International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.19, 145-150
146
or remove the sources of pollutants offer several advantages including developing a sustainability environment. In
a close aquaculture system, source of pollutants are included but not limited to fecal waste of fish and uneaten fish
feed. Presence of phosphates, ammonia and chlorine in the water body are important for survivability of
organisms and determination of water quality in the aquatic ecosystem. Phosphate is an important element for
growth of plants and animals. It stimulates the production of aquatic plants and phytoplankton which are the food
sources for other organisms. However excessive phosphates present in the water body would cause eutrophication
other than algae bloom on the surface of water (Yanamadala, 2005). This occurrence would affect the water body
as the bloom of algae will block sunlight from penetrating into the water thus light depending aquatic organisms
such as aquatic plants and invertebrates will slowly deteriorate due to insufficient light available to carry out
necessary photosynthesis process. The excessive presence of the micro algae also will compete with other aerobic
aquatic organisms for the limited supply of oxygen available hence will cause reduction of the amount of
dissolved oxygen available in the water system.
Ammonia, through nitrification process, can be break down into different agricultural beneficial nitrogen elements
such as nitrate and nitrite. Nitrate is one of the major source used in fertilizer for agriculture to increase crops
yield. However, excessive amount of nitrates would lead to eutrophication and decrease of water quality.
Ammonia is toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms even in low concentration and thus when present in high
amount it is very potent in drastically declining the aquatic organisms population in the affected water system.
This is all due to toxic buildup in internal tissues and blood of the aquatic organisms when the aquatic organisms
have difficulty in excreting out the toxicant efficiently from their body under the present of high amount of
ammonia. These will eventually lead to death. Amount of ammonia concentration in water body depends on
environmental factors such as water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and also carbon dioxide levels.
Chlorine or chloramine though is an excellent chemical used as disinfectant in treating water body for human
consumption and usage, it can also cause harm to aquatic organisms in similar efficiency. Chlorine kills various
microbial waterborne pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi which can grow on the walls of
tanks or reservoirs. These pathogens might cause health problems to human such as cholera, typhoid and many
more. Yet, exposing to high levels of chlorine in water can also cause health diseases and alter the physical
condition of water which gave the water bad taste and odor (Global Health Center, 2017). Both chlorine and
chloramine are highly toxic to all fish and invertebrates. Any fish or aquatic invertebrates expose to any
measurable amount of chlorine will suffered from chemical burns. Fish gills are sensitive organ and are exposed
directly to the aquatic environment in order to assist the respiration process. Thus gills necrosis due to chlorine or
chloramine chemical burn can lead to respiratory difficulty and asphyxiation. At the same time, if chlorine absorbs
into the fish body, this will causes burns throughout the fish as chlorine or chloramine spread inside the fish body
through the blood system. Aquatic invertebrates also suffered the similar effect if expose to any measurable
amount of chlorine or chloramine as they can absorb it through their body surfaces.
Aquaponic is a combination of traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish and prawns in tanks)
and hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. The nitrogenous waste including feed
waste and faecal waste excreted by the fish in the form of ammonia will be converted to nitrate or nitrite by the
nitrifying bacteria. Fish feed waste dissolved in the water could provide necessary nutrients directly for plant,
where these dissolved waste nutrients were assimilated by the plants after decomposed by the nitrifying bacteria,
reducing discharge to the environment and extending the water use (Rakocy et al., 2006).
Hence, determination levels of phosphate, ammonia and chlorine in water bodies is important to sustain
ecosystem health and human population. One of the methods of monitoring the levels of phosphate, ammonia and
chlorine is by using colorimetric analysis. Colorimetric analysis is a method of determining the chemical
compounds concentration in a solution with the aid of color reagent. It measures the color of the water sample by
adding chemical reagent which forms a colored product and evaluates the colored product through comparator
disc. But this method is not suitable if the water sources are turbid.
