Precision aquaculture in the laboratory: a low-cost IoT system for continuous water quality monitoring in shrimp culture

Authors

  • Stefany Alonzo-Merizaldes Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí image/svg+xml Author
    • Investigation
    • Validation
    • Software
  • Willian Zamora-Mero Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí image/svg+xml Author
    • Supervision
    • Validation
    • Writing – Review & Editing
  • Mike Machuca Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí image/svg+xml Author
    • Validation
    • Supervision
  • Luis Mendoza-Cuzme Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí, ULEAM image/svg+xml Author
    • Supervision
    • Investigation
    • Validation
  • Oscar Gonzalez Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí, ULEAM image/svg+xml Author
    • Writing – Original Draft Preparation
    • Supervision

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46480/esj.11.1.314

Keywords:

internet of things, aquaculture, water quality, real-time monitoring, sensor technology

Abstract

Context: The Aquaculture Systems Innovation Laboratory (LISA) at ULEAM monitored the water quality of its shrimp larvae tanks through sporadic manual measurements, which produced blind windows, unreliable records, and delayed responses to critical deviations. The aim of this work was to implement an Internet of Things (IoT) solution for the real-time monitoring of pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. Method: The methodology followed the Extreme Programming (XP) agile framework and integrated an acquisition node built on a Raspberry Pi 4 with a Gravity HAT expansion board and specialized sensors; data were transmitted through the MQTT protocol to a central server and displayed on a web platform and a Kotlin mobile application with configurable alerts. Results: Field tests demonstrated high measurement fidelity, with error margins below 1 % for temperature and pH and close to 2.3 % for dissolved oxygen, an uptime of 99.4 %, and a transmission reliability of 99.58 %. The mobile application updated readings in under two seconds and reduced manual logging time by 40 %. Conclusions: It is concluded that the solution is a reliable and scalable precision-aquaculture tool, replicable in other culture systems in the region.

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Author Biographies

  • Stefany Alonzo-Merizaldes, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí

    Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida y Tecnologías ULEAM

  • Willian Zamora-Mero, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí

    Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida y Tecnologías, ULEAM

  • Mike Machuca, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí

    Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida y Tecnologías ULEAM

  • Luis Mendoza-Cuzme, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí, ULEAM

    Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida y Tecnologías ULEAM

  • Oscar Gonzalez, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí, ULEAM

    Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida y Tecnologías ULEAM

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Published

2026-11-30

Issue

Section

Research Paper

How to Cite

[1]
S. Alonzo-Merizaldes, W. Zamora-Mero, M. Machuca, L. Mendoza-Cuzme, and O. Gonzalez, “Precision aquaculture in the laboratory: a low-cost IoT system for continuous water quality monitoring in shrimp culture”, Ecuad. Sci. J, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 1–6, Nov. 2026, doi: 10.46480/esj.11.1.314.

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