Combining Aliivibrio fischeri and predictive models to study the mixture toxicity of Nitrite, Ammonia and Heavy Metals : Building a new toxicity sensor for Recirculating Aquaculture Systems

The use of Aliivibrio fischeri as a water quality sensor for monitoring aquaculture water is of great interest. Here, a Uniform Ray design was employed to study the mixture of five important toxicants present in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) water. The results were compared with the Concentration Addition and the Independent Action models. None of the models could accurately predict the behavior of the mixture, possibly due to synergism and antagonism interactions. The first was considered adequate to be used as a predictive model for a new water quality sensor for RAS. This demonstrate the need of non-additive water quality sensors.