Evaluating the Impact of Diverse Types of Green Vegetables on Snakehead Fish (Channa striata) Nursery through an Eco-Friendly Aquaponic Approach

The increasing demand for snakehead fish Channa striata consumption and the efforts to sustain its production has driven the need to develop efficient and environmentally friendly aquaculture technologies. As an innovative farming technique, aquaponics achieves these goals by mitigating emissions, optimizing resource efficiency through water reuse, and fostering economic benefits through sustainable cultivation of fish and plants. This study assesses the impact of lettuce (A), pak choi (B), and mustard greens (C) on water quality, hemato-biochemical parameters, and production performance of snakehead fish cultured in aquaponic systems. The research findings conclude that using different plant species significantly impacted water quality, nitrogen-oxidizing bacteria abundance, hematobiochemical parameters, and production performance during the study. Treatment A resulted in the highest production performance of snakehead fish with a survival rate (SR), weight-specific growth rate (SGRW), length-specific growth rate (SGRL), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) measuring 90.33±2.08%, 3.37±0.22% day-1, 1.23±0.10% day-1, and 0.79±0.05, respectively. Treatment A also yielded lower stress levels and improved water quality. The better nitrogen retention (NR) and phosphorus retention (PR) by lettuce plants, reaching 87.08±0.56% and 11.75±0.19%, respectively, led to the highest plant productivity. The results indicate lettuce’s potential as a promising phytoremediation plant for future snakehead fish nursery cultivation.