Aim of study: To determine the effects of white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and tilapia nilotica (Oreochromis niloticus var. Spring) in monoculture and co-culture on water quality variables and production in earthen ponds during dry and rainy seasons.Area of study: A shrimp farm (total area 20 ha) at Chiripa, San Blas Nayarit, Northwest coast of Mexico (21° 37' 34.53 " N; 105° 18' 16.31" W).Material and methods: Two production cycles were performed in a completely randomized design consisting of two treatments and three replications each during rainy season (September-December) and dry season (February-May). Shrimp was the main crop and tilapia the secondary species.Main results: White shrimp (10 org/m2) can be co-cultured with Nile tilapia at a stocking high density (4 org/m2), leading to improved water quality and better utilization of nutrients in dry season than in rainy season. However, the shrimp’ highest weight was recorded in the tilapia-shrimp co-culture ponds during rainy season due to higher water temperature and better quality of live food. The mean individual weight, biomass and survival of the shrimp, in co-culture ponds were greater than those of the shrimp monoculture, in the two seasons studied.Research highlights: There was a trend towards greater concentration of nutrients in the water of the monoculture ponds and, lower dissolved oxygen and higher BOD5 in co-culture ponds in the dry season than in the rainy season.

The present study was carried out to determine the effect of tilapia Oreochromis niloticus on the physical and chemical sediment parameters on an earthen pond in monoculture (shrimp Penaeus vannamei) and co-culture (tilapia-shrimp) during the dry and wet seasons in a commercial farm during the period from mid-September to end-December 2017 and February to mid-May 2018. Chemical and physical analyses were realized on sediment samples from brackish water ponds representing shrimp farms in San Blas Nayarit, Mexico. Concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen, potassium, magnesium and calcium were higher in co-culture ponds, and there was a tendency to a higher concentration of phosphorus and sodium in the sediment of monoculture ponds. The texture of the ponds showed a tendency in the dry season to increase the percentage of clay in co-culture due to the effect of bioturbation caused by tilapia. There was no evidence of poor development of sediment quality in any treatment. It was found that tilapia was a factor that affected sediment quality, differences in growth between shrimp monoculture and tilapia-shrimp co-culture can be explained, at least in part, by differences in their sediment.

El policultivo de camarón-tilapia es una de las estrategias de mitigación para los impactos sanitarios y los efluentes en las granjas camaroneras. Su finalidad principal es incrementar la producción y controlar la calidad del agua de sus efluentes. En casos de éxito se controlaron algunas enfermedades y mejoró la calidad del suelo en estanques de tierra. En esta revisión, se analizan los beneficios que se obtienen en la calidad del agua, sedimento, medio ambiente, incremento del rendimiento y el mejoramiento de los parámetros zootécnicos de camarones co-cultivados con tilapia. Los policultivos de camarón-tilapia pueden contribuir con un efecto positivo sobre la calidad del agua y sedimentos de los estanques y efluentes de las granjas de cultivo, lo cual depende de las condiciones de densidad y ambiente donde se desarrollan. Sin embargo, se requiere adaptar y demostrar su funcionalidad y rentabilidad comercial a pequeña escala e industrialmente.