Use of natural bentonite clays in pond fish farming to create optimal concentrations of ammonium ions

¹ Kabardino-Balkarian State Agricultural University named after V. M. Kokov, Lenin Avenue, 1V, 360030 Nalchik, Russia
² Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov, Chernyshevskogo St., 173, 360004 Nalchik, Russia
³ Grodno State Agrarian University, Tereshkova St., 28, 230008 Grodno, Republic of Belarus

^* Corresponding author: timyrtlypov@mail.ru

Abstract

The composition and some sorption properties of bentonite clays, the efficiency of natural waters treatment in pond fish farming from excess ammonium ions using the natural bentonite clay from the Gerpegezhskoye deposit have been studied. The maximum sorption capacity of bentonite clay of this material has been determined. It is found out that when a smaller amount of the sample is added to each liter of the standard solution (0.1 and 0.01 g), higher values of the sorption capacity are identified. To achieve the optimal degree of cleaning of ponds from excess ammonium ions and expediency in terms of reducing the material and labor costs to a minimum, the optimal amount of bentonite was calculated, the use of which would be sufficient to maintain the ammonium ion concentration. The conditions were chosen so that to ensure a decrease in the ammonium nitrogen concentration from 2-3 maximum allowable concentration (MAC) (5-7.5 mg/l) to 0.2-0.8 mg/l. It is shown that the sorption capacity is realized more efficiently when the bentonite weigh decreases to 0.01 g/L, provided that the ammonium ion content in the aqueous medium exceeds the MAC by 2-3 times.