CA1111319A - Aquaculture rearing system - Google Patents
Aquaculture rearing systemInfo
- Publication number
- CA1111319A CA1111319A CA354,216A CA354216A CA1111319A CA 1111319 A CA1111319 A CA 1111319A CA 354216 A CA354216 A CA 354216A CA 1111319 A CA1111319 A CA 1111319A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- baskets
- animals
- basket
- tank
- vessel
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02A—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02A40/00—Adaptation technologies in agriculture, forestry, livestock or agroalimentary production
- Y02A40/80—Adaptation technologies in agriculture, forestry, livestock or agroalimentary production in fisheries management
- Y02A40/81—Aquaculture, e.g. of fish
Abstract
AQUACULTURE REARING SYSTEM
Abstract An aquaculture rearing system for improving space utiliza-tion and yield is disclosed in which clustered, vertical rear-ing tanks are provided with individual stacked habitats in the form of baskets attached to a strongback member which houses a removable feeding rod, in which the baskets are quickly detach-able through the use of interlocking detents and in which nest-able baskets are utilized for different sized animals. Prog-ressive space increments to match growth are provided by two different size baskets and removable dividers. Overflow water is skimmed by a skimmer which surrounds the entire top of each tank to prevent bacteriologic contamination of the water within the tank. The staggered modular mounting produces a tripod-like stability even though each tank has a single leg, and pro-vides visibility and density. An overhead materials handling system is used in which the animals are protected by a fog to prevent gill malfunction. Animal health and growth is monitored by an electronic scanning device which records the amount of food consumed by each animal involved over a period of time and compares performance with predetermined standards.
Abstract An aquaculture rearing system for improving space utiliza-tion and yield is disclosed in which clustered, vertical rear-ing tanks are provided with individual stacked habitats in the form of baskets attached to a strongback member which houses a removable feeding rod, in which the baskets are quickly detach-able through the use of interlocking detents and in which nest-able baskets are utilized for different sized animals. Prog-ressive space increments to match growth are provided by two different size baskets and removable dividers. Overflow water is skimmed by a skimmer which surrounds the entire top of each tank to prevent bacteriologic contamination of the water within the tank. The staggered modular mounting produces a tripod-like stability even though each tank has a single leg, and pro-vides visibility and density. An overhead materials handling system is used in which the animals are protected by a fog to prevent gill malfunction. Animal health and growth is monitored by an electronic scanning device which records the amount of food consumed by each animal involved over a period of time and compares performance with predetermined standards.
Description
-i6~0 ~ 3~
KT:s}l Field of Invention 1'l This invention relates to aquaculture and more particularly, to an improved appara~us for the rearing of aquatic animals such ! as crustaceans or animals requiring physical separation during S ! growth. 1 5 Back~round of the Invention In order to raise aquatic animals which are by nature car-nivorous and thus require separation during growth, it is impor-¦ tant not only to separate the animals, but also to provide a o ¦! system in which the animals can be properly cared for, provided ,10 with adequate food, and provided with fresh water and aiT on an efficient basis. Crustaceans and more particularly, lobsters, are difficult to raise in captivity due to a number of problems i mainly related ~o the cost of the rearing and the health of the 15 1, animals which obviously impacts on yield. 115 It will be appreciated that lobsters and most crustaceans are very delicate animals to rear, mainly because of bacterio-logic infections such as gafkemia. Gafkemia invades the blood-l stream via wounds which the animals may suffer as a result of 20 ¦ attacks by other animals or as a result of handling. Moreover, ~0 ! infection can be aggravated by inadequately cleaned habitats Il and the non-availability of fresh air and water. Contaminated i water or water not in sufficient supply and not sufficiently I¦ aerated will cause an early demise to a large por~ion of the 25 ~1 animal popula.ion when raised intensively in habi~ats. Ad~i- 25 I¦ tionally, with each incident of direct contact handling, the jl animals are subjected to stress and trauma which can directly kill the animals, impair their growth, or encourage other infec-tions.
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I
Thus, it is deslrable to 2rovide an improved animal rear-ing habitat and system which minimi~es the direct handling of i the animals, does not subject them to trauma, provides adequate I water management and quality and in general, provides an effi-5 ¦ cient system for the reaTing of the animals. 5 In the past, there have been numerous systems for rearing I crustaceans which systems either raise the animals in cages in their natural sea habitats or provide tanks for the rearing of ~ these animals such as that described in U. S. Patent 3,815,546 il issued ~o Emile A. P. Plante on June 11 9 1974. 10 ¦¦ As to the rearing of animals in their natural en~iron-li ment, it will be appreciated that the majority of the systems ¦¦ which utilize cages utilize them in a lobster pound which free7es over in the winter. Thus, there is little OT no access-ibility to the animals within the pound during a large portion 15of the year. Typically, the success of such an operation also depends on the absence of disease, it being understood that once a diseased animal is present, he may infect the rest of the l animals within the pound, and thus all or many of the animals ¦l in the pound may be lost, especially in winter when they are j20 inaccessible because of ice and can't be serviced.
Il With respect to the Plante type habitat, it will be appre-¦l ciated that the habitat compartments are formed by the coopera-¦~ tion of shelves OT discs with the inner wall of the tank.
¦I While this is satisfactory in some aspects, it will be apprecia- l25 ',1 ted that if the disc assembly is withdrawn to remove an animal, ~`
,1 all the animals fall off the discs, and thus must all be indi-vidually handled to access only one animal. ~oreover, there may be contamination of these nabitats by virtue of bacteria D~ O, RKT:sh 3 ~
in the air which settles on the surface of the water at the top of each tank. This generally causes an annular ring of algal growth within the tank which attracts bacteria and presents a " severe health problem.
1 It will be appreciated, from the Piante patent, that the Is base is either welded or adhesively attached to the cylindrical tank which results in stress corrosion of the super adjacent I surfaces, and early material failure resulting in leakage and ,, other maintenance problems. MoreoveT, because of the flat 1, 'I bottom, cleaning of the tank is impossible without removing the 1Q
il animals. Additionally, the tank walls must be made exceedingly thick in order to be able to accommodate the welding and bond-ing operations.
jl In general, tank type aquaculture systems require manual ! handling of animals during cleaning operations, animal, trans- ~5 fer, or animal removal. Moreover, animal health is ascertained by inspection of each animal after it has been removed from its ¦I habitat. .~dditionally, the animals, when transferred are, in Il general, kept in a water bath to keep them alive. This requires I
i a tremendous amount of space and handling which, in general, 1 ¦ is awkward, costly and detrimental to the animals' health.
In the subject system, a novel type of habitat is utili2ed in which nested baskets take the place of the animal rearing chambers of the Plante patent. Moreover, they are removably 25 ii attached to a strongback fixture which maintains the baskets 2i in their stacked arrangement either within the tank or during ¦ overhead transit. The removal of the animals is thus quickly and efficiently done without damage to, or handling of animals not involved in the transfer. I
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,1 -'1--;6~0 ;T:sh ` ~ 3~9 ,1 i The basket structure is such that for large animals, the Il b~sket is undivided, with one basket on the top of another I basket forming a tOp to ~eep the animal in the next immediate l lower basket in place. Food is delivered through the strong- ' 5 1 back member by apertures therethrough which expose a feed rod 5 which has compartments containing food. When the feed rod is in place, the apertures in the feed rod are in alignment with the apertures in the strongback member and also an aperture i¦ in the wall of the basket such that the animal may have access 10 ¦I to the food in the feed rod. There is sufficient "draft" to ~10 the basket to allow easy attachment or removal from the strong-back. For smaller animals, so-called "half baskets" are pro-ided which are nestable and are provided with a shelf-like structure which permit twice as many animals access to a single feed rod thereby minimi~ing the space of rearing of animals ,15 of a predetermined size. For even smaller animals, this shelf containing ~alf basket is further subdivided by a simple di-¦ vider so that two animals can be raised in each half basket.
l The tanks in general are modular in nature and have a 20 1 tripod-type foot which permits a staggered arrangement of the '0 l tanks for easy visibility and animal surveillance. Each tank !¦ is made of a thin-walled cylinder with top and bottom circum-ferential restraint. The wall thickness is thus only that 1l which is necessaTy to restrain the water column in hoop stress.
25 ~ The bottDm of the tank is press fit into a frusto conical _~
type tapered base member which contains a flushing valve for i the removal of detritis and cleaning of the tank. This flush-j ing svstem is designed to remove heavv sedimentary was;e mat-1l erial. For ligh.er pa-ticulate matter, this matter is carried ;0 upwardly bv the upward action or air lift circulation due tO ~0 j6~
~:sh 3~
Il ;
jl aerator bubbles which move upwardly and e~pand in their travel I towards the top of the tank where they are carried away by the i skimmer. Water flow is also in an upward direction. A skimmer Il which completely suTrounds the top of the tank is employed so '¦ as to remove the light particulate matter. The skimmer, by Il virtue of its surrounding the entire top of the tank, prevents i airborne bacteria and other contaminants from entering the tank I which is a major factor in the prevention of disease.
l An overhead conveyor type transfer system is utilized when eithe~ the feed rods are removed foT replenishment o~ animals are loaded OT haT~ested. When the animals are removed from the tanX by virtue of the raising of the strongbac'~ member, a fog chambeT is provided to maintain moist gill surfaces so that the l animàls do not suffocate during their travel from one position to another in this production system. It is a finding of this invention that moist air or fog is sufficient ~o Xeep the ani-mals ali~e for long peTiods of time and thus, the animals need ¦ not be immersed in water du~ing tTansfer.
¦ Additionally, animal health and growth is monitored by 20 1l ascertaining the amount of food eaten by each lobster each day.
The amount of uneaten food remaining in the feed rod is measured and indicates the relati~e health and/or grow~h of the animal. In one embodiment, a fixed scanner is utilized to scan ¦l the feed rods as they pass the scanning head prioT to their 25 ¦I being replenished. The amount of food left is correlated with ! the particular feed rot,tank,and compartment, and theTefoTe, a partic~lar animal. In this manner, the si~e, weight and '¦ physical condition of the animals may be monitored without ~I physically remoYing them from the habitat or wi~hout attempt-~¦ ing to measure them by visual inspection through the tTans-ll Il -6-i6~0 ~T:sh 3 ~ 9 ;l .
Il I
!¦ parent tank walls. Thus, a constant watch can be ~ept on all ¦I of the animals to prevent disease, and in general, to monitor , growth of the animals.
!! What has been solved by the utilization of this improved S l¦ animal rearing system is the provision of a material handling l5 Il system which is efficient and which does not subject the ani-¦I mals to undue stress. Moreover, water quality is easily main-¦ tained and animal separation is insured by use of the basket-, like structure. Modularity of the tanks and their mounting 1 system provides an unusually dense but flexible configuration lo foT the reasing of the animals as well as visibility of all of the animals within the habitats. The above system increases serviceability and efficiently provides foT any mix of animals ~ of different sizes. This enables operation at lO0~ capacity 15 I at all times. ~5 ¦¦ It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an i improved aquacul~ure rearing system;
It is another ob}ect of this invention to provide an im-~1 I proved habitat design and materials handling system for the efficient raising of aquatic animals; 2~0 It is yet another object of this in~ention to provide an improved animal monitoring system in which the health and size ¦ of the animals are monitored indirectly by monitoring the amount Il of food consumed in a given time period;
~¦ It is a still further object of this invention to provide 2'5 for the safe tTansit of animals by the utili~ation of a fogging system in which the fog sussounds the animals during transit ¦ and promotes respiration.
1.! ,, ,, I
l -7- , 3.~3 In one aspect of the invention, there is provided:
Apparatus for the rearing of aquatic animals comprising:
a tank including a vertically oriented vessel; and a single vertically stacked arrangement of animal rearing compartments per vessel, each compartment being in the form of a basket of a diameter less than the inside diameter of said vessel, said stacked arrangement including a strong-back member and m~ans for individually and randomly removably mounting said baskets to said strong-back member lQ such that any of said animal rearing compartments may be removed from said strongback member without removing any o~hers of said animal rearing compartments, said baskets being removably mounted at one position at the edge thereof.
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;l i ,1 l These and other objects will be better understood in light l of the following specification taken in conjunction with the I dependent drawings wherein:
l Brief Description of the Drawings S l Figure l~is a diagrammatic, sectional, and exploded dia- 5 gram illustrating one of the aquacul~ure rearing tanks.
¦ Figure lB illustrates in section the joining of the tank j to the base.
Figure lC is a sectional diagram illustrating the particu-lar type of gasket utilized in the structure of Figure lB. 10 Figure 1~ is a sectional diagram illustrating in cross-section the skimmer of Figure 14.
Figure 2 illustrates a modular tripod mounting system for aquaculture tanks.
lS Figure 3A illustrates the strong back and feed rod struc- lS
ture indicating the detents for holding of the individual bas-~ ¦ kets on the strongback member.
1- 1 Figure 3B illustrates the insertion of a basket into posi-tion on the strongback member.
"~ 20 Figure 3C is a cross-sectional diagram of the strongback 20 member of Figure 3A.
Figure 3D illustrates a lobster in its basket feeding from the feed rod through apertures in the basket and strongback member.
25 1l Figure 4 is an illustration of one type basket utili~able ?;
I¦ in the subject invention.
,¦ Figures SA, SB and 6 illustrate a half basket configura-1l tion showing a sheIf and a nested arrangement in which apertures ~6l0 T:sh a3 ~9 ,1 in the baskets and the stIongbacX member e~pose corresponding 1~ compartments in the feed rod,with the nesting of the habitats ¦ providing covers for the habitats immediately below;
¦ Figure 7A illustrates one half basket structure which is 1, 5 .~ further subdivided by divider to accommodate smaller animals; 15 , Figure 7B illustTates the opposing half basket also pro-vided with a divider;
Figure 8A illustrates an overhead conveyor type transport ~l of the stacked habitats illustrating the use of foggers and a lO !! shroud to promote animal respiration during transfer; ~0 Figure 8B illustrates diagrammatically a fogger and an . animal within a baske~; and ! Figure 9 illustrates diagrammatically a scanning beam analyzer for monitoring the food consumed so as to monitor 15 !¦ animal health and size. ~5 ,, 11 . I
¦¦ Detailed Description ~: I In order to obtain the aforemen~ioned high yield reaIing r . 1 system, it is important to have a highly efficient, dense, easily cleanable and easily serviceable habitat in which to I grow the animals. The habitat must not only permit high densi- 20 ty, but also should be made of inexpensive materials so that the cost of rearing is minimized. Additionally, as mentioned here-l inbefore, the habitats should be configured so as to maximi e ; , disease prevention and enable quarantine when required;
KT:s}l Field of Invention 1'l This invention relates to aquaculture and more particularly, to an improved appara~us for the rearing of aquatic animals such ! as crustaceans or animals requiring physical separation during S ! growth. 1 5 Back~round of the Invention In order to raise aquatic animals which are by nature car-nivorous and thus require separation during growth, it is impor-¦ tant not only to separate the animals, but also to provide a o ¦! system in which the animals can be properly cared for, provided ,10 with adequate food, and provided with fresh water and aiT on an efficient basis. Crustaceans and more particularly, lobsters, are difficult to raise in captivity due to a number of problems i mainly related ~o the cost of the rearing and the health of the 15 1, animals which obviously impacts on yield. 115 It will be appreciated that lobsters and most crustaceans are very delicate animals to rear, mainly because of bacterio-logic infections such as gafkemia. Gafkemia invades the blood-l stream via wounds which the animals may suffer as a result of 20 ¦ attacks by other animals or as a result of handling. Moreover, ~0 ! infection can be aggravated by inadequately cleaned habitats Il and the non-availability of fresh air and water. Contaminated i water or water not in sufficient supply and not sufficiently I¦ aerated will cause an early demise to a large por~ion of the 25 ~1 animal popula.ion when raised intensively in habi~ats. Ad~i- 25 I¦ tionally, with each incident of direct contact handling, the jl animals are subjected to stress and trauma which can directly kill the animals, impair their growth, or encourage other infec-tions.
Ij D-;6~
RKT:sh ~ 3~
!
I
Thus, it is deslrable to 2rovide an improved animal rear-ing habitat and system which minimi~es the direct handling of i the animals, does not subject them to trauma, provides adequate I water management and quality and in general, provides an effi-5 ¦ cient system for the reaTing of the animals. 5 In the past, there have been numerous systems for rearing I crustaceans which systems either raise the animals in cages in their natural sea habitats or provide tanks for the rearing of ~ these animals such as that described in U. S. Patent 3,815,546 il issued ~o Emile A. P. Plante on June 11 9 1974. 10 ¦¦ As to the rearing of animals in their natural en~iron-li ment, it will be appreciated that the majority of the systems ¦¦ which utilize cages utilize them in a lobster pound which free7es over in the winter. Thus, there is little OT no access-ibility to the animals within the pound during a large portion 15of the year. Typically, the success of such an operation also depends on the absence of disease, it being understood that once a diseased animal is present, he may infect the rest of the l animals within the pound, and thus all or many of the animals ¦l in the pound may be lost, especially in winter when they are j20 inaccessible because of ice and can't be serviced.
Il With respect to the Plante type habitat, it will be appre-¦l ciated that the habitat compartments are formed by the coopera-¦~ tion of shelves OT discs with the inner wall of the tank.
¦I While this is satisfactory in some aspects, it will be apprecia- l25 ',1 ted that if the disc assembly is withdrawn to remove an animal, ~`
,1 all the animals fall off the discs, and thus must all be indi-vidually handled to access only one animal. ~oreover, there may be contamination of these nabitats by virtue of bacteria D~ O, RKT:sh 3 ~
in the air which settles on the surface of the water at the top of each tank. This generally causes an annular ring of algal growth within the tank which attracts bacteria and presents a " severe health problem.
1 It will be appreciated, from the Piante patent, that the Is base is either welded or adhesively attached to the cylindrical tank which results in stress corrosion of the super adjacent I surfaces, and early material failure resulting in leakage and ,, other maintenance problems. MoreoveT, because of the flat 1, 'I bottom, cleaning of the tank is impossible without removing the 1Q
il animals. Additionally, the tank walls must be made exceedingly thick in order to be able to accommodate the welding and bond-ing operations.
jl In general, tank type aquaculture systems require manual ! handling of animals during cleaning operations, animal, trans- ~5 fer, or animal removal. Moreover, animal health is ascertained by inspection of each animal after it has been removed from its ¦I habitat. .~dditionally, the animals, when transferred are, in Il general, kept in a water bath to keep them alive. This requires I
i a tremendous amount of space and handling which, in general, 1 ¦ is awkward, costly and detrimental to the animals' health.
In the subject system, a novel type of habitat is utili2ed in which nested baskets take the place of the animal rearing chambers of the Plante patent. Moreover, they are removably 25 ii attached to a strongback fixture which maintains the baskets 2i in their stacked arrangement either within the tank or during ¦ overhead transit. The removal of the animals is thus quickly and efficiently done without damage to, or handling of animals not involved in the transfer. I
,.` l '.
,1 -'1--;6~0 ;T:sh ` ~ 3~9 ,1 i The basket structure is such that for large animals, the Il b~sket is undivided, with one basket on the top of another I basket forming a tOp to ~eep the animal in the next immediate l lower basket in place. Food is delivered through the strong- ' 5 1 back member by apertures therethrough which expose a feed rod 5 which has compartments containing food. When the feed rod is in place, the apertures in the feed rod are in alignment with the apertures in the strongback member and also an aperture i¦ in the wall of the basket such that the animal may have access 10 ¦I to the food in the feed rod. There is sufficient "draft" to ~10 the basket to allow easy attachment or removal from the strong-back. For smaller animals, so-called "half baskets" are pro-ided which are nestable and are provided with a shelf-like structure which permit twice as many animals access to a single feed rod thereby minimi~ing the space of rearing of animals ,15 of a predetermined size. For even smaller animals, this shelf containing ~alf basket is further subdivided by a simple di-¦ vider so that two animals can be raised in each half basket.
l The tanks in general are modular in nature and have a 20 1 tripod-type foot which permits a staggered arrangement of the '0 l tanks for easy visibility and animal surveillance. Each tank !¦ is made of a thin-walled cylinder with top and bottom circum-ferential restraint. The wall thickness is thus only that 1l which is necessaTy to restrain the water column in hoop stress.
25 ~ The bottDm of the tank is press fit into a frusto conical _~
type tapered base member which contains a flushing valve for i the removal of detritis and cleaning of the tank. This flush-j ing svstem is designed to remove heavv sedimentary was;e mat-1l erial. For ligh.er pa-ticulate matter, this matter is carried ;0 upwardly bv the upward action or air lift circulation due tO ~0 j6~
~:sh 3~
Il ;
jl aerator bubbles which move upwardly and e~pand in their travel I towards the top of the tank where they are carried away by the i skimmer. Water flow is also in an upward direction. A skimmer Il which completely suTrounds the top of the tank is employed so '¦ as to remove the light particulate matter. The skimmer, by Il virtue of its surrounding the entire top of the tank, prevents i airborne bacteria and other contaminants from entering the tank I which is a major factor in the prevention of disease.
l An overhead conveyor type transfer system is utilized when eithe~ the feed rods are removed foT replenishment o~ animals are loaded OT haT~ested. When the animals are removed from the tanX by virtue of the raising of the strongbac'~ member, a fog chambeT is provided to maintain moist gill surfaces so that the l animàls do not suffocate during their travel from one position to another in this production system. It is a finding of this invention that moist air or fog is sufficient ~o Xeep the ani-mals ali~e for long peTiods of time and thus, the animals need ¦ not be immersed in water du~ing tTansfer.
¦ Additionally, animal health and growth is monitored by 20 1l ascertaining the amount of food eaten by each lobster each day.
The amount of uneaten food remaining in the feed rod is measured and indicates the relati~e health and/or grow~h of the animal. In one embodiment, a fixed scanner is utilized to scan ¦l the feed rods as they pass the scanning head prioT to their 25 ¦I being replenished. The amount of food left is correlated with ! the particular feed rot,tank,and compartment, and theTefoTe, a partic~lar animal. In this manner, the si~e, weight and '¦ physical condition of the animals may be monitored without ~I physically remoYing them from the habitat or wi~hout attempt-~¦ ing to measure them by visual inspection through the tTans-ll Il -6-i6~0 ~T:sh 3 ~ 9 ;l .
Il I
!¦ parent tank walls. Thus, a constant watch can be ~ept on all ¦I of the animals to prevent disease, and in general, to monitor , growth of the animals.
!! What has been solved by the utilization of this improved S l¦ animal rearing system is the provision of a material handling l5 Il system which is efficient and which does not subject the ani-¦I mals to undue stress. Moreover, water quality is easily main-¦ tained and animal separation is insured by use of the basket-, like structure. Modularity of the tanks and their mounting 1 system provides an unusually dense but flexible configuration lo foT the reasing of the animals as well as visibility of all of the animals within the habitats. The above system increases serviceability and efficiently provides foT any mix of animals ~ of different sizes. This enables operation at lO0~ capacity 15 I at all times. ~5 ¦¦ It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an i improved aquacul~ure rearing system;
It is another ob}ect of this invention to provide an im-~1 I proved habitat design and materials handling system for the efficient raising of aquatic animals; 2~0 It is yet another object of this in~ention to provide an improved animal monitoring system in which the health and size ¦ of the animals are monitored indirectly by monitoring the amount Il of food consumed in a given time period;
~¦ It is a still further object of this invention to provide 2'5 for the safe tTansit of animals by the utili~ation of a fogging system in which the fog sussounds the animals during transit ¦ and promotes respiration.
1.! ,, ,, I
l -7- , 3.~3 In one aspect of the invention, there is provided:
Apparatus for the rearing of aquatic animals comprising:
a tank including a vertically oriented vessel; and a single vertically stacked arrangement of animal rearing compartments per vessel, each compartment being in the form of a basket of a diameter less than the inside diameter of said vessel, said stacked arrangement including a strong-back member and m~ans for individually and randomly removably mounting said baskets to said strong-back member lQ such that any of said animal rearing compartments may be removed from said strongback member without removing any o~hers of said animal rearing compartments, said baskets being removably mounted at one position at the edge thereof.
-~6l0 ~T:sh ~ 3~
;l i ,1 l These and other objects will be better understood in light l of the following specification taken in conjunction with the I dependent drawings wherein:
l Brief Description of the Drawings S l Figure l~is a diagrammatic, sectional, and exploded dia- 5 gram illustrating one of the aquacul~ure rearing tanks.
¦ Figure lB illustrates in section the joining of the tank j to the base.
Figure lC is a sectional diagram illustrating the particu-lar type of gasket utilized in the structure of Figure lB. 10 Figure 1~ is a sectional diagram illustrating in cross-section the skimmer of Figure 14.
Figure 2 illustrates a modular tripod mounting system for aquaculture tanks.
lS Figure 3A illustrates the strong back and feed rod struc- lS
ture indicating the detents for holding of the individual bas-~ ¦ kets on the strongback member.
1- 1 Figure 3B illustrates the insertion of a basket into posi-tion on the strongback member.
"~ 20 Figure 3C is a cross-sectional diagram of the strongback 20 member of Figure 3A.
Figure 3D illustrates a lobster in its basket feeding from the feed rod through apertures in the basket and strongback member.
25 1l Figure 4 is an illustration of one type basket utili~able ?;
I¦ in the subject invention.
,¦ Figures SA, SB and 6 illustrate a half basket configura-1l tion showing a sheIf and a nested arrangement in which apertures ~6l0 T:sh a3 ~9 ,1 in the baskets and the stIongbacX member e~pose corresponding 1~ compartments in the feed rod,with the nesting of the habitats ¦ providing covers for the habitats immediately below;
¦ Figure 7A illustrates one half basket structure which is 1, 5 .~ further subdivided by divider to accommodate smaller animals; 15 , Figure 7B illustTates the opposing half basket also pro-vided with a divider;
Figure 8A illustrates an overhead conveyor type transport ~l of the stacked habitats illustrating the use of foggers and a lO !! shroud to promote animal respiration during transfer; ~0 Figure 8B illustrates diagrammatically a fogger and an . animal within a baske~; and ! Figure 9 illustrates diagrammatically a scanning beam analyzer for monitoring the food consumed so as to monitor 15 !¦ animal health and size. ~5 ,, 11 . I
¦¦ Detailed Description ~: I In order to obtain the aforemen~ioned high yield reaIing r . 1 system, it is important to have a highly efficient, dense, easily cleanable and easily serviceable habitat in which to I grow the animals. The habitat must not only permit high densi- 20 ty, but also should be made of inexpensive materials so that the cost of rearing is minimized. Additionally, as mentioned here-l inbefore, the habitats should be configured so as to maximi e ; , disease prevention and enable quarantine when required;
2~ ,I Such a modular habitat is illustrated in Figure l~. In ~5 j¦ this figure, one of the modular units 10 is illustrated as including a vertically oriented vessel in ~he form of a trans-parent cylindrical portion 1~ which is press fit into a tapered i !
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base 1~, which in a preferred embodiment includes a frusto ! conical structure 16 and a dump conduit 18 which is sealed, in one embodiment, by a poppet valve illustrated in dotted fashion !~ at 20. The base is configured so as to have a pedestal or S ¦ foot 22 with leg portions 24 and 26 joined by a rib 28. This 1 5 i pedestal is positioned on a slotted base member 30 which carries a U-shaped channel member 32 on a base plate 34.
Water is introduced to base 14 via hose 36 and hose attaching fixture 38 which is mounted through oriice 40 in 10 ¦ the base. , 0 , Air is introduced via hose 42 and fixture 44 which is ¦ connected to an aerator rod 46. In a preferred embodiment, aerator rod 46 is made from porous material with a central bore ~not shown).
lS A skimmer 50 is press fi~ over the top of cylinder 12. 5 ` The skimmer has an annular lip 52 and a sloped trough 54 as ; illustrated, with the outlet of the skimmer being illustrated I at 56. In the embodiment of Figure lA the skimmer has a gen-- ¦ erally polyhedral outer configuration to permit an interlock-20 I ing modular cluster arrangement with the tanks staggered as 0 ¦ described in connection with Figure 2.
Cylinder 12 may be exceedingly thin and designed to the hoop-stress limit since its circular cross section is main-tained by virtue of an annular ring 60 which forms the top portion 25 1 of base 14 and by annular lip ;2 of skimmer S0. Note, thickness 25 is ~ot required to permit welding or machining.
I This completes the description of the tank portion of the i! habitat. Within each tank is located a single, vertically ~! stacked arrangement 70 of cages or animal rearing compartments ~0 l¦ per vessel, each of which may be in the form of a basket 7' ,~0 J
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., .
¦¦ in which a bottom portion 74 of one basket forms a closure for the basket immediately therebeneath. The basket is so con-I figured so as to mate with strongback member 76 on which the Il baskets are supported. The strongback member not only supports S 1I the baskets, but also carries a feed rod 78 having compartments 5 .Ij 80 in which food is carried, the size of these compartments ~j being determined by the average size of the animals being fed.
When the rod is inserted in the strongback and the baskets are 1' appropriately located, an aperture 82 in the basket is in align-¦¦ ment wi~h an aperture in the strongback member, through which y 0 ¦¦ food compartment 80 is exposed. Thus, animals within the various baskets may obtain food due to the alignment of the compartments of the feed rod with the apertures in both the ¦ strongback member and the baskets.
¦ As illustrated by reference character 86, the strongback 1 5 ¦ is provided with a lifting hook located over the center of gravity, which when raised in the direction of arrow 88, per-I ¦ mits the simultaneous removal of all of the baskets within the - 1l tank. The stacked basket structure is, in general, removed j whenl for instance, one of the animals dies; This can be ascer- 210 tained either by visual inspection through the tank wall or through the animals' health detecting system to be described I in connection with Figure 9. The baskets are also removed for harvesting and reloading the tanks.
25 ¦i Feed rod 78 is also removable by lifting it in the direc- 2!5 tion of arrow 90 which provides for a convenient method of i feeding the animals in the various compartments. It is manda-, tory in an intensive culture system where animals are neld i individually, in which the animals are in different stages of Il ~
D-~6~0 R~T:sh l i !j !
,~¦ of ecdysis (molting) and hence requiring individually differing ,j amounts of food from day to day, that a means be provided to ~¦ selectively remove uneaten food on a regular basis,to recycle Il food to the maximum possible extent for economic reasons and 1, to minimi~e decaying organic material in the water environment. 5 l~ This feed rod concept conveniently provides these requirements.
i It will be noted that each basket i5 provided with finger I holes 92 to permit removal of the basket as will be described I in connection with Figure 3B. I
¦ Referring to Figure lB, the base of cylinder 12, illustra- ~o i I ted at 94, is press fit into ring 60 of base 14 through the use I of a compressible annular gasket 96. It will be appreciated I that there are no weld connections, screw connections, or adhe-I ¦ sive connections which simplifies the tank apparatus, makes it lS ! less expensive, lengthens its useful life and promotes serYice- 15 abili~y. This type of apparatus is leak free due to the specialized gasket 96 illustrated in Figure lC.
This annular gasket includes an inwardly flanged rubber member with the inward flange being illustrated at 98. A num-20 ~ ber of inwardly projecting annular ribs 100 are provided along 1 I the vertical rising portion of the annular seal which are com-I pressed when the cylindrical tank is filled with water which ~¦ urges the walls in an outward direction. This provides an !I unusually good s~al and is all that is necessary in providing 25 'I for a secure tank structure. 25 '¦ Referring to Figure lD, in general, skimmer 50 has a ~I sloped annular trough as illustrated by dotted line 102, and is sloped in the direction of the outlet 56. It will be apprecia-li ted that annular lip 52 completely surrounds the top portion or ;C , cylinder 12 such that a film of overflow ~ater always e~ists ~0 i 6 1 0 I:sh ~ 3 ~ 9 ,~ at the top of the tank. This prevents bacteria and other air-borne contaminants which would normally be present in the air l~ from entering the water column and contaminating the habitats ij since it is immediately skimmed off from the top of the tank S !¦ before it has a chance to penetrate into the tank. In addition, 5 light particulate matter is raised to the top of the tank by air lift flotation and circulation so that this light particu-late matter does not remain in the tank long enough to decay.
I Heavy particulate matter and sludge drops to the bottom 11 of the tank where, due to the tapered configuration of the base : .0 ¦¦ member! it is easily removed by the actuation of the poppet valve.l It has been found that only a small amount of water need be withdrawn from the tank during a dump operation to remove all the soiid waste at the bottom of the tank. Thus, it will be seen that the animals need not be removed from the tank in order : 5 to clean the tank. This in and of itself reduces the amount of trauma and stress to which the animals are subjected and there-fore increases the yield.
It will also be appreciated that the upward flow of water and air provides the animals with fresh air and water on a ~ 'O
continuous basis and the resultant mixing action provides for exceptionally uniform and precisely controlled water quality management. The water flow rate, the aeration rate ard frequen-l cy of bottom dumping may be carefully controlled so as to pro- l 25 j¦ vide for maximum growth of the animals without disease while l;
~! at the same time minimizing pumping and makeup water heating Il energy.
i Referring to Flgure 2, the economics of the animal rearing system dictate that habitats 10 be as closely packed as possible ~ /3 ~
D-36~0 R~T:s~
33.~ ;
in a staggered arrangement. In this figure, the triangular ¦ base 14 is more clearly shown. The triangular configuration is useful since all of the habitats in double row 120 have I portions of the habitat visible for inspection from an aisle. I
5 ¦ In its most dense configuration two double rows of habitats ¦5 are formed back to back as illustrated by arrow 122 with ¦
! selected habitats having a pentagonal configuration as illus-t~ated by reference character 124 and with the other habitats having a modified hexagonal configuration as illustrated at I 126. In this figure a runoff conduit 128 is shown to which 10 are attached skimmer outlets 130 from the hexagonal skimmers ~ I and outlets 132 from the pentagonal skimmers. These nested iI I skimmers are clipped together at their mating surfaces to ¦ stabilize and lock together the tops of all tanks.
15 ¦ Referring to Figure ;A, an exploded diagram of the feed 15 I rod and strongback structure is shown in which feed rod 78 is iI to be inserted into a channel 134 provided in stTongback 86.
As illustrated, the strongback has orifices 136 which are in ! alignment wi~h feed rod compartments 80 when the feed rod is 20 1 fully inserted. The strongback with an orifice is illustrated 7o ¦ in cross section in Figure 3C. As illustrated in Figure 3C, ¦I strongback 86 also includes a locator groove 1~8 to insure !I proper feed rod orientation in each tank to permit mechanized !l insertion and remo~al of the feed rod.
25 i!~ As illustTated in Figure ;D, an animal 140 located in '5 the basket 72 has access to food in the compartment of the feed ! rod through aperture 1~6 in the strongback and aperture 82 in the basket.
,i i6~0 T:sh t~ 3~ 1 ! Referring now to the mounting of the basket on the feed l', rod, as illustrated in Figure 3A, basket 72 is inserted between ¦ two snap-on detents 140 which are located by the grooves 142 i, in strongback 86. With these detents in place, movement as 5 ¦1l illustrated by arrow 144 in Figure 3A and arrows 146 and 148 5 in Figure iB results in basket 72 hooking under the topmost detent 11~. This is accomplished by the top lip 152 of the innerface of the basket's mating recess which permits the I r insertion of the basket around the strongback. When the basket :~ 10 is in place in the upper detent, it is lowered by pivoting 1 on the upper detent until dimple 156 is located in groove 158 of the bottom detent when the basket is fully in place. Re-moval of the basket merely reverses the above procedure.
Referring to Figure 4, a basket foT rather large animals is illustrated and has the same configuration as basket 72 of 1 5 Figures lA and 3A and 3B.
Referring to Figures SA and 5B, for smaller animals, a so-called ~Thalf basket" structure is utilized which includes a right hand basket 160 superimposed or nested over a left hand basket 162. Each of these baskets has a shelf portlon 164 and 2p 166 respectively. It has been found that these baskets are optimumly designed to accommodate growth, since the animal has ¦ ample room for movement, molting and feeding. Both the right ¦ hand "half basket" and the left hand "half basket" have inwardly 25 ¦ projecting recesses 168 and 170 respectively which mate with 2 I the strongback member and have apertures 172 and 174 respective-ly which communicate wi~h apertures in the strongback member ¦¦ so as to permit the delivery of food to each half basket struc-I
~o~ l T:sh 3~
~ll ture. Each "half basket" has its own locking detent which il engages the anterior groove in the strongback (161 Figure 3C) and thereby permits individual insertion or removal.
l As illustrated in Figure 5A, the half baskets are shown 1 in exploded form and in Figure SB, they are shown in a stacked 5 arrangement.
In order to more fully understand the stacking arrange-ment, referring now to Figure 6, it will be appreciated that ¦ a left hand basket 162 is partially covered by a superimposed ¦I right hand basket 160 at least to the extent of shelf portion lG
¦¦ 164. A bottom portion 176 of a still further superimposed left hand half basket 178 folms an additional cover for basket 162. Alternatively, a separate cover 180 may be provided for either the right hand or left hand half biasket, and is highly desirable when working with smaller animals. 15 As can be seen, the compartments of feed rod 78 are exposed through to the interior of each half basket.
Referring to Figures 7A and 7B, the half baskets may be further subdivided for the rearing of even smaller animals by 20 ~ snapped in ~nserts 182 and 184 respectively. This completes 20 the description of the modular habitat structure which has pro-~ided extremely efficient and high density rearing of aquatic animals which must be kept separated duTing the rearing process.
l W~at is now desc~ibed is a method of tsansfer of the baskets 2; ~ while maintaining the animals alive and a method of asce~tain- 25 ing the health, si~e, and therefore growth of the animals by ascertaining the history of food consumed by each individual animal during a given time period.
,j -16-o ~;T : s h 3 ~g I! Life ~laintaining Transport Svstem ¦¦ As mentioned hereinbefore, it is sometimes necessary to !I transfer the animals to or from the aquaculture tank and another location. It is also desirable that the animals not only be S kept alive~, but also be subjected to as little stress and 5 trauma as possible. In order to accomplish this, and referring ~,' to Figure 8A, stacks of baskets 200 may be suspended from the lifting hooks on the strongback members via lifting rods 202 i which are affixed to a frame generally indicated by 204. Frame 204 is suspended by a hoist 206 on an overhead traveler 208. 10 A shroud 210, shown partly cutaway, depends downwardly from frame 204 and surrounds the stacks of baskets 200, so as to confine the high humidity. In one embodiment, frame 204 may extend to the floor and include a wheeled base member 212 as shown. .~5 In one embodiment, frame 204 is provided with a plurality of conventional fog nozzles 214 which produce a fog generally indicated at 216. This fog is suspended by convection within the shroud and surrounds the animals carried in the baskets. I
This is illustrated in Figure 8B. ~0 It is a finding of this invention that animals can, in fact, be transferred in a fog rather than in a liquid medium and maintain their health over significant periods of time. In l essence, the fog moistens the animal's gill surfaces promoting ~ oxygen transfer to the bloodstream. This is an unexpected finding and serves as a basis for one of the subject inventions.
The fog is generated, as mentioned before, by conventional fog nozzles which, in one embodiment, are fed from a water l supply 220 which supplies ~ater through a hose 222, and through ;0 ! .rame 204 which may include hollow conduits 224 to which fog ~0 i ,_, 36~0 T:sh 3 ~
., .
,1 ,,.
l, nozzles 214 are coupled. In the illustrated embodiment, the jj water supply is under pressure and is attached to frame 204.
¦, Alternatively, flexible lines may connect the conduits of frame 204 to a suitable water supply.
¦ It will therefore be appreciated that what has been pro- 1 5 ided is a method of transporting aquatic animals in which ¦ the animals may be kept alive by moist air as opposed to immers- ;
ing them in an aequous medium. Thus, what is provided is both a method and apparatus for the maintaining of aquatic animals 10 1 alive by the use of a fog and a fog generating apparatusO lo A~imal Health and Growth Indicator As mentioned hereinbefore and referring to Figure 9, ani-¦ mal health and growth may be determined by monitoring the amountof food consumed in a given time period. As illustrated in Figure 9, feed ~od 78 has a number of compartments 80, one of 1 which is illustrated as ha~ing an amount of uneaten food remain-ing,here illustrated at 2;0. It will be appreciated that over ¦ a given time period, the animal health and animal growth may be ¦ monitored by the amount of food that is eaten by the animal 20 ¦ and conrersely, by scanning the amount of food that remains Z
in the feed rod each day. It is the purpose of this portion of ~he inYention to ascertain the amount of food not eaten, to correlate it with the animal and to display a record of the animal's health so that animals ~-hich are, in general, not ~S ¦ growing as expected can be either treated or remored from their habitat.
In order to ascertain the amount of food not eaten, a con-rentional electro-optic scanning beam available from any of a I number of suppliers may be employed. The purpose of the scan-aO ¦¦ ning beam is to provide a return indication 2;4 whose amplitudeis !I proportional to the amo~nt of food remaining in a given compart-!!
i6~0 `:sh ~ 3 ~
ment. Since the scanner works on the reflectance principle, the feed rod material is chosen to be con~rasting to that of j the food. Depending on the relative reflectance, the amount of food remaining in the compartment can be ascertained by S ll the amplitude o the returned signal. In one embodiment, rod S
~ 78 is mored upwardly as indicated by arrow 236 past beam 233 `~ from source 235. Initially, a tank identification indicating Il ! region 238 is scanned by unit 239 to identify which tank (e.g. which rod) is being read. Region 238 may utilize a con- , Yentional bar code which is optically scannable. The identity 10 of the compartment is determined by a conventional ring counter 240, the output of which is combined with food consumption data in computer memory 242.
I As rod 78 moves upwardly, the compartment is counted and lS the time aYeraged amplitude of the signal from scanning beam 15 analy2er 232 is converted into a number reflecting the food not eaten by a conventional device 244 which may include a conven-tional loo~up table type arrangement. The output of device 244 is stored in memory 242 simultaneously with the compartment number,tank number and output of a system monitor 2~3 so as to 20 provide historical data accessible at any time on the health of the animals in any basket tank or system. Note, system monitor 243 may monitor pH, dO, NH3, temperature and recirculation. If l there is a significant indication sf a problem, an output display 246 may be actuated so that the animal or g~oup of 25 animals affected may either be appropriately ~reated, or har~ested before predicted death.
i~
ih 3~
I By keeping a history of the food consumed, it is possible il to correlate the results with the size of the animal and its ` !¦ predicted growth pattern. Thus, the growth and health of ¦l animals may be ascertained without vlsual inspection which, S ll it will be appreciated, is e~tremely time consuming even with- , 5 'i out removing the animals from the aqueous medium. Visual ii inspection is also confounded because the aqueous medium dis-; !I torts the size of the animal depending on where the animal is within the water-filled transparent tank.
10 1I This then provides an improved method of ascertaining ;0 I~ animal health and animal growth without the necessity of re-moving the animal from the aquacultuTe tank and, in general, is preferable *o visual inspections taken through the tank walls themselves.
~1 Although preferred embodiments of the invention haYe been 15 , described in considerable detail for illustrative purposes, j~ many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. It I is therefore desired that the protection afforded by Letters i Patent be limited only by the true scope of the appended Z0 claims Z0 ;~ ' 11 . ' Il .
'I -20-', .
ll .
base 1~, which in a preferred embodiment includes a frusto ! conical structure 16 and a dump conduit 18 which is sealed, in one embodiment, by a poppet valve illustrated in dotted fashion !~ at 20. The base is configured so as to have a pedestal or S ¦ foot 22 with leg portions 24 and 26 joined by a rib 28. This 1 5 i pedestal is positioned on a slotted base member 30 which carries a U-shaped channel member 32 on a base plate 34.
Water is introduced to base 14 via hose 36 and hose attaching fixture 38 which is mounted through oriice 40 in 10 ¦ the base. , 0 , Air is introduced via hose 42 and fixture 44 which is ¦ connected to an aerator rod 46. In a preferred embodiment, aerator rod 46 is made from porous material with a central bore ~not shown).
lS A skimmer 50 is press fi~ over the top of cylinder 12. 5 ` The skimmer has an annular lip 52 and a sloped trough 54 as ; illustrated, with the outlet of the skimmer being illustrated I at 56. In the embodiment of Figure lA the skimmer has a gen-- ¦ erally polyhedral outer configuration to permit an interlock-20 I ing modular cluster arrangement with the tanks staggered as 0 ¦ described in connection with Figure 2.
Cylinder 12 may be exceedingly thin and designed to the hoop-stress limit since its circular cross section is main-tained by virtue of an annular ring 60 which forms the top portion 25 1 of base 14 and by annular lip ;2 of skimmer S0. Note, thickness 25 is ~ot required to permit welding or machining.
I This completes the description of the tank portion of the i! habitat. Within each tank is located a single, vertically ~! stacked arrangement 70 of cages or animal rearing compartments ~0 l¦ per vessel, each of which may be in the form of a basket 7' ,~0 J
....
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., .
¦¦ in which a bottom portion 74 of one basket forms a closure for the basket immediately therebeneath. The basket is so con-I figured so as to mate with strongback member 76 on which the Il baskets are supported. The strongback member not only supports S 1I the baskets, but also carries a feed rod 78 having compartments 5 .Ij 80 in which food is carried, the size of these compartments ~j being determined by the average size of the animals being fed.
When the rod is inserted in the strongback and the baskets are 1' appropriately located, an aperture 82 in the basket is in align-¦¦ ment wi~h an aperture in the strongback member, through which y 0 ¦¦ food compartment 80 is exposed. Thus, animals within the various baskets may obtain food due to the alignment of the compartments of the feed rod with the apertures in both the ¦ strongback member and the baskets.
¦ As illustrated by reference character 86, the strongback 1 5 ¦ is provided with a lifting hook located over the center of gravity, which when raised in the direction of arrow 88, per-I ¦ mits the simultaneous removal of all of the baskets within the - 1l tank. The stacked basket structure is, in general, removed j whenl for instance, one of the animals dies; This can be ascer- 210 tained either by visual inspection through the tank wall or through the animals' health detecting system to be described I in connection with Figure 9. The baskets are also removed for harvesting and reloading the tanks.
25 ¦i Feed rod 78 is also removable by lifting it in the direc- 2!5 tion of arrow 90 which provides for a convenient method of i feeding the animals in the various compartments. It is manda-, tory in an intensive culture system where animals are neld i individually, in which the animals are in different stages of Il ~
D-~6~0 R~T:sh l i !j !
,~¦ of ecdysis (molting) and hence requiring individually differing ,j amounts of food from day to day, that a means be provided to ~¦ selectively remove uneaten food on a regular basis,to recycle Il food to the maximum possible extent for economic reasons and 1, to minimi~e decaying organic material in the water environment. 5 l~ This feed rod concept conveniently provides these requirements.
i It will be noted that each basket i5 provided with finger I holes 92 to permit removal of the basket as will be described I in connection with Figure 3B. I
¦ Referring to Figure lB, the base of cylinder 12, illustra- ~o i I ted at 94, is press fit into ring 60 of base 14 through the use I of a compressible annular gasket 96. It will be appreciated I that there are no weld connections, screw connections, or adhe-I ¦ sive connections which simplifies the tank apparatus, makes it lS ! less expensive, lengthens its useful life and promotes serYice- 15 abili~y. This type of apparatus is leak free due to the specialized gasket 96 illustrated in Figure lC.
This annular gasket includes an inwardly flanged rubber member with the inward flange being illustrated at 98. A num-20 ~ ber of inwardly projecting annular ribs 100 are provided along 1 I the vertical rising portion of the annular seal which are com-I pressed when the cylindrical tank is filled with water which ~¦ urges the walls in an outward direction. This provides an !I unusually good s~al and is all that is necessary in providing 25 'I for a secure tank structure. 25 '¦ Referring to Figure lD, in general, skimmer 50 has a ~I sloped annular trough as illustrated by dotted line 102, and is sloped in the direction of the outlet 56. It will be apprecia-li ted that annular lip 52 completely surrounds the top portion or ;C , cylinder 12 such that a film of overflow ~ater always e~ists ~0 i 6 1 0 I:sh ~ 3 ~ 9 ,~ at the top of the tank. This prevents bacteria and other air-borne contaminants which would normally be present in the air l~ from entering the water column and contaminating the habitats ij since it is immediately skimmed off from the top of the tank S !¦ before it has a chance to penetrate into the tank. In addition, 5 light particulate matter is raised to the top of the tank by air lift flotation and circulation so that this light particu-late matter does not remain in the tank long enough to decay.
I Heavy particulate matter and sludge drops to the bottom 11 of the tank where, due to the tapered configuration of the base : .0 ¦¦ member! it is easily removed by the actuation of the poppet valve.l It has been found that only a small amount of water need be withdrawn from the tank during a dump operation to remove all the soiid waste at the bottom of the tank. Thus, it will be seen that the animals need not be removed from the tank in order : 5 to clean the tank. This in and of itself reduces the amount of trauma and stress to which the animals are subjected and there-fore increases the yield.
It will also be appreciated that the upward flow of water and air provides the animals with fresh air and water on a ~ 'O
continuous basis and the resultant mixing action provides for exceptionally uniform and precisely controlled water quality management. The water flow rate, the aeration rate ard frequen-l cy of bottom dumping may be carefully controlled so as to pro- l 25 j¦ vide for maximum growth of the animals without disease while l;
~! at the same time minimizing pumping and makeup water heating Il energy.
i Referring to Flgure 2, the economics of the animal rearing system dictate that habitats 10 be as closely packed as possible ~ /3 ~
D-36~0 R~T:s~
33.~ ;
in a staggered arrangement. In this figure, the triangular ¦ base 14 is more clearly shown. The triangular configuration is useful since all of the habitats in double row 120 have I portions of the habitat visible for inspection from an aisle. I
5 ¦ In its most dense configuration two double rows of habitats ¦5 are formed back to back as illustrated by arrow 122 with ¦
! selected habitats having a pentagonal configuration as illus-t~ated by reference character 124 and with the other habitats having a modified hexagonal configuration as illustrated at I 126. In this figure a runoff conduit 128 is shown to which 10 are attached skimmer outlets 130 from the hexagonal skimmers ~ I and outlets 132 from the pentagonal skimmers. These nested iI I skimmers are clipped together at their mating surfaces to ¦ stabilize and lock together the tops of all tanks.
15 ¦ Referring to Figure ;A, an exploded diagram of the feed 15 I rod and strongback structure is shown in which feed rod 78 is iI to be inserted into a channel 134 provided in stTongback 86.
As illustrated, the strongback has orifices 136 which are in ! alignment wi~h feed rod compartments 80 when the feed rod is 20 1 fully inserted. The strongback with an orifice is illustrated 7o ¦ in cross section in Figure 3C. As illustrated in Figure 3C, ¦I strongback 86 also includes a locator groove 1~8 to insure !I proper feed rod orientation in each tank to permit mechanized !l insertion and remo~al of the feed rod.
25 i!~ As illustTated in Figure ;D, an animal 140 located in '5 the basket 72 has access to food in the compartment of the feed ! rod through aperture 1~6 in the strongback and aperture 82 in the basket.
,i i6~0 T:sh t~ 3~ 1 ! Referring now to the mounting of the basket on the feed l', rod, as illustrated in Figure 3A, basket 72 is inserted between ¦ two snap-on detents 140 which are located by the grooves 142 i, in strongback 86. With these detents in place, movement as 5 ¦1l illustrated by arrow 144 in Figure 3A and arrows 146 and 148 5 in Figure iB results in basket 72 hooking under the topmost detent 11~. This is accomplished by the top lip 152 of the innerface of the basket's mating recess which permits the I r insertion of the basket around the strongback. When the basket :~ 10 is in place in the upper detent, it is lowered by pivoting 1 on the upper detent until dimple 156 is located in groove 158 of the bottom detent when the basket is fully in place. Re-moval of the basket merely reverses the above procedure.
Referring to Figure 4, a basket foT rather large animals is illustrated and has the same configuration as basket 72 of 1 5 Figures lA and 3A and 3B.
Referring to Figures SA and 5B, for smaller animals, a so-called ~Thalf basket" structure is utilized which includes a right hand basket 160 superimposed or nested over a left hand basket 162. Each of these baskets has a shelf portlon 164 and 2p 166 respectively. It has been found that these baskets are optimumly designed to accommodate growth, since the animal has ¦ ample room for movement, molting and feeding. Both the right ¦ hand "half basket" and the left hand "half basket" have inwardly 25 ¦ projecting recesses 168 and 170 respectively which mate with 2 I the strongback member and have apertures 172 and 174 respective-ly which communicate wi~h apertures in the strongback member ¦¦ so as to permit the delivery of food to each half basket struc-I
~o~ l T:sh 3~
~ll ture. Each "half basket" has its own locking detent which il engages the anterior groove in the strongback (161 Figure 3C) and thereby permits individual insertion or removal.
l As illustrated in Figure 5A, the half baskets are shown 1 in exploded form and in Figure SB, they are shown in a stacked 5 arrangement.
In order to more fully understand the stacking arrange-ment, referring now to Figure 6, it will be appreciated that ¦ a left hand basket 162 is partially covered by a superimposed ¦I right hand basket 160 at least to the extent of shelf portion lG
¦¦ 164. A bottom portion 176 of a still further superimposed left hand half basket 178 folms an additional cover for basket 162. Alternatively, a separate cover 180 may be provided for either the right hand or left hand half biasket, and is highly desirable when working with smaller animals. 15 As can be seen, the compartments of feed rod 78 are exposed through to the interior of each half basket.
Referring to Figures 7A and 7B, the half baskets may be further subdivided for the rearing of even smaller animals by 20 ~ snapped in ~nserts 182 and 184 respectively. This completes 20 the description of the modular habitat structure which has pro-~ided extremely efficient and high density rearing of aquatic animals which must be kept separated duTing the rearing process.
l W~at is now desc~ibed is a method of tsansfer of the baskets 2; ~ while maintaining the animals alive and a method of asce~tain- 25 ing the health, si~e, and therefore growth of the animals by ascertaining the history of food consumed by each individual animal during a given time period.
,j -16-o ~;T : s h 3 ~g I! Life ~laintaining Transport Svstem ¦¦ As mentioned hereinbefore, it is sometimes necessary to !I transfer the animals to or from the aquaculture tank and another location. It is also desirable that the animals not only be S kept alive~, but also be subjected to as little stress and 5 trauma as possible. In order to accomplish this, and referring ~,' to Figure 8A, stacks of baskets 200 may be suspended from the lifting hooks on the strongback members via lifting rods 202 i which are affixed to a frame generally indicated by 204. Frame 204 is suspended by a hoist 206 on an overhead traveler 208. 10 A shroud 210, shown partly cutaway, depends downwardly from frame 204 and surrounds the stacks of baskets 200, so as to confine the high humidity. In one embodiment, frame 204 may extend to the floor and include a wheeled base member 212 as shown. .~5 In one embodiment, frame 204 is provided with a plurality of conventional fog nozzles 214 which produce a fog generally indicated at 216. This fog is suspended by convection within the shroud and surrounds the animals carried in the baskets. I
This is illustrated in Figure 8B. ~0 It is a finding of this invention that animals can, in fact, be transferred in a fog rather than in a liquid medium and maintain their health over significant periods of time. In l essence, the fog moistens the animal's gill surfaces promoting ~ oxygen transfer to the bloodstream. This is an unexpected finding and serves as a basis for one of the subject inventions.
The fog is generated, as mentioned before, by conventional fog nozzles which, in one embodiment, are fed from a water l supply 220 which supplies ~ater through a hose 222, and through ;0 ! .rame 204 which may include hollow conduits 224 to which fog ~0 i ,_, 36~0 T:sh 3 ~
., .
,1 ,,.
l, nozzles 214 are coupled. In the illustrated embodiment, the jj water supply is under pressure and is attached to frame 204.
¦, Alternatively, flexible lines may connect the conduits of frame 204 to a suitable water supply.
¦ It will therefore be appreciated that what has been pro- 1 5 ided is a method of transporting aquatic animals in which ¦ the animals may be kept alive by moist air as opposed to immers- ;
ing them in an aequous medium. Thus, what is provided is both a method and apparatus for the maintaining of aquatic animals 10 1 alive by the use of a fog and a fog generating apparatusO lo A~imal Health and Growth Indicator As mentioned hereinbefore and referring to Figure 9, ani-¦ mal health and growth may be determined by monitoring the amountof food consumed in a given time period. As illustrated in Figure 9, feed ~od 78 has a number of compartments 80, one of 1 which is illustrated as ha~ing an amount of uneaten food remain-ing,here illustrated at 2;0. It will be appreciated that over ¦ a given time period, the animal health and animal growth may be ¦ monitored by the amount of food that is eaten by the animal 20 ¦ and conrersely, by scanning the amount of food that remains Z
in the feed rod each day. It is the purpose of this portion of ~he inYention to ascertain the amount of food not eaten, to correlate it with the animal and to display a record of the animal's health so that animals ~-hich are, in general, not ~S ¦ growing as expected can be either treated or remored from their habitat.
In order to ascertain the amount of food not eaten, a con-rentional electro-optic scanning beam available from any of a I number of suppliers may be employed. The purpose of the scan-aO ¦¦ ning beam is to provide a return indication 2;4 whose amplitudeis !I proportional to the amo~nt of food remaining in a given compart-!!
i6~0 `:sh ~ 3 ~
ment. Since the scanner works on the reflectance principle, the feed rod material is chosen to be con~rasting to that of j the food. Depending on the relative reflectance, the amount of food remaining in the compartment can be ascertained by S ll the amplitude o the returned signal. In one embodiment, rod S
~ 78 is mored upwardly as indicated by arrow 236 past beam 233 `~ from source 235. Initially, a tank identification indicating Il ! region 238 is scanned by unit 239 to identify which tank (e.g. which rod) is being read. Region 238 may utilize a con- , Yentional bar code which is optically scannable. The identity 10 of the compartment is determined by a conventional ring counter 240, the output of which is combined with food consumption data in computer memory 242.
I As rod 78 moves upwardly, the compartment is counted and lS the time aYeraged amplitude of the signal from scanning beam 15 analy2er 232 is converted into a number reflecting the food not eaten by a conventional device 244 which may include a conven-tional loo~up table type arrangement. The output of device 244 is stored in memory 242 simultaneously with the compartment number,tank number and output of a system monitor 2~3 so as to 20 provide historical data accessible at any time on the health of the animals in any basket tank or system. Note, system monitor 243 may monitor pH, dO, NH3, temperature and recirculation. If l there is a significant indication sf a problem, an output display 246 may be actuated so that the animal or g~oup of 25 animals affected may either be appropriately ~reated, or har~ested before predicted death.
i~
ih 3~
I By keeping a history of the food consumed, it is possible il to correlate the results with the size of the animal and its ` !¦ predicted growth pattern. Thus, the growth and health of ¦l animals may be ascertained without vlsual inspection which, S ll it will be appreciated, is e~tremely time consuming even with- , 5 'i out removing the animals from the aqueous medium. Visual ii inspection is also confounded because the aqueous medium dis-; !I torts the size of the animal depending on where the animal is within the water-filled transparent tank.
10 1I This then provides an improved method of ascertaining ;0 I~ animal health and animal growth without the necessity of re-moving the animal from the aquacultuTe tank and, in general, is preferable *o visual inspections taken through the tank walls themselves.
~1 Although preferred embodiments of the invention haYe been 15 , described in considerable detail for illustrative purposes, j~ many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. It I is therefore desired that the protection afforded by Letters i Patent be limited only by the true scope of the appended Z0 claims Z0 ;~ ' 11 . ' Il .
'I -20-', .
Claims (13)
1. Apparatus for the rearing of aquatic animals comprising:
a tank including a vertically oriented vessel; and a single vertically stacked arrangement of animal rearing compartments per vessel, each compartment being in the form of a basket of a diameter less than the inside diameter of said vessel, said stacked arrangement including a strong-back member and means for individually and randomly removably mounting said baskets to said strong back member such that any of said animal rearing compartments may be removed from said strongback member without removing any others of said animal rearing compartments, said baskets being removably mounted at one position at the edge thereof.
a tank including a vertically oriented vessel; and a single vertically stacked arrangement of animal rearing compartments per vessel, each compartment being in the form of a basket of a diameter less than the inside diameter of said vessel, said stacked arrangement including a strong-back member and means for individually and randomly removably mounting said baskets to said strong back member such that any of said animal rearing compartments may be removed from said strongback member without removing any others of said animal rearing compartments, said baskets being removably mounted at one position at the edge thereof.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said baskets are recessed at said one position such that each basket in part surrounds said strongback member.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said strongback member has an internal channel adapted to receive a feed rod with a multiplicity of food compartments therein, said strongback member having a number of apertures corresponding in position to the compartments in said feed rod when said rod is in place, said recessed portion of a basket having an aperture which is in alignment with the corresponding aper-ture in said strongback member adjacent the mounting position of said basket.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said baskets are nested.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said baskets are half baskets and have shelves disposed therein.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 and further including dividers disposed in said half baskets so as to subdivide said half baskets such that the aperture therein is also subdivided.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tank includes a tapered base member at one end of said vessel, said base member having an outlet at the tapered end, and a skimmer surrounding the top of said vessel.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said vessel is press fit into said base member.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said base member further includes a first support member extending downwardly from the tapered end, and a second support member extending downwardly from the non-tapered upper end, both support members terminating in the same horizontal plane beneath said tapered end, said base member also including a rib between said first and second support members, and a mounting base including a flat plate and an upwardly extending U-shaped member, said U-shaped member having a configuration adapted to receive the bottom edge of said rib.
10. The apparatus of claim 7 and further including an annular gasket between said base member and said vessel said gasket having an inward flange at its base and having annular inwardly projecting ribs on the vertically rising portions of said gasket.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 and further including a skimmer surrounding the top of said vessel.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said skimmer has a polyhedral outer shape so as to permit modular cluster-ing of said tanks.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said skimmer includes an inner wall of a size adapted to be press fit around the top of said vessel, an outer wall having a poly-hedral shape, a sloped trough joining said two walls, and an outlet port at the lowest part of said sloped trough.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA354,216A CA1111319A (en) | 1978-06-26 | 1980-06-17 | Aquaculture rearing system |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US05/918,886 US4198924A (en) | 1978-06-26 | 1978-06-26 | Aquaculture rearing system |
| US918,886 | 1978-06-26 | ||
| CA318,638A CA1085242A (en) | 1978-06-26 | 1978-12-27 | Aquaculture rearing system |
| CA354,216A CA1111319A (en) | 1978-06-26 | 1980-06-17 | Aquaculture rearing system |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1111319A true CA1111319A (en) | 1981-10-27 |
Family
ID=27166026
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA354,216A Expired CA1111319A (en) | 1978-06-26 | 1980-06-17 | Aquaculture rearing system |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1111319A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN112021222A (en) * | 2020-08-25 | 2020-12-04 | 咸宁市裕丰生态农业有限公司 | Crayfish breeding density monitoring remote operation device |
-
1980
- 1980-06-17 CA CA354,216A patent/CA1111319A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN112021222A (en) * | 2020-08-25 | 2020-12-04 | 咸宁市裕丰生态农业有限公司 | Crayfish breeding density monitoring remote operation device |
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