Fish · tilapia grow-out

Tilapia grow-out feed: sizing tonnage from biomass

Tilapia grow-out feed is bought against planned biomass: fish stocked, survival, target harvest weight and FCR give the tonnage. Pellet size steps, floating behaviour and water stability are the specification points that make competing offers genuinely comparable.

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Who buys at this stage

Pond and cage farms contracting annual grow-out tonnage
Buyers comparing extruded floating feed against locally pelleted alternatives
Operations planning delivery cadence against limited farm-gate storage

Form and packaging

Pellet size steps and the fish weights they correspond to
Floating or sinking behaviour and stability expectation
25 kg bags typically; pallet and container detail for imports

Commercial feed types

Extruded floating pellets

The common commercial choice; size stepped with fish growth.

Sinking pellets

Used in some systems; state which you require, and why, in the RFQ.

What the RFQ must specify

Fish stocked, survival assumption, target harvest weight and cycles per year
Expected FCR and resulting annual tonnage
Pellet sizes and floating behaviour required
Quantity per shipment and committed annual volume
Delivery point, port and preferred Incoterm
Delivery schedule and acceptable lead time
Packaging and pallet or bulk handling constraints
Certifications and documents required with each shipment
Currency, price basis and how long the price must hold

What moves the cost

Protein and energy ingredient markets
Extrusion energy, which separates floating feed cost from pelleted
Freight to farm or port, and duties on imports
Survival and feeding management, which move cost per kilogram harvested

Storage and shelf life

Farm-gate storage is usually the binding constraint on delivery size
Ventilated, off-floor, rain-protected storage in tropical climates
Plan turnover in weeks rather than months

Certifications and documents to ask for

GMP+ B1 / FAMI-QS or an equivalent feed safety scheme
HACCP plan and the mill's own quality manual
Certificate of analysis per batch (proximate analysis, moisture)
Mycotoxin, salmonella and heavy-metal testing regime
Traceability of raw materials and batch numbering
Non-GMO, halal or organic certification where your market requires it
Country-specific feed registration and import documentation

Supplier evaluation checklist

Installed capacity against your monthly tonnage, not just the annual total
Evidence of supplying the same stage and pellet form commercially
Batch consistency record and how out-of-spec batches are handled
Lead time from order to delivery, and behaviour during raw-material volatility
Price basis: fixed, indexed to a named raw material, or reviewed periodically
Delivery capability to your point, Incoterm and vehicle or vessel constraints
Technical support available on-site and the escalation route when results slip

Worked commercial example

Illustrative arithmetic on the inputs shown — not a benchmark, a price or a performance promise. Replace every figure with your own.

· 500,000 fish, 20 g to 800 g, 85% survival
· FCR 1.6, 3% handling loss
· Delivered floating pellet 820 per tonne

→ Harvest biomass ≈ 340 t
→ Feed ≈ 546 t per cycle, ≈ 448,000
→ Feed cost per kg harvested ≈ 1.32

Size the volume first

Other fish stages

Tilapia fingerling feed Catfish grow-out feed Salmon grow-out feed Trout grow-out feed Seabass grow-out feed Seabream grow-out feed

Questions buyers ask

How many tonnes of feed for a tilapia cycle?

Harvest biomass multiplied by FCR, plus a waste allowance. Biomass comes from fish stocked, survival and target harvest weight. The fish feed calculator runs the arithmetic from your own figures.

Is floating feed worth the extra cost?

Extrusion costs more than pelleting, but floating feed lets you observe intake and cut waste. Whether that pays depends on your system and management, so compare on cost per kilogram harvested.

Can I compare imported and local offers fairly?

Yes, if both are restated on the same landed basis including freight, duties, packaging and payment terms. That normalisation is part of what FeedMatch does before showing you offers.

How the request is handled

You submit the requirement, a person at FeedMatch reviews it, and only then are qualified suppliers approached on your behalf. Offers come back normalised to the same delivered basis so they can actually be compared. No supplier receives your details automatically and no introduction happens without that review.

Submit a feed project request

FeedMatch Group is an independent, supplier-neutral procurement platform. We are not a feed manufacturer, trader, nutritionist, veterinarian or lender, and we do not guarantee prices, supply, FCR or animal performance. Figures on this page are indicative commercial planning ranges, not specifications. Every requirement is reviewed by a person before any supplier is approached, and no supplier receives your details automatically. Last reviewed 16 September 2026.