Juvenile marron, Cherax tenuimanus were cultured in an intensive crayfish culture system for a period of six months to study the effects of sump tank size on crayfish growth, survival, and production. Water volume in the large sump system was 2750 L and in the small sump tank system was 500 L. Crayfish were held in individual compartments (surface area 320 cm2, depth 10 cm) and fed with commercial pellets (30% protein; 3-5% body weight per week). Specific growth rate (SGR) was 0.75%/day in the large sump system and 0.68%/day in the small sump system; survival was 83% in the large sump system and 71% in the small sump system; and biomass roduction (B) was 239 g/m2 in the large sump system and 158 g/m2 in the small sump system. These values were all higher (P < 0.05) in the large sump system. The results suggest that crayfish production could be improved by using large sump tanks in recirculating intensive crayfish culture systems.
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Jussila et al. (1996) studied this question.