How aquaculture consultants compare RAS suppliers and build bankable shortlists for clients
Short answer
Consultants compare RAS suppliers by fixing one written design basis — species, standing biomass, peak daily feed load, design temperature, make-up water rate and discharge limits — and requiring every supplier to price against it. Offers are then normalised line by line: biofilter sizing basis, oxygen and CO2 capacity, solids removal, redundancy, controls, energy and scope boundary. A shortlist becomes bankable when two to four offers share the same assumptions, exclusions are written down, and the total evaluated cost includes freight, installation, spares and energy. FishMatch Group runs the RFQ and comparison workload behind the consultant; it does not design, build, finance, operate or certify projects.
Why RAS offers are harder to compare than any other package
A pump or an aerator can be compared on duty point and price. A recirculating system cannot, because the supplier is selling a set of assumptions: how much feed goes in each day, how much ammonia that produces, how much biofilter surface is needed to remove it at the design temperature, and how much water has to be replaced to keep nitrate and CO2 inside range. Change any assumption and the equipment list — and the price — changes with it.
That is why two offers for "the same" farm can differ by a large margin without either supplier being wrong. The comparison job is to remove the freedom to assume, then look at what remains.
- Different feed loads. A supplier who assumes a lower peak feed rate sizes a smaller biofilter and quotes a lower number for a system that will not hold water quality at full stocking.
- Different battery limits. Building, civils, external piping, electrical panels, freight and commissioning move in and out of scope between offers.
- Different redundancy. Backup oxygen, standby blowers and N+1 pumping are sometimes included, sometimes optional, sometimes absent.
- Different documentation. Without a mass balance, a sizing figure cannot be checked — and neither can the offer.
Step 1 — write the design basis before contacting anyone
One page is enough. Every figure that is unknown is written as a stated assumption so all suppliers price the same baseline and the client can see later what was assumed and by whom.
RAS design basis — minimum content
- Species, strain, stocking size and target harvest size
- Target annual tonnage, peak standing biomass and number of production batches
- Peak daily feed load in kg/day and the feed protein level assumed
- Design water temperature range and heating or cooling responsibility
- Water source, salinity, alkalinity, hardness and any treatment already installed
- Acceptable make-up water rate as a percentage of system volume per day
- Discharge limits, effluent handling and sludge disposal route
- Grid voltage, reliability, backup generation and available site power
- Building status: existing, new-build in supplier scope, or client scope
- Quarantine, biosecurity and effluent disinfection requirements
Sizing brackets can be produced first with the aquaculture calculators — biomass, feed load, oxygen demand and water exchange — and the assumptions behind them are documented on the calculator methodology page. These are planning brackets for an RFQ, not a substitute for detailed design.
Step 2 — compare on eight technical lines, not on price
Ask every supplier the same eight questions and record the answers in one table. The pattern of answers usually separates the shortlist before any commercial discussion starts.
| Line | What to ask for | What the answer tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Biofilter sizing | Media type, specific surface area and the areal TAN removal rate assumed at design temperature | A supplier who quotes a removal rate and its source is engineering; one who quotes only a media volume is estimating |
| Oxygen supply | Delivery method, dissolved oxygen setpoint, transfer efficiency and capacity at peak feed load | Capacity should be tied to peak feed, not to tank volume |
| CO2 stripping | Stripping capacity, air-to-water ratio and target dissolved CO2 at design biomass | Frequently the weakest line in low-cost offers |
| Solids removal | Drum filter micron rating, hydraulic capacity, backwash water use and expected removal efficiency | Backwash volume drives the make-up water rate and the effluent load |
| Redundancy | Which duties are N+1, what happens on grid loss, and the backup oxygen hold time | Redundancy that is priced as an option should be listed as an exclusion, not a feature |
| Controls | Control philosophy, monitored parameters, alarm routing and remote access scope | Ask whether alarm hardware is included or expected from the client |
| Energy | Installed kW and expected annual kWh per kg of production at design output | The single largest OPEX driver in most RAS models |
| Scope boundary | Civil works, building, piping beyond skid limits, electrical panels, freight, installation, commissioning and training | Most price gaps between offers are boundary gaps, not equipment gaps |
Let the RFQ workload run behind you
One brief, private outreach to qualified RAS suppliers, a normalised comparison back to you. You keep the mandate and the recommendation.
Step 3 — verify what can be verified from the desk
Most claims can be tested for internal consistency without travelling. A mass balance, an equipment list and a power schedule that were produced for the same project agree with each other; documents assembled from a template usually do not.
Desk verification checks
- Does the stated biofilter capacity match the TAN produced by the peak feed load?
- Does the oxygen delivery capacity cover respiration plus biofilter demand at peak feed?
- Does the installed kW in the power schedule match the equipment list?
- Does the make-up water rate reconcile with drum filter backwash plus evaporation and sludge?
- Are reference installations at comparable species, scale and temperature — with contactable operators?
- Which major components are made in-house and which are bought in and re-badged?
- Are commissioning, operator training and warranty response times priced, not promised?
- Are spares for the first year listed with lead times?
Step 4 — turn the comparison into a bankable shortlist
A shortlist is bankable when a third party can read it without the consultant in the room. That means the evaluated cost, not the quoted cost, and the assumptions in writing next to it.
What belongs in the shortlist document
- The single design basis all offers were priced against, with stated assumptions
- Two to four offers side by side, scope-normalised to the same battery limits
- Total evaluated cost: equipment, freight, duties, installation, commissioning, spares and first-year energy
- Exclusions and open items per supplier, listed rather than absorbed into a note
- Lead time, payment milestones, warranty duration and after-sales response commitment
- Technical risk notes and what would change the ranking if an assumption moves
- A clear recommendation with the reasoning behind it — signed by the consultant
Where a project is heading toward external funding, the same material feeds the documentation lenders usually expect — CAPEX build-up, OPEX model, production ramp and permit status. See financing readiness and the financing eligibility estimator. This is document structuring only — FishMatch Group does not lend, arrange, underwrite, approve or guarantee financing.
Where FishMatch Group fits
The consultant owns the design basis, the technical judgement and the client. FishMatch Group turns that basis into an RFQ pack, approaches qualified suppliers privately, keeps buyer and supplier identities confidential until both sides agree to proceed, and returns the offers normalised into one table. Many consultants use it as an unnamed sourcing desk and present the comparison under their own advisory report.
Background reading: the full method in how consultants find better suppliers, the consultant insight guides, and free working templates on the consultant downloads page.
Frequently asked questions
Send a RAS project for supplier matching
Submit the client project below. You keep the mandate; we run the sourcing and comparison workload.