RAS sourcing
Everything a recirculating aquaculture buyer needs before requesting prices — what to specify for each subsystem, how to compare manufacturers on capability rather than marketing, and the reviewed procurement sequence FishMatch runs from brief to introduction.
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.
Planning-grade ranges for each RAS subsystem, plus the exact figures to demand from every manufacturer so quotations stay comparable.
Moves the full system volume through treatment at the design turnover rate.
Ask every supplier
Removes solids before biofiltration so ammonia conversion stays stable.
Ask every supplier
Converts ammonia to nitrate; the single most schedule-critical subsystem.
Ask every supplier
Delivers dissolved oxygen at feed peaks and strips CO₂ and nitrogen.
Ask every supplier
Controls pathogen load in recirculated and make-up water.
Ask every supplier
Alarms, logging and interlocks that protect biomass when something fails.
Ask every supplier
Distributes feed accurately; feed accuracy drives FCR and water load.
Ask every supplier
Conditions intake water and meets the discharge consent for the site.
Ask every supplier
Species, annual tonnage, harvest size, water source, temperature range, site constraints and permit status. Quotes built on different assumptions cannot be compared, no matter how detailed they look.
Run tank volume, flow, biofilter and oxygen demand yourself so you enter supplier conversations with an independent reference. A supplier design that differs by 30% from your sizing is a question, not necessarily a problem.
State battery limits explicitly: what is inside the supplier's scope, what is civil works, what is local install. Most price gaps between RAS quotes are scope gaps, not equipment gaps.
Bring every offer onto the same line items — equipment, install, commissioning, spares, freight, warranty — then compare cost per tonne of annual capacity rather than headline price.
Energy, oxygen, feed, labour and water make the difference between a viable farm and a stranded asset. Ask for guaranteed kWh per kg produced at the design load.
FishMatch reviews the brief and approaches suitable manufacturers directly. Buyers are introduced to shortlisted suppliers after that review — there is no automatic buyer-to-supplier contact.
Pick the reference project closest to yours. The RFQ builder opens with the system type, species, capacity and budget band already filled in — you adjust the details, attach drawings and submit. FishMatch reviews the brief before any manufacturer is approached.
Selected: FM-RAS-A — Atlantic salmon post-smolt, 600 t/year, Full land-based RAS, 12 grow-out tanks, dual loop. Cost driven by oxygen strategy and redundancy, not tank volume; a second loop is assumed for biosecurity separation.
Scenarios are anonymised planning references, not quotations. Supplier identities are only introduced after FishMatch reviews the brief and validates technical fit.
Size the system, check the water budget, test feasibility and normalise supplier bids so every RAS quotation lands on the same basis.
Size tanks, flow rate, biofilter volume and oxygen supply from your target biomass and feed load.
Open calculatorCheck hydraulic retention time and daily new-water exchange against stocking density and feed input.
Open calculatorEstimate cost per kilogram produced — feed, energy, oxygen, labour — before committing CAPEX.
Open calculatorCompare RAS supplier quotes on identical scope so price, capacity and lead time line up line-for-line.
Open calculatorReviewed, anonymised RAS capability profiles — segment, region, certifications, export markets and languages. Identities and contact details are introduced by FishMatch after the brief is reviewed.
Open the supplier directory & matching engineMatch capability profiles by species, target tonnes per year and system type, and compare equipment specifications, certifications and lead times side by side.
Loading reviewed capability profiles…
Defining the production brief, sizing the system independently, writing one scope of supply, collecting comparable quotations, normalising them line-by-line and testing operating cost before contracting. Equipment selection is the last step, not the first.
FishMatch is a managed sourcing service rather than an open marketplace. Buyers compare anonymised capability profiles — segment, region, certifications, export markets — and FishMatch introduces suitable manufacturers after reviewing the brief.
Biofilter TAN removal rate and the temperature it assumes, oxygen transfer efficiency at your inlet pressure, drum filter capacity at your real solids load, and guaranteed kWh per kg produced. These four decide whether a cheap quote stays cheap.
Almost always a scope difference. Rebuild both onto identical line items — equipment, civil, install, commissioning, spares, freight, warranty — using the RAS bid normalizer, then compare cost per tonne of annual capacity.
For a commercial grow-out project, expect 6–12 weeks from a complete brief to comparable quotations, and longer where permits, water rights or financing conditions are still open.
Submit your production brief. FishMatch reviews it, shortlists suitable manufacturers and returns comparable quotations — no automatic supplier contact.
RAS quotes rarely cover the same scope. Put each one in this table before you compare prices; FishMatch Group does the same normalisation when it reviews proposals for you.
| Item | Why it matters | Ask each supplier for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design basis | Two systems sized for different feed loads are not comparable | Peak daily feed, stocking density, species and temperature used | No design basis stated |
| Scope of supply | Missing items become change orders | Line-by-line list: tanks, filters, biofilter, oxygen, pumps, controls, install | 'Optional' items that the farm cannot run without |
| Redundancy | One failed pump or blower can lose a crop | Backup pumps, blowers, oxygen and power, and alarm design | No backup for oxygen or power |
| Start-up and support | Biofilter start-up and training decide the first harvest | Commissioning days, training, spare-parts lead times, support contact | Support only from another time zone with no local partner |
| Reference farms | Shows the design has run, not just been drawn | Running farms with similar species and size you can contact | Only renderings or pilot units |
General buyer guidance, not a recommendation of any supplier. FishMatch Group is a buyer-side sourcing service, not a manufacturer.
Describe your project
Species, target output, site and budget range. Rough numbers are fine.
We review and structure it
A person checks your request and turns it into a comparable RFQ. Procurement help is for projects of USD 250,000 and above.
Compare proposals
You receive proposals on the same basis. Supplier identities stay private until you choose to proceed.
Short answer
Submit one structured request for RAS Sourcing. 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.
Before you request quotes
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.