Buyer FAQ: RAS Costs, Shrimp Survival & Project Timelines
The three questions every serious aquaculture buyer asks first: what it costs, what survives, and how long it takes. Conservative, planning-level answers — no sales numbers — with the tools to test each one on your own project.
Supplier and manufacturer listings are provided for research, transparency and discovery only. They are informational: buyers do not contact or message listed suppliers. Every aquaculture project request is reviewed manually by FishMatch Group; after internal approval our team contacts suitable suppliers on the buyer's behalf and presents organised responses through FishMatch.
RFQ process & timelines
A person reviews your brief first — usually within one business day. If the brief is complete (production target, site, water data, sizing basis), suppliers can respond sooner, but supplier timing depends on the scope and their replies and is not guaranteed. A comparable quote matrix follows scope alignment. Incomplete briefs take longer because the review step comes back with questions before sourcing starts.
Submitted → under review → sourcing (matched suppliers are approached on your scope) → proposals in → comparison and clarification → handoff to the supplier you choose. If you have a buyer portal account, each stage change appears on your RFQ timeline as it happens.
Yes — completeness is the lever. Attach calculator outputs (flow, head, oxygen demand, filtration load, feed tonnage), state your water source and salinity, and mark unknowns honestly instead of leaving them blank. Briefs that pass review without questions move to sourcing immediately.
Yes, through the buyer portal or by replying to your confirmation email. Changes made before sourcing starts are folded into the brief; changes after suppliers are engaged are issued as a scope revision so every supplier still prices the same thing.
Proposals & confidentiality
Proposals come back against one identical scope and are shared with you through FishMatch — in your buyer portal room and by email notification. You compare line items like-for-like instead of decoding five different quote formats.
Not initially. Supplier identities stay confidential until you choose to engage — this is what keeps suppliers quoting honestly and protects you from unsolicited sales contact. When you decide to move forward with a proposal, FishMatch makes the introduction manually.
Yes. Clarification questions are passed through FishMatch in writing, so answers stay on record and reach every supplier where the question affects scope. Nothing goes supplier-direct until you choose the handoff.
Your brief is shared only with suppliers matched to your project for quoting, and without your identity. Losing bidders never learn who you are, and your brief is never published or reused for another buyer.
Buyer portal & sign-in
Create an account with email and password or Google sign-in from the portal page. Once signed in, your RFQs, their stage, proposal activity and desk messages are in one private room — no more searching email threads.
No. You can submit an RFQ without an account and track it via the confirmation email. An account is recommended once you have live RFQs, because the timeline, proposals and stage updates live in the portal.
Yes. Create the account with the same email you used on the RFQ and the request is linked to your portal room automatically.
Only you and the FishMatch desk. Suppliers never see your portal, your other RFQs, or your contact details until you choose an introduction. Your data is not shared with other buyers.
RAS costs & budgets
As a planning range, intensive RAS typically lands between $8,000 and $25,000 of CAPEX per tonne of annual production, depending on species, intensity, climate (HVAC duty), redundancy level and how much civil work is included. Shrimp RAS sits at the upper end because of lower stocking densities and higher biosecurity requirements. Use the FishMatch RAS cost calculator for a project-specific range before looking at any quote.
CAPEX covers tanks, filtration, aeration/oxygenation, pumps, HVAC, controls, backup power and civil works. OPEX is dominated by feed and energy — typically 55–70% of operating cost — followed by labour, fingerlings/post-larvae, water treatment consumables and maintenance. A project that only models CAPEX is not a budget; both sides must be stress-tested.
Almost always scope, not price. One quote includes HVAC, redundancy, installation and commissioning; the other is equipment-only ex-works. Quotes only become comparable when every supplier prices the same line items on the same sizing basis. That is exactly what the FishMatch human-reviewed RFQ process enforces before any supplier is contacted.
HVAC and dehumidification, backup power and redundancy, freight and import duties, installation and commissioning, the first production cycle's working capital (feed, PLs, energy before first harvest), and contingency below 10%. These are covered in detail in the 10 planning mistakes guide.
Shrimp survival & economics
For planning, use conservative figures: well-run intensive RAS vannamei systems achieve 70–85% survival cycle after cycle; ponds vary widely from 40–70% depending on disease pressure. Never build a business plan on the best cycle you have ever seen — model the average, then stress-test the downside.
Survival is a multiplier on everything: 10 points of survival at harvest is roughly 10% more biomass sold against nearly the same feed, energy and PL cost. A farm planned at 85% that delivers 65% does not lose 20% of profit — it can lose most of it, because fixed costs stay put.
Post-larvae quality and screening, water quality stability (ammonia, nitrite, alkalinity, temperature swings), biosecurity, stocking density versus system capacity, and feed management. Equipment supports survival; husbandry and PL quality determine it. Any supplier promising survival numbers without asking about your PL source is guessing.
State your planned survival, FCR and harvest-size assumptions explicitly in the brief. Suppliers then size against the same production reality, and their guarantees can be compared like-for-like. The FishMatch review step checks that these assumptions are stated before sourcing starts.
Project & sourcing timelines
A realistic path: 2–6 weeks for a scoped brief and RFQ, then supplier sourcing and comparable quotes on a timeline that depends on scope and supplier responses, 6–12 months total from feasibility to a bankable package, and 18–24 months to commissioning for a commercial RAS. Add the first production cycle (3–6 months for shrimp) before revenue.
Once your brief passes review, the team approaches potential suppliers; how long responses take depends on the scope and on supplier replies, and no turnaround is guaranteed. Comparable quotes are organized after scope alignment. Timelines depend on how complete the brief is — water data, site and sizing basis speed everything up.
Redesign after quotes arrive (skipped sizing), permits and discharge consents, long-lead equipment, and financing that starts after design instead of in parallel. Starting the planning checklist and the RFQ brief early is the cheapest schedule insurance available.
After you have a scoped brief: production target, site, water data and a sizing basis. Requesting quotes earlier produces numbers that cannot be compared; requesting them after full engineering wastes months. The middle path is a human-reviewed RFQ on a planning-level scope.
Test the numbers on your project
RAS cost — planning ranges and cost driversRAS shrimp farm — costs, design and survival economicsRAS planning — the six-step path from target to RFQThe 10 planning mistakes checklistCase study: indoor RAS shrimp farmPlanning check — score your project against the checklistThe buyer journey map — five stages from enquiry to handoffBuyer portal — sign in and track your RFQs
Numbers check out? Get comparable quotes.
Submit your project brief. A person reviews every RFQ before any supplier is contacted, and sourcing starts only after that review — suppliers never see you, and you never see them, until the match is right.