Improving water quality using settleable microalga Ettlia sp. and the bacterial community in freshwater recirculating...

A highly settleable microalga, Ettlia sp., was applied to a freshwater recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) of Danio rerio to improve the treatment of nitrogenous compounds. The growth characteristics of the microalgae, water quality parameters, and bacterial communities were monitored for 73 days. In the treatment RAS, the inoculated Ettlia sp. grew up to 1.26 g/L and dominated (>99%) throughout the experiment, whereas naturally occurring microalgae grew to 0.57 g/L in the control RAS. The nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium concentrations in the treatment RAS were reduced by 50.1%, 73.3%, and 24.2%, respectively, compared to the control RAS. A bacterial community analysis showed that Rhodospirillales, Phycisphaerae, Chlorobiales, and Burkholderiales were the major bacterial groups in the later phase of the treatment RAS. Meanwhile, a network analysis among the Ettlia sp., bacterial groups, and environmental parameters, revealed that the bacterial groups played key roles in both water quality improvement and Ettlia sp. growth. In conclusion, the inoculation and growth of the Ettlia sp. and its associated bacteria in the RAS produced beneficial effects on the water quality by reducing the nitrogenous compounds and providing a favorable environment for certain bacterial groups to further improve water quality.