaponics lasting and expanding to social life to
saving more water and improving food production to feed the world
2
Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057
and adapting to climate change in the future.
2. Methodology
Our experiment design was based on the local conditions and the
future sustainable farming systems to build up the new farming system
more adapted to climate changing and increase the quality and quantity
of food source. We collected the data from GSO Tra Vinh and went to
the field to do the survey on the current situation of locally culturing
snakehead, local materials, the policy and potential to develop in-
tensive system but sustain and friendly to environment. Our purpose
was primarily designed and explored the potential of apply aquaponics
to culture snakehead industrially. Further, we also desired to apply
aquaponics at low – income area to develop the low cost and friendly
farming systems to improve food security and food production.
2.1. Study area
Tra Vinh province which is belonging to Vietnamese Mekong Delta
is coastal area strongly developing in intensive aquaculture. In Tra Vinh
province, the area of farming snakehead has sharply increased in recent
years. In 10 years (2010–2018), the area of farming snakehead is ex-
panded to 5 times from 61 ha to 270 ha. Normally, snakehead is in-
tensively cultured in ponds by farmers who utilize daily exchanges of
water and use significant amounts of chemicals to prevent and treat the
disease. This farming method has caused serious negative impact to
water resources and polluted the environment. Moreover, Tra Vinh
province is one of coastal provinces of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta
where agricultural water demand is an extreme issue due to sea level
rise that affects most on freshwater intensive culture. Some areas have
been seriously affected by sea level rise and salted the soil. In
Vietnamese Mekong Delta and other Asia countries, there are abundant
sources of coconut husk, rice husk and other agricultural materials can
replace the base soil in developing the agriculture. Therefore, it is ne-
cessary to apply aquaponics to culturing snakehead combining with
utilize available local materials in newly design aquaponics systems to
keep the systems more friendly to environment and advantage in pro-
ductivity and economic viability.
The study was conducted in an aquaponics farm of Saphenix Co.,
Ltd. at Luong Hoa village, Chau Thanh district, Tra Vinh province,
Vietnam for a period of 150 days: 02/10/2018 – 07/15/2018. The
systems were designed in the net house with 6 floating plastic ponds
(3 × 4 m) and 6 vegetable beds (8 × 3 m) (Figs. 1 and 2).
The arrows in Fig. 1 showed the flow of water. Water flowed from
fishpond to filter tank to vegetable bed. Then, water run thoroughly
from the top of the vegetable bed and returned clean water to fishponds
via the drainage system at the end of the vegetable bed.
2.2. Experimental design
2.2.1. Aquaculture
Fingerlings of snakehead (Fig. 3) were collected from hatchery in
Dong Thap province, Vietnam with averaged weight 5.36 ± 1.54 SD g
and length 8.53 ± 1.04 SD cm. Before stocking, fish were disinfected
by bath treatment of 5 ppm KMnO4. Snakehead was cultured in floating
plastic ponds with an area of 3 × 4 m and water level 1.2 m depth
having a capacity of 1440 L. Each pond had inlet and outlet facilities
connected to the bio- filter system locating along the side of the system.
The bio-filter tanks were design with layers from the top to the bottom
of filter tank: gravel 4 × 6, gravel 1 × 2, sand and cap of water bottle
mixing with pieces of cutting net. Each layer was put in a net bag that
could easy to arrange, wash and exchange. For fingerlings stocking,
firstly, we scaled one kilogram of fingerlings with triplication. Sec-
ondly, we counted number of fingerlings per kilograms. Then, fish were
randomly arranged into two experimental systems at stocking density
of ∼0.3 kg fingerlings/m3 (70 fish/m2) SAQ – snakehead in aquaponics;
T.T.N. Bich, et al. Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057

Fig. 1. The layout of the experimental design (SAQ snakehead in applied aquaponics; SC was snakehead cultured in ordinary system as the control pond; VC
presented water spinach growing in ordinary condition as the control experiment).

SC – snakehead in control ponds following the normal or traditional
snakehead culture which were continuously aerated with about 20%
daily exchange of water. In normal culture systems, water in pond is
exchanging daily at least 20%: pumping water in pond out to en-
vironment without treatment and then add the same amount of soaking
out back to the pond. Each treatment had three assigned replications.
Data for all water exchange events were recorded. During the study
period surface water from river was the main source of water to the
aquaria. The water from river was pumped to the supplying water pond
and treated with 5 ppm KMnO4 before adding to the cultivating sys-
tems. Aeration pump was used to maintain adequate level of dissolved
oxygen ∼4 mg/L. Fish were fed commercial feed at the average ratio at
5% of fish body weight. The fish were manually fed twice a day (07:00
am and 05:00 pm) with a commercial compound feed in the form of
extruded pellets (Viet Thang feed, Vietnam; composition: 40% crude
protein, 6% crude fat; 5% crude fiber, 16% ash, 2.5% NaCl, 2.5%
calcium, and 1% calcium/phosphorus, as-fed basis). Fish were fed 6
days continuously and then took one day without feeding to promote
food digestion more efficiency. The lengths and weights of 50 live fish/
pond were recorded one time/month during the culture period. After
150 days, all fish were harvested by the market size (Fig. 4). The growth
performances of snakehead Channa striata was calculated using formula
(1), (2), (3) and (4).
No. of total fry obtained
Survival rate (Pauly 1980) = × 100
No. of total fry stocked (1)
Length gain = Final body length (cm) − Initial body length (cm) (2)
Weight gain (g) = Final body weight (g) − Initial body weight (g)
(3)

Fig. 2. (a) Applied aquaponics experiments; (b) Automatic water pumping systems; (c) Illustrated vegetable bed; (d) Floating plastic pond; (e) Water from vegetable
bed returning fresh and clean water back to the fish tank; (f) Water spinach grow well in applied aquaponics.

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T.T.N. Bich, et al. Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057

Fig. 3. Snakehead fingerlings.

Fig. 4. Snakehead got the market size 400−500 g/fish after 150 days of culturing.

Total feed used (kg )

FCR (Castell and Tiews 1980) =
Final body wt (kg ) − Initial body wt (kg )
(4)

Water quality parameters temperature and pH were tested twice

daily in the morning (07:00–08:00 am) and in the afternoon
(14:00–15:00 pm) with the help of pH meter pen type AZ 8685
(Taiwan). Other water quality parameters: O2, NO2, NH3, Alkalinity
were recorded 1 time per week throughout the culture period by Sera
test kit (German), LAQUAact DO110 (Japan), Hanna Checker
Colorimeters.

2.2.2. Agriculture
The applied aquaponics was constructed by using available local
materials to reduce the investment cost as well as increasing the profits
to local farmers. Six round 24 m2 (8 × 3 m) plastic bed were prepared
for growing water spinach Ipomoea aquatic (Fig. 2a). Vegetable bed
was designed by reusing the Styrofoam which was containers of baby
shrimp. The frames of vegetable bed were strongly holding by bamboo
trees which was very cheap and grown at farmer’ garden. The vegetable
bed (Fig. 2c) was designed many layers as a filter system from bottom to
the top the first layer: gravel 4 × 6 cm; the second layer: gravel
1 × 2 cm and the third layer: coconut peat. Each layer was separated by
HDPE net 64 mesh (200 holes/cm2). Coconut peat was used as the base
soil to grow water spinach. The seedlings were placed into the holes:
three seeds per hole. The space between each hole was 4–6 cm (Fig. 5).
Water is automatically timing pumping 6–10 times/day (3–8 h/day)
depending on the growth of fish and plants. In ordinary planting
system, water spinach was watering two times per day. Fertilizers is
used for every 10–15 days. Some chemicals as Aztron, Dithane 80WP,
Sumicidin 10EC are used to treat the worms. However, in this
Fig. 5. Water spinach in normal farming system. Coconut peat was used as a
based soil to grow water spinach. The seedlings were placed into the holes:
three seeds per hole. The space between each hole was 4−6 cm.
experiment, the normal planting systems which acted as control system,
watering was done as normal twice a day at 8:00 am and 4:00 pm until
water drained from the bottom of the raised beds. Fertilizers and che-
micals were not used in the planting control systems. The experiment
was triplicated. Plant growth parameters measured were final biomass.
Experimental time was recorded as number of days after sowing (DAS).
At 24 DAS all the plants ranging from 35 to 45 cm (Fig. 6) in height
were cut at ground level and above ground biomass measured. After
next 10 days, we harvested another round of water spinach. All the
harvested water spinach was raw weight. Then, we raked and turned up
the coconut peat and added some more coconut peat to keep them

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T.T.N. Bich, et al. Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057

Fig. 6. Water spinach were cut at ground level at 24 DAS all the plants ranging from 35 to 45 cm in height.

spongy. 156.88 ± 19.79 mg/L CaCO3 (SAQ) and 106.56 ± 17.28 to

2.3. Statistical analyses
All results were assessed for normality and expressed as mean
value ± standard deviation by Excel 2016. Single classification
ANOVA was used for comparison of the significant difference between
the means of the treatments. The level of significance was set at
P < 0.05. All statistical analyses and plot were performed using Origin
Pro. version 9.1.
3. Results and discussion
116.38 ± 16.39 mg/L CaCO3 (SC). During the experiment the am-
monia value (NH3) varied from 0.01 ± 0.002 to 0.03 ± 0.003 mg/L
(SAQ) and 0.05 ± 0.034 to 0.16 ± 0.11 mg/L (SC). The values of
Nitrite (NO2) values were recorded in the spread of 0.28 ± 0.25 to
0.58 ± 0.41 mg/L (SAQ) and 0.56 ± 0.71 to 2.59 ± 1.52 mg/L (SC).
All the physical and chemical parameters of the rearing water were
found to be in the optimum range required for aquaculture practice in
the freshwater aquaculture by Boyd (1990a,b) except the value of Ni-
trite in treatment experiment (SC) starting from the second month of
farming period: nitrite concentration > 1.0 mg/L, especially in the
afternoon.

3.1. Water quality and parameters 3.2. Water efficiency

All water parameters were within tolerable limits except the value
of Nitrite in control treatment (SC). Table 1 showed the results of water
quality parameters in two treatments during the study period (mean
values ± standard deviation). The water temperature was recorded
from 28.05 ± 0.67 to 31.75 ± 0.76 °C (SAQ) and 26.34 ± 1.03 to
33.47 ± 1.74 °C (SC). The pH ranged from 6.9 ± 0.1 to 7.8 ± 0.2
(SAQ) and 7.2 ± 0.2 to 8.0 ± 0.2 (SC). The dissolved oxygen was
found 4.9 ± 0.4 to 6.9 ± 0.3 mg/L (SAQ) and 3.5 ± 0.5 to
5.5 ± 0.5 mg/L (SC) during the entire study with continuously pro-
viding aeration. Alkalinity was observed 125.23 ± 22.58 to
Farming intensive fish requires a huge amount of good freshwater
quality and discharges the wastewater to outside environment (Sauthier
et al., 1998; De Stefani et al., 2011). Therefore, it is very much im-
portance of aquaculture to reuse or recycle water as well as treat waste
water and water before releasing to environment because water is a
limited resource and discharge the untreated water from aquaculture
can contribute to degrade our environment (Adler et al., 2000a, b).
The study result showed that the total water exchanged during
culture period in aquaponics systems was more than 70% more efficient
than in normal culture: 475.2 L vs. 34,560 L (Table 2). Water loss in

Table 1
Water quality parameters (mean values ± standard deviation) in two treatments snakehead in aquaponics (SAQ) and snakehead in normal farming-control ex-
periment (SC) during the study period. Mean values accompanied by the same letter in the same row are not significantly different (P > 0.05).
Parameter analyzed Measure unit SAQ SC Tolerance and Optimal range

Morning Afternoon Morning Afternoon

a b a
Temperature C 28.05 ± 0.67 31.75 ± 0.76 26.34 ± 1.03 33.47 ± 1.74b 28–32
pH u pH 6.99 ± 0.08a 7.77 ± 0.20b 7.16 ± 0.18a 7.95 ± 0.17b 6.5–9.0
DO % (saturation) 4.92 ± 0.41a 6.93 ± 0.27b 3.46 ± 0.51c 5.50 ± 0.50d > 3–5
Alkalinity mg/L CaCO3 125.23 ± 22.58a 156.88 ± 19.79b 106.56 ± 17.28c 116.38 ± 16.39d 50–300
NH3 mg/L 0.010 ± 0.002a 0.030 ± 0.003b 0.05 ± 0,034c 0.16 ± 0,11d 0.2–2.0
NO2 mg/L 0.28 ± 0.25a 0.58 ± 0.41b 0.56 ± 0.71b 2.59 ± 1.52c < 1.0

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T.T.N. Bich, et al. Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057

Table 2
Water exchange in two treatments over the experiment.
Days Percentage of water exchange (%) Volume of water exchange (L)

SAQ SC SAQ SC

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

30 5 5 5 240 240 240 72 72 72 3456 3456 3456

60 10 10 10 520 520 520 144 144 144 7488 7488 7488
90 10 10 10 520 520 520 144 144 144 7488 7488 7488
120 10 10 10 520 520 520 144 144 144 7488 7488 7488
150 8 8 8 600 600 600 115.2 115.2 115.2 8640 8640 8640
Total 33 33 33 2400 2400 2400 475.2 475.2 475.2 34,560 34,560 34,560

aquaponics systems is caused by evaporation, plant absorb, fish

splashing and sludge removal. Normally, the water loss is ranging from
∼5 to 40% depending on the conditions (temperature, biofilter con-
struction, greenhouse conditions, etc.) (Lennard and Leonard, 2005;
Endut et al., 2014, 2016).

3.3. Aquaculture production

The growth indicator of fish: body weight and length, survival rate
and food conversation ratio (FCR) were shown in Table 3. The body
weight and length growth of snakehead in the aquaponics system were
much faster than those of snakehead in normal system. The results in
Table 3 and Fig. 7 showed the weight gain of fish during the 150 days
grow-out period, reaching 437.13 g vs. 215.68 g. and 32.63 cm vs.
27.34 cm in length. Based on the previous studies, the snakehead in
normal farming in plastic pond after 150 days culturing was reaching
264 ± 40 to 357 ± 39.2 g (Lan et al., 2011; Phong, 2012). It was
proved that after 150 days of farming, snakehead in aquaponics was
growing faster than fish culturing in normal condition. Survival rate of
fish in aquaponics was respectively higher than fish in normal system:
99.76% vs. 71.40%. The survival rate of snakehead in aquaponics met
with the results of culturing snakehead in RAS (∼97.00–98.75%) (Van
and Thich, 2014). The average survival rate of culturing snakehead in
pond at density from 70 to 100 fish/m2 was ranging ∼60–70% after
150 days period (Nha, 2012; Phong, 2012). In industrial fish culture,
feed is a main factor to grow fish. It accounted around 50% of cost. Feed
conversion is described as the ability to convert the feed into biomass.
The lower feed conversion means fewer feed needed to gain 1 kg bio-
mass. The result showed that the feed conversation ratio (FCR) were
1.25 (SAQ) and 2.25 (SC) significantly difference. In normal farming
condition, the FCR of snakehead was various from 1.5 to 4.0
(Muthmainnah, 2013; Amin et al., 2015; Farhana et al., 2016). When
rearing snakehead in the aquaponics system, all the environmental
factors was controlled to creating a stable environment to help fish
grow and develop well. The maintaining optimal environmental in-
dicators by the biological filter in the system was helping fish digest
food better, reducing stress, less wasted food, increasing feed
Table 3
Growth performances of snakehead Channa striata (mean values ± standard
deviation) were observed in two treatments SAQ: snakehead + water spinach in
Aquaponics and SC: snakehead in normal farming- control experiment during
the study period. Mean values accompanied by the same letter in the same row
are not significantly different (P > 0.05).
Parameter SAQ SC
Mean initial weight (g) 5.36 ± 1.46a 5.37 ± 1.63a
Mean final weight (g) 437.13 ± 36.48a 215.68 ± 32.10b
Mean initial length (cm) 8.51 ± 1.04a 8.54 ± 1.04a
Mean final length (cm) 32.63 ± 3.33a 27.34 ± 3.15b
Survival rate (%) 99.76 ± 0.55a 71.40 ± 7.98b
Food conversation ratio 1.25 ± 0.05a 2.25 ± 0.07b
Fig. 7. Weight growth curve of snakehead in applied aquaponics (SAQ) and
normal culture system-control experiment (SC) for 150 days.
consumption. In addition, due to maintaining good water quality, it is
possible to increase the stocking density, which will increase fish pro-
ductivity, reduce farming area. This is a significant model applying and
building the sustainable aquaculture and agriculture by ensuring and
enhancing the quality of water and saving water in the farming process.
3.4. Agriculture production
During 150 days of experiment, the average production of water
spinach/bed in aquaponics systems (SAQ) was more than two times
(406.4 vs. 188 kg) the average production of water spinach/bed in
normal planting systems (VC) (Fig. 8a). The average yield of water
spinach in aquaponics systems was higher to the one in normal culti-
vation respectively (2.1 vs. 1.0 kg/m2) (Table 4) (Fig. 8b). Water spi-
nach is an herbaceous aquatic or semi-aquatic perennial plant in sub-
tropical and tropical regions. The vegetable was grown well in water or
on moist soil, therefore, it was growth faster and got higher yield in
applied aquaponics systems. Moreover, in aquaponics, water spinach
was watering with nutrients and water from the fishpond during cul-
tivation period while water spinach in normal planting- control treat-
ment just watering two times/day only.
3.5. Evaluate the income in applied aquaponics and normal farming system
After 150 days, the total income from snakehead and water spinach
in aquaponics was 4 times higher than in normal farming systems:
1219.42 $US and 307.04 $US (Table 5) (Fig. 9a). The price of products
in aquaponics was 150% higher than products in normal systems
(Table 5): fish in aquaponics get the market size and the customers
preferred the flesh and flavor of snakehead meat in aquaponics; the
water spinach in aquaponics was younger, crispy and softer than water
spinach in normal planting system. The initial net profit in aquaponics

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T.T.N. Bich, et al. Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057

Fig. 8. (a) Total water spinach productions during 150 days of experiment in the two treatments (applied aquaponics (SAQ) and normal planting system- control
experiment (VC); (b) Monthly average production of water spinach in the two treatments (applied aquaponics (SAQ) and normal planting system (VC).

Table 4 investment; local fish – snakehead fish with high market rice. Besides,
The production of water spinach in applied aquaponics system (SAQ) and culturing snakehead in aquaponics builds up the green and ecological
normal planting systems – control experiment (VC). agriculture by saving more water and enhancing the quality and
Number of Average production (kg) Average production (kg)/bed quantity of food production and adapting to climate change. It is saving
harvests /m2 (24 m2) more than 70% of water exchange than in ordinary aquaculture, im-
proving good quality and quantity of water in pond as well as dis-
SAQ VC SAQ VC charging. The product of snakehead in aquaponics more productive:
1 1.6 1.3 39.2 31.2 higher survival ratio of fish: 99.76% vs. 71.40%; 3 times higher in fish
2 1.8 0.6 44 15.2 yield: 366 kg vs. 130 kg. The productions of water spinach were more
3 1.9 1.0 45.6 24.8 advantage in aquaponics systems: 406.4 kg vs. 188 kg. The total income
4 2.2 0.8 52 19.2 from snakehead and water spinach in aquaponics was 4 times higher
5 2.2 1.0 53.6 23.2
than in normal farming systems: 1219.42 $US and 307.04 $US. It was
6 2.3 0.9 56 21.6
7 2.5 1.3 59.2 31.2 especially not using any chemical during cultivating period in aqua-
8 2.4 0.9 56.8 21.6 ponics that produce the fresh and healthy food to consumers. Based on
Total 16.9 7.8 406.4 188 our present findings might have important implications towards to
Average 2.1 1.0 50.8 23.5
manage any further development of snakehead industry, as well as
STDVE 0.29 0.23 7.08 5.54
contribute to applied aquaponics systems to other high value local
species. Besides, using cycled and reusable and utilizing local materials
was 633.86 $US vs (−16.46) $US (Fig. 9b). The percentage of net profit will keep the aquaponics lasting and expanding to social life, especially
in applied aquaponics was 108.24% highly potential attracting farmers in developing countries which are the main bow supplying food to feed
investment while the initial net profit in normal farming systems was the world. Moreover, under climate changing, applied aquaponics is
(−5.09%) (Fig. 9c). The fish in aquaponics used feed more efficiency meaningful in draught prone, flood prone and coastal saline affected
with FCR: 1.25 vs. 2.25 and higher in survival rate that were increasing soil region to produce fish and vegetable round the year.
net profit. Therefore, it is necessary applying aquaponics to cultivate
snakehead to increase the income and friendly to environment. Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that there are no competing interests regarding

4. Conclusion
the publication of this paper.
Farming intensive fish requires a huge amount of good freshwater
quality and discharges the wastewater back to outside environment. Acknowledgements
This study shows that it is more advantage to utilize available local
materials and local species in aquaponics: using locally available co- The present study was supported by Saphenix Co., Ltd., Tra Vinh
conut peat as a base soil to reduce the soil-less culture in the heavily province, Vietnam; Tra Vinh University, Vietnam and Da–Yeh
salted soil cultivation area; plastic floating pond saving more money for University, Taiwan.

Table 5
Income from snakehead and water spinach in two systems ($US).
Products Applied aquaponics Normal farming systems

Amount (kg) Price ($US/kg) Total ($US) Amount (kg) Price ($US/kg) Total ($US)

Snakehead 366 2.61 955.26 130 1.74 226.20

Water spinach 406.4 0.65 264.16 188 0.43 80.84
Sum 1219.42 307.04
Initial investment cost (Instruction, electrical cost) 585.56 323.50
Net profit 633.86 −16.46

The price of the products was the current price of the market in Vietnam for safe products. This was the real price that the farm was selling to the market.

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T.T.N. Bich, et al. Aquacultural Engineering 89 (2020) 102057

Fig. 9. (a) The income in (SAQ) and normal farming systems - control experiment (SC + VC). (b) The ratio between initial investment cost and net profit (c) Net
profit in applied aquaponics and normal farming system.

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