BACTERIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF WATER SOURCE USED IN SOME FISH FARMS

  ABSTRACT

Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, usually for food, in tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular kind  of aquaculture, which involves the rearing you catfish and the  controlled cultivation and harvesting of aquatic animals. The water  source and quantity of water available are the most important factors to consider when choosing a site for an aquaculture facility. The aim of this study was to determine the bacteriological quality of source water used in fish farming from selected Local Government Areas in Benin, Edo State. Source water samples from fish pond water supply were obtained from selected farms  from three Local Government Areas (Oredo, Ikpoba Okha and Egor) in Benin City, Edo state. The water samples were transported to the laboratory. Standard procedures were adopted to determine the total heterotrophic and coliform counts of the fish pond source water samples. Bacterial isolates obtained were identified using standard identification procedures and were further subjected to standard antibiotic susceptibility tests Bacteriological analysis of samples showed the total heterotrophic count of the source water samples had the highest count in Oredo ( 2.04x10⁶ log₁₀ CFU/ml), lowest count in Egor (0 log₁₀cfu/ml) and a count of (2.01x10⁵ log₁₀cfuml) in Ikpoba-okha. Which is higher than the recommended permissible limit for heterotrophic bacterial count <10³ log₁₀ cfu/ml for drinking water by WHO. Oredo (2.04x10⁶ log₁₀cfu/ml) had the highest heterotrophic bacterial count while Egor had no growth 0logcfu/ml. The total coliform obtained from source water sampled showed a considerably high coliform count ranging from 0 log₁₀cfu/ml to maximum of  1.5x10⁵ log₁₀cfu/ml. Oredo had the highest coliform count (1.5x10⁵ log₁₀cfu/ml) while Egor had no growth (0 log₁₀cfu/ml).The coliform growth was higher than the permissible coliform limit <10² log₁₀cfu/ml  by WHO. The bacterial isolated include Vibrio sp., Shigella sp., Escherichia coli, Microccoccus sp Serratia sp., Alcaligenes faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella sp.

All tested bacterial isolates were resistant to carbenicillin, clindamycin, colistin and metronidazole but susceptible to ciprofloxacin. Therefore it is imperative that continuous monitoring and proper sanitary measures should be strictly observe around the vicinity of these fish pond water sources.