A new salmonid feed trial facility was installed for Petuna Aquaculture, located at their Cressy Hatchery in Tasmania, announced Fresh By Design.

This facility is a collaboration between Petuna Aquaculture, BioMar, and Skretting that will be used to trial salmonid diets using the same water, fish, and staff that Petuna uses in its commercial runs enabling real-world testing. “This represents an exciting opportunity for the billion-dollar Tasmanian aquaculture industry to have the further refinement of commercial diets tailored to local conditions and practices,” Fresh By Design said.

The facility includes the ability to run 18 x 1000L tanks on flow through. Each tank features an automatic Arvo-Tec feeder with individual dosing control via the Wolf Controller or PC. In addition, each tank has air diffusers for normal conditions with an emergency oxygen dosing system that will supply oxygen to each tank in the event of a low DO reading or power failure. The system is monitored and controlled via an OxyGuard International Pacific unit measuring parameters including dissolved oxygen, temperature, and sump water level.

Water exiting the facility is returned to Petuna’s larger recirculation system where the water is filtered and then reused. Water return is managed using an automated set and forget system that self-adjusts to changing water flow rates using a ifm Ultrasonic Level Sensor, GRUNDFOS Variable Frequency Drive, and Waterco Limited pump.

Fresh By Design installed and commissioned the system with assistance from Petuna’s staff and Technolab.