Water quality of white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone) during cultureing priod in Hormozgan Province

Considering shrimp farming is as an improving aquaculture practice in southern and northern coastal parts of Iran, it faces some critical and challenging problems in terms of water quality that need to be monitored. The present study purposed to assess the water quality and total organic matter (TOM) in sediment of Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp farms during the culturing period from July 2014 in Teyab shrimp farms, Hormozgan, Iran. The results indicated that during the culturing period, mean values for temperature, salinity, pH and dissolved oxygen were not significantly different in 3 farms, whereas the levels for total organic matter showed the highest content onwards to the end of culturing period. The results showed positive correlation was found between pH and water temperature, pH and dissolve oxygen (DO), pH and ammonia. However a negative correlation was observed between TOM and pH, TOM and water temperature, TOM and ammonia. Dendrogram of temporal clustering results showed that the water quality was relatively consistent during early culturing period and then represent an unstable condition from the second month towards end of culturing period. However, water quality parameters should be monitored to serve as guide for managing a pond so that conditions that can adversely affect the growth of prawns can be avoided.