Colonization Pattern of Rhodotorula sp. in Polluted Tilapia Fish Aquaria and the Risk of Rhodotorula Caused Infection

In this study, the trend of colonization of e-waste soil polluted fish aquaria by Rhodotorula sp was monitored. The aquaria containing the specie Oreochromis niloticus were polluted separately with different quantities of soil from e-waste dumpsite and the soil without e-waste. The soil sample from e-waste dumpsite differs from soil without e-waste in all of the parameters determined. Higher organic contents (17.60%), moisture content (3.86%), organic carbon (10.17%) and higher value of organic nitrogen (0.35%) were recorded. Four species of fungi were isolated from soil of e-waste dumpsite while two species of fungi were isolated from soil without e-waste. Rhodotorula presence in the aquaria was only observed in the first and second week of the research. The highest isolation was from the aquarium polluted with 75 g of soil without e-waste (34 isolates) at week one while the lowest was from the control aquarium (15 isolates) also at week one. It was also observed that plates and week where Rhodotorula sp population was high, the populations of other fungi were lower. Most of the other fungi isolated within the two weeks period of Rhodotorula colonization were inversely proportional to the population of Rhodotorula sp. The pH values and the biochemical oxygen demand were significantly affected by the pollutant. The momentary colonization of the aquaria by Rhodotorula sp, posed health risk to both the living organisms in the aquaria and human having contact with the aquaria while the antagonistic effect on other fungi could lead to imbalance in the fungi community in the aquaria.