RAS journey · System procurement
RAS RFQ: From Biomass Plan to Comparable System Proposals
RAS proposals are only comparable when the biological load and the treatment duty are fixed by the buyer. State the biomass plan, feed load, water budget and redundancy requirement, and suppliers quote engineering rather than brochures.
Short answer
What does a RAS RFQ need to contain?
A RAS RFQ needs species and harvest size, annual production and peak standing biomass, the production and harvest schedule, peak daily feed load, design temperature, make-up water volume and quality with an analysis, target water-quality envelope (oxygen, TAN, nitrite, CO2, TSS, alkalinity, pH), required recirculation rate, redundancy and failure tolerance, effluent and solids handling rules, energy price and grid reliability, plus scope boundaries for the building, installation, commissioning, biofilter start-up, training and spares. Treatment sizing follows from feed load and temperature; without those figures every supplier quotes a different system.
- Sizing basis:
- Peak feed load and design temperature
- Most common omission:
- Redundancy and failure tolerance
- Supplier identities:
- Confidential until you approve
- Project focus:
- USD 250,000+ commercial projects
Requirements this RFQ must contain
Species, harvest size and market form
Sets density limits, temperature band, water-quality tolerance and handling requirements.
Annual production and peak standing biomass
Peak biomass is the design case for oxygen, biofiltration, degassing and pumping.
Production and harvest schedule
Batch versus continuous production changes peak load and how many independent modules you need.
Peak daily feed load
The single most important RAS number: it determines TAN production, oxygen demand, solids load and CO2 stripping duty.
Design temperature
Temperature sets growth, biofilter performance, oxygen solubility and heating or chilling load.
Make-up water volume and analysis
Available and affordable make-up water decides the recirculation rate and whether denitrification is needed.
Target water-quality envelope
Oxygen, TAN, nitrite, CO2, TSS, alkalinity and pH limits must come from you, or each supplier uses their own and the quotes diverge.
Redundancy and failure tolerance
Which single failures the system must survive, and for how long, decides backup power, emergency oxygen, spare pumps and duplicated loops.
Effluent, solids and sludge handling
Discharge limits and sludge disposal routes can add a full treatment stage that is otherwise excluded from quotations.
Energy price and grid reliability
RAS operating cost is dominated by energy; the tariff and outage profile change the economically correct design.
Building, site and civil interface
Insulation, floor drainage, ceiling height, crane access and utility connections decide what belongs in the supplier's scope.
Scope boundaries and support
Installation supervision, commissioning, biofilter maturation, first stocking support, operator training, spares and remote monitoring.
Specification completeness check
Tick each item your brief already states. Missing items are the usual reason suppliers quote different systems. This check stays in your browser; nothing is saved or sent.
Still open: Species, harvest size and market form; Annual production and peak standing biomass; Production and harvest schedule and 9 more. Unknown values can be sent as “to be confirmed” — the reviewer will flag them.
Scope the quotation must cover
- Culture tanks and hydraulics
- Mechanical filtration and solids removal
- Biofiltration and, where required, denitrification
- Degassing and CO2 stripping
- Oxygenation and emergency oxygen
- Disinfection (UV or ozone) and pumping
- Heating, chilling and heat recovery
- Monitoring, control system, alarms and backup power
- Effluent, sludge handling and discharge compliance
Before you send the brief
- Minimum project size: USD 250,000 total investment. Smaller projects get planning guidance and calculators, not supplier routing.
- No guaranteed pricing: calculator figures are planning ranges. Prices come only from suppliers' written proposals for your scope, and FishMatch does not promise any price, discount or quote turnaround.
- Every brief is reviewed by a person before outreach. Our team coordinates provider responses privately through FishMatch, with no direct buyer-provider handoff.
- Unknown budgets are welcome during scoping. State what remains unverified; final engineering and provider availability are not guaranteed.
- Your feed load, oxygen factor, temperature, turnover and water-quality targets are declared design assumptions. Preliminary calculator flow is not a pump selection or a biological yield forecast.
Commissioning and acceptance checklist
Ask every supplier to state which of these are in their price. Items left out are the most common late cost.
- Factory acceptance test (FAT) scope and who attends
- Site acceptance test (SAT): pumps, blowers, oxygen and alarms tested under load
- Hydraulic test: design flow and tank exchange measured, not assumed
- Power-failure test: generator transfer and emergency oxygen proven
- Biofilter start-up plan: maturation method, duration and who monitors it
- Water-quality sign-off against your envelope before first stocking
- Controls handover: sensor calibration records, alarm list and remote access
- Operator training, O&M manuals, as-built drawings and spare-parts list
- Performance guarantees: what is measured, test conditions and remedy
- Warranty start date and defect-liability period
Buyer checklist before you send the brief
Tick these off first. A brief that answers them gets comparable supplier proposals; gaps usually come back as assumptions, exclusions or price padding.
Production target
- Species and life stage (smolt, fingerling, grow-out to market size)
- Annual output in tonnes and target harvest weight
- Maximum stocking density you will accept (kg/m³)
- Phased or single-stage build
Site and water
- Source water type, flow available and a recent lab analysis
- Temperature range through the year and heating/cooling needs
- Discharge limits and where sludge and backwash water go
- Building: existing, new shell or supplier-supplied
System scope to price
- Mechanical filtration, biofilter, degassing, oxygenation, UV/ozone
- Make-up water share (% per day) the design must achieve
- Monitoring, alarms and backup power with stated autonomy
- Spare parts list and who supplies first fingerlings
Commercial terms
- Incoterm, delivery point and installation responsibility
- Commissioning, biofilter start-up and operator training
- Performance criteria for acceptance (water quality, growth)
- Warranty period and response time for service visits
Planning checklist only — not a design, permit or engineering sign-off. Confirm local rules with the competent authority.
Send the briefWhat happens after you send the brief
1. Human review
A person checks the brief and asks about anything missing. First reply within 1 business day.
2. Managed outreach
Our team contacts suitable providers on your behalf. Provider identities and contact details are not exposed to buyers.
3. Side-by-side comparison
Proposals are compared line by line against your scope, assumptions and exclusions.
4. Your decision
You review responses through FishMatch, and our team coordinates clarification. No direct handoff, availability or price guarantee.
Related planning pages
- RAS planning hub
- Preliminary flow / oxygen calculator — editable assumptions
- CAPEX / OPEX / payback — your costs and revenue
- Commercial filtration package specifications
- RAS cost calculator
- RAS system design scope
- How the procurement platform works
- How to compare RAS quotations
- Feeding system RFQ
- Project readiness check
Sources and engineering limits
References explain the treatment process, not project pricing, species performance or supplier availability. Site-specific engineering review is required.
Frequently asked questions
Project Intake · USD 250,000+
Commercial Aquaculture Project Intake
Eight steps: species, production target, site, water, power, budget, timeline and scope. Our team reviews the brief, then you continue to the RFQ.
Short answer
What is the FishMatch project intake for?
- Best for:
- Projects from roughly $250K to $20M+
- Time to complete:
- About 5–8 minutes, eight steps
- You receive:
- A reviewed brief and a clear path to your RFQ
- Confidentiality:
- All supplier contact goes through FishMatch
Project type & species
Pick the closest project type, then name the species you plan to farm.
Privacy: We use these details to review and answer this request. They stay confidential, are shared only as described in our Privacy Policy, and are not used for marketing unless you separately opt in. We keep them while your request or account is active and for as long as legal record-keeping requires. Privacy Policy · Your rights
Private & confidential — supplier identities are never disclosed to buyers.
What the project intake actually does
Most aquaculture projects stall because the first request sent to manufacturers is incomplete. Without species, capacity, water source, site climate, power availability, scope of supply and a realistic budget band, every quote that comes back is built on a different set of assumptions — and none of them can be compared. The intake collects those variables once, in a structured order. Our team reviews the brief, and it becomes the basis of your RFQ.
You stay anonymous throughout. After the RFQ, we contact suitable suppliers for you, normalise their scope, warranty, lead time and landed cost, and present a like-for-like comparison through FishMatch.
The eight steps, and why each one matters
1. Project type & species
RAS, pond, cage, hatchery, biofloc or a turn-key farm, plus the species. Species and system together decide stocking density, water treatment and which class of supplier can quote.
2. Production target
Tonnes per year and harvest size. Every tank, filter, aerator and feed line is sized from this number, so a realistic target (a range is fine) prevents quotes for the wrong scale.
3. Site
Country and site status drive climate, permits, import duties and freight. A secured site lets suppliers price civil works and installation; a search-stage project gets a planning-level estimate.
4. Water
Source, salinity, available flow and any lab results. Water decides treatment, intake and recirculation design; without it, quotes rest on guesses.
5. Power
Grid reliability, backup and tariff. Aeration and pumping must run continuously, so power decides generator or solar backup and a large part of operating cost.
6. Budget & funding
Budget band (from USD 250,000), project stage and funding route. Financing stays optional and external, and is only discussed after the project is defined and with your consent.
7. Timeline & scope
When you need delivery and what suppliers should quote: equipment only, design, turn-key, training or service. Scope is the most common reason quotes cannot be compared.
8. Documents & contact
Attach what exists and leave your details. Our team reviews the brief by hand, then you continue to the RFQ. Suppliers never receive your contact details.
Project intake FAQ
How much does the project intake cost?
Nothing. Buyers never pay FishMatch Group for the intake, the RFQ or comparing responses.
What happens after I submit?
Our team reviews the brief by hand and replies within one business day. The next step is a full RFQ built from your answers. We then contact suitable suppliers for you and present their responses through FishMatch. Supplier response times vary and are not guaranteed.
Will suppliers see my company name?
No. Suppliers receive an anonymised technical brief: species, production target, site, water, power, scope and timeline. All communication runs through FishMatch.
What if I do not have water tests or a site yet?
Submit anyway and mark what is missing. The brief will show which data suppliers need, and planning tools can give an early estimate. Quotes become firmer once water and site data exist.
Can you arrange financing as well as equipment?
FishMatch does not lend or arrange loans. Financing is optional; with your consent, a defined project may be shared with independent financing providers for their own evaluation.
What project sizes do you handle?
Commercial aquaculture projects with a total budget of at least USD 250,000. Smaller single-item purchases are outside this intake.
Short answer
What is the fastest way to get quotes for RAS RFQ?
Submit one structured request for RAS RFQ. FishMatch Group translates it into a technical RFQ, runs a confidential sourcing round with project-matched international suppliers, and returns comparable quotations. No fee is charged to the buyer, and your identity and project details stay private until you choose to proceed.
- How it works:
- One structured request, human-reviewed before any supplier outreach
- Typical turnaround:
- Depends on scope and site data; no turnaround is guaranteed
- Confidentiality:
- Supplier names are never exposed during evaluation
- Cost to buyers:
- No fee charged to the buyer
Before you request quotes
Equipment scope
What equipment does a commercial aquaculture project actually need?
A grow-out project typically needs holding infrastructure (tanks, ponds or cages), water movement (pumps, piping, valves), aeration or oxygenation, water treatment appropriate to the system, feeding equipment, grading and handling gear, monitoring and alarms, and backup power. RAS adds mechanical filtration, biofiltration, degassing, disinfection and tighter process control. Hatchery and processing scopes are specified separately.
Which equipment should be specified before requesting quotes?
Specify the items whose sizing changes everything downstream: design biomass and stocking density, water exchange or recirculation rate, oxygen demand at peak temperature, and installed pumping head. With those four fixed, suppliers can quote aeration, filtration, pumps and power on the same basis. FishMatch calculators produce these figures and attach them to the RFQ.
Can equipment be sourced in stages?
Yes, and phased procurement is common. The usual sequence is water supply and holding infrastructure, then aeration and treatment, then automation and monitoring, then processing and cold chain. Staging works when interfaces and capacity headroom are defined at the start; otherwise later phases force replacement rather than addition.
Supplier selection criteria
How should a buyer compare aquaculture suppliers?
Compare on evidence, not on presentation: delivered projects at a similar scale and climate, engineering support during design, lead time commitments, spare-part and service availability in your region, certification and testing documentation, payment and warranty terms, and willingness to quote against your specification rather than substituting a catalogue package.
What are the warning signs in a supplier quotation?
Treat these as review triggers: no itemised scope, guaranteed biological or financial performance, no named delivery terms or lead time, no spare-parts or service statement, unclear responsibility for installation and commissioning, and equipment sizing that does not reference your water temperature, oxygen demand or biomass targets.
How does FishMatch handle supplier selection?
FishMatch is an independent sourcing service, not a manufacturer or reseller. The buyer submits one structured project request; our team reviews it first and only then contacts suitable suppliers on the buyer's behalf, presenting their responses through FishMatch in a comparable format. Buyers do not contact suppliers directly and nothing is sent automatically. The final choice stays with the buyer.