Abstract
This paper has compared microbiological load levels of Tubifex tubifex both collected from nature and kept under controlled conditions for 28 days. Six different experimental groups were investigated. These groups were (1) the group with sand on the tank floor and ultraviolet (UV) sterilized (Group 1 = KUVL), (2) the group with sand on the tank floor but not UV sterilized (Group 2 = KUVS), (3) the group with mud on the tank floor and UV sterilized (Group 3 = ÇUVL), (4) the group with mud on the tank floor but not UV sterilized (Group
4= ÇUVS), (5) the group with the empty tank floor and UV sterilized (Group 5 = ZUVL), (6) the group with the empty tank floor but not UV sterilized (Group 6 = ZUVS). Water-related parameters were kept constant in all groups. The experiments were carried out in triplicate and 100 grams of alive T. tubifex were stocked for each group. Microbiological samples were taken from T. tubifex, which were kept in the closed-circuit system for twenty-eight days, on a weekly basis periodically (0, 7, 14, 21, 28 days) and measurements were conducted.
The results revealed that the number of total aerobic bacteria (TAB) showed a time-dependent decrease in all groups. Moreover, it has been determined that the amount of microbiological bacterial load decreased continuously until the end of 28 days.