Effects of Probiotic Dosage on Water Quality, Total Count of Aeromonas spp. and Pseudomonas spp. in Eel Anguilla bicolor Cultivation

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of probiotic dosage on water quality, total number of Aeromonas spp. and Pseudomonas spp., in eel (Anguilla sp.) cultivation. Experiment was conducted by using fiber glass tanks (1x1 m(2)) with 800 L water volume. Eel fingerling with 50 g average body weight were stocked at a density of 20 eel/tank in triplicates. Observation was conducted on total number of bacteria and water quality. The results indicated that the total bacterial count increased gradually by the time of cultivation with highest density of 1.49x10(2) cfu/mL. Probiotics at a dose of 40 mL/tank weekly increased the total count of bacterial cells in water. Probiotic application was able to decrease the total number of both Aeromonas spp. from 1.95 x 10(5) to 5.44 x 10(4) cfu/mL, and Pseudomonas spp. from 3.57 x 10(4) to 8.1 x 10(3) cfu/mL. Water quality during this study was not significantly affected by the application of probiotic. This result suggested that the application of proper dose probiotics suppresses Aeromonas spp. and Pseudomonas spp. cells density in water, and might decrease the bacterial infections in eel culture.