WILLAGRI
John Diener is the founder of Vertical Oceans, a shrimp farming company based in Singapore.
The harmful effects of farming on natural spaces have led farmers to use closed-loop systems, where water is filtered and cleared of waste, algae, and microbes before being reintroduced. However, this type of setup remains costly, both in design and operation.
John Diener has compiled biological, chemical, and technical data that he has modeled with the aim of optimizing his farming.
Closed-loop farming limits the effects of climatic events or pollution in a controllable environment, with facilitated management of the early mortality syndrome caused by bacteria.
There are several variants of closed-loop systems, including:
– Biofloc, an ecosystem that relies on the presence of useful microbes but produces a loaded medium that needs to be reoxygenated, hence a high cost;
– RAS, an ecosystem comprising mechanical water filtration and ozone disinfection criticized by the National Institute for Research and Safety, which warns about the emission of irritating compounds.
Vertical Oceans relies on mechanical filtration before introducing macroalgae to balance the aquatic environment, notably by reducing the level of ammonia generated by the metabolism of crustaceans.
Source: Agfundernews