Fish is a major food source that is widely consumed by Indonesian people. Of course, there are many types of fish, including seawater fish and freshwater fish. Freshwater fish are usually widely cultivated by Indonesian people, especially in Malang area. One of the trading businesses that manages freshwater fish cultivation in Malang area is UD Nila Abadi.
UD Nila Abadi is a trading business group that focuses on the management and cultivation of tilapia fish seeds. One pond can contain 1000 to 1500 tilapia fish seeds. This business is managed by Mr. Faqih who is located in the Sumber Pasir area, Malang Regency. The seeds produced by tilapia will be sold to buyers when they measure 4-5cm.
However, this business experienced many losses in fish. The large number of dead fish means that many buyers’ orders are reduced because the fish die. After tracing the dead fish, it was indicated that it was fungus.
Judging from the condition of the pond, the presence of fungus on the fish is caused by the absence of oxygen in the pond, besides that the pond is also not exposed to direct sunlight. Not only that, the condition of the pond is also cloudy, making it possible for fish to develop fungus more quickly.
Apart from these problems, UD Nila Abadi also mentioned that the pool filtration system is still done manually so it requires more labor. This will take up a lot of time and of course energy.
Based on the background of the problems above, five students from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Brawijaya University created an Automatic Pond Treatment Machine Based on Filtration and Microbubble or MIFO to Increase the Yield of Tilapia Seed Cultivation.
MIFO is a series of tools used for automatic treatment of ponds starting from filtration, oxygen generators in ponds, IoT-based automatic feeding equipment equipped with applications and hydroponics which can filter dirt from the filtration barrel.
The five members who created this machine include Adindanovia Putri A.P (FTP) as team leader and the other four members, namely Najla Maritza (FTP), Karlina Wijayanti (FTP), Shauqi Abdai (FTP), and Achmad Irsyad (FPIK).
Under the guidance of Hendrix Yulis Setyawan, S.TP., M.Si., PhD, MIFO was designed to help reduce labor for partners and reduce indications of fungal infections in fish. So the death rate in fish will be reduced.
“This is because the automatic treatment machine is equipped with microbubbles to produce oxygen in the pond so that the fish can move freely without lacking oxygen. Then it is also equipped with an automatic feeding device that is connected to the application, making it easier for partners to regulate the amount of feed and meal times issued. “MIFO machine is also equipped with temperature, pH and turbidity sensors to ensure that the pond is still considered safe for tilapia seeds to live in,” said one of the women’s teams.
This treatment machine was enthusiastically welcomed by partners and its benefits have been proven by partners.
“Partners feel helped by this machine because it can reduce costs and increase profits from selling fish so that partners do not experience losses. “MIFO’s innovation is expected to provide benefits to partners in the process of cultivating tilapia seeds to produce healthier fish,” said Putri.
MIFO is the result of research funding from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia in the 2023 Student Creativity Program in the Application of Science and Technology (PKM-PI).
For complete information, contact the Instagram account: @mifo_ub [UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
