An innovative acid treatment system for biofouling control in Neopyropia aquaculture rafts

In order to explore a more efficient method for removing green algae from Neopropia yezoensis rafts in aquaculture, we modified an acid treatment vessel by loading a kind of mixed acid to remove Ulva species attached to N. yezoensis aquaculture rafts.By analyzing the algae tissue damage, biomass changes, photosynthetic fluorescence characteristics and attached algae population changes, the removal effect of acid treatment device equipped with mixed acid solution on the removal of attached Ulva spp. on the N. yezoensis aquaculture rafts was evaluated.The results showed that using an acid treatment vessel loaded with a pH = 0.8 mixed acid solution to treat the entire row of N. yezoensis aquaculture rafts (taking 7 min and 30 s) can reduce the biomass of green algae on the rafts net curtain by more than 95%, and will not have any adverse effects on N. yezoensis. This study verified that the acid treatment vessel using a mixed acid solution can effectively remove attached green algae on N.yezoensis aquaculture rafts. The aim is to develop and improve the technology for removing attached green algae during the aquaculture cycle, and to maximize the recovery of the mixed acid solution through a spray system. This not only reduces the biomass of Ulva spp. into the Yellow Sea green tide, but also minimizes the adverse effects of chemical control on the environment.