Automating Pond Production

By automating oxygen monitoring and control, fish farmers can improve yields and control costs. Continuous monitoring can improve feed conversion ratios, minimize fish stress, and reduce fish disease and mortality. Inland pond farmers who use In-Situ^® equipment have reduced energy costs and risks and have improved oxygen management and production.

Developed by a fish farmer, the wireless In-Situ Aquaculture System automatically tracks oxygen levels and reports pond status to farmers—anywhere, anytime. The system includes:

• Oxygen Monitoring Buoys with RDO^® PRO Probes for real-time management
• Aerator Controllers for optimal DO management
• Thermo Scientific^® Orion^® Star Meters with RDO Sensor for spot-checking DO, pH, conductivity, salinity, TDS, resistivity and temperature

Improving Farm Operations

"A pond monitoring system is only as good as the [DO] probe. Of all the monitoring systems we've tried, the weak point has been the DO probe. Fifty percent of the time that we were spending on maintenance was dedicated to maintaining and calibrating membrane-style DO sensors. All 110 ponds on our farm have buoys that use the RDO PRO Sensor. The RDO Sensors do not flood, do not need membranes and filling solution, and do not require frequent calibration."—Rick Fernandez, Assistant Farm Manager, Silver Streak Bass Company in Texas

“With galvanic sensors it was like throwing a dart at a spinning dart board in a dark closet. The galvanic sensors always drift out of calibration, and the calibration only lasts for about a week.”—Max Rapert, General Manager, Nature’s Catch in Mississippi. In June 2009, Mr. Rapert switched from galvanic sensors to RDO PRO Probes.