The importance of microbial control in the hatchery is well-known and it plays a crucial role in lowering the risk of disease outbreaks. In production facilities, bacterial contamination with potential pathogens can be managed by applying firm biosecurity rules and disinfection protocols. In the hatcheries the administration of live feed is an important step for the growth of the larvae, but can also be a vector of bacteria if the microbial community is not properly managed.
Our study focuses on the microbial management in the artemia sector, with the use of Sanocare ACE-PRO to control the Vibrio load during the hatching and the enrichment of nauplii improving the quality of the live feed. Sanocare ACE-PRO is a disinfectant based on an antimicrobial agent that has a broad-spectrum action and is active against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, but also fungi and other microorganisms.
The efficacy of the product has been documented through plating on Marine Agar and TCBS and also through flow cytometry analysis of the hatching and enrichment water, analyzing the quantity and the viability of the cells in the microbial community and their activity.
The results proved the efficacy of Sanocare ACE-PRO with a 5-log reduction in CFU/mL of the total bacterial load and 3 logs reduction of the CFU/ml-1 of the Vibrio load during both hatching and enrichment. Flow cytometry analyses confirmed the results and Sanocare ACE-PRO caused a considerable reduction of the intact cells, especially when applied during both hatching and enrichment procedure (Figure 1).
By improving the quality of the water with SanoCare ACE-PRO it was possible to achieve higher survival during the enrichment and higher HUFA content with 52.2 mg.g-1 DW compared to the 35.4 mg.g-1 DW of the control treatment.
This work shows that the microbiological and nutritional quality of Artemia can be improved following proper biosecurity measures, including the use of Sanocare ACE-PRO as a disinfectant.