Proven biofilter bacteria, adopted by RAS producers worldwide

The inoculant used to start and recover biofilters, backed by hands-on technical support.

RAS-Right is a broad consortium of naturally occurring beneficial bacteria, including nitrifying species, in a stable, ready-to-use liquid. Nova Q developed it with BluePlanet Labs for recirculating aquaculture systems. It is free from pathogens and GMOs, and is applied directly to the water.

Its main job is the one every RAS operator knows well: getting a biofilter working, and keeping it working. Producers use RAS-Right to seed a new biofilter, to re-seed after a clean-down, and to recover one that has stalled. It has been adopted worldwide, across multiple species and every common biofilter design, from MBBR and fixed-bed to flow-through.

The biology is the same; every system is different

The bacteria needed for effective nitrification are the same whether you grow salmon, trout, shrimp or anything else, and so are the principles of how a biofilter works. What differs is how those principles play out in practice, which depends on species, temperature, salinity, growth stage and feeding rate. Getting a proven approach to work well in your particular system is where our technical expertise comes in.

24 months

shelf life, ambient storage

Full range

freshwater to marine salinity

Organic Licensed

Irish Organic Association (IOA)

Worldwide

Europe, North America, Asia

Not sure which product suits your system? Our team is happy to talk it through and recommend the right combination.

Nitrification

Reliable nitrification, quickly

The clearest sign a biofilter is working is nitrate, and RAS-Right brings it on fast.

Nitrification happens in two steps, each carried out by a different group of bacteria. The ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) convert ammonia to nitrite. The nitrite-oxidising bacteria (NOB) then convert that nitrite to nitrate. The second group cannot get going until the first has produced nitrite for them to work on, so the pathway has to come up in order: ammonia to nitrite, then nitrite to nitrate.

This is why nitrate is the signal that matters. Nitrite appearing tells you the AOB are working. Nitrate appearing tells you the NOB are working too, which cannot happen until the AOB have already done their part. Because that final step is the last to establish, nitrate is normally the slowest thing to arrive in a new system, often after weeks. When nitrate comes early, the whole community is working.

Find out more

Recovering a stalled system

In a 650 m³ salmon parr system in Norway, nitrification had failed to establish. Ammonia had climbed above 7 ppm with no conversion, and increased water changes, feed adjustments and ozone had not resolved it. Nova Q designed an accelerated start-up: a large initial dose of RAS-Right, followed by smaller ongoing doses. Nitrate began rising within three days, which confirmed both groups of bacteria were active, and ammonia and nitrite were both below 0.5 ppm by day 11.

“RAS-Right gave us the final boost that we needed to get the nitrification going after a bad maturation and problems with TAN for a long period of time.”
— Farm Manager, salmon parr RAS, Norway

Starting a clean system

Starting from clean is faster still. When RAS-Right is grown up in a Bioreactor Grow-Tank and added to the biofilter before fish go in, the full pathway is running from the first day of feed. In this European salmon parr start-up the dose was set to match the urgency, and nitrate was present as soon as feeding began, with ammonia never rising above 5 ppm through the whole commissioning. There was no ammonia spike to recover from, because both groups of bacteria were already established and working before the load arrived. The dose is always matched to the goal and the timeline, which is part of what our team sets up with you.

3 days

to rising nitrate, full pathway active (recovery)

Day 1 of feed

nitrate present, Grow-Tank start

Under 5 ppm

ammonia across the clean start-up

Starting up, restarting after a clean-down, or recovering a stalled filter? We will design a dosing plan around your system.

European salmon RAS (parr): a fast start from a Bioreactor Grow-Tank, with the dose set to match the urgency. Nitrate present from the first day of feed; ammonia never above 5 ppm. Site confidential.

Active Microbiome Management

Steering the microbiome, not just seeding it

Regular maintenance dosing, tested against seed-only under controlled conditions.

Choosing your level of active microbiome management

Three valid choices, each adding more control than the last.

All three are a step up from the common alternatives: no inoculation, or seeding from another system with its biosecurity risk.

Level 1 - A Good Choice

Establish

Seed the biofilter with ready-to-use RAS-Right.

What it delivers

Fast, reliable nitrification
Recovers a stalled filter

Product

RAS-Right / Marine (ready to use)

Best for

New starts, re-seeding and emergency recovery

Level 2 - A Better Choice

Maintain

Seed, then dose RAS-Right on a regular schedule.

What it delivers

Steady nitrification, full cycle
Unwanted bacteria kept in check

Product

RAS-Right / Marine (ready to use)

Best for

Steady water quality without a bioreactor

Level 3 - Best Practice

Full System Control

Grow RAS-Right on site in Bioreactor Grow-Tanks.

What it delivers

Fastest start, no ammonia spike
Continuous, controlled microbiome
Advanced off-flavour control

Product

Grow-Tanks + RAS-Boost + RAS-Right

Best for

Large or multi-system sites, off-flavour, maximum control

Not sure which level suits your system? Our specialists will help you choose.

Seeding gets a biofilter working. Keeping it working well is a separate matter. The usual approach is to seed once at start-up and leave the community to develop on its own. That leaves room for slow nitrification, ammonia and nitrite spikes, and the build-up of unwanted bacteria such as the sulphate reducers behind H2S.

Active microbiome management keeps reinforcing the population instead. RAS-Right is grown continuously in a bioreactor and dosed into the biofilter at regular intervals, so the working community is topped up rather than left to drift. We set out to test whether that genuinely does better than seeding alone.

A controlled trial

With SAMS in Oban, and funded by Innovate UK, six matched RAS ran for 77 days on Pacific Whiteleg Shrimp. All six were seeded with RAS-Right Marine: the three control systems once, from ready-to-use product, then left; the three treated systems seeded and then maintained throughout from a Bioreactor Grow-Tank. Water quality was measured daily and the biofilter community sequenced weekly. Because the bacteria that run a biofilter are the same across species, what the trial shows about biofilter behaviour applies to salmonid systems as much as to the shrimp it was run on.

The Grow-Tank systems held the start-up ammonia peak to about a third of the seed-only controls, and cleared it almost completely within a week, while the controls stayed elevated. The shrimp grew measurably heavier, and the biofilter community was richer and more even. The effect over the trial was statistically significant.

Wondering whether maintenance dosing suits your biofilter? Ask us about bioreactor design and a dosing plan matched to your load.

~67%

lower peak ammonium-N vs seed-only

+12%

higher mean weight (p<0.01)

5.04

Shannon diversity vs 4.80 seed-only

The same approach was run for three months on a mature commercial biofilter at Great British Prawns, dosed continuously from a bioreactor, and the community stayed diverse and stable throughout. For a farm manager, an insurer or an investor, that is the practical value: maintenance dosing turns the biofilter from something that varies on its own into something managed and predictable.

Source: De-risking RAS, Technical Summary (June 2026), reporting the De-risking RAS Final Project Report, October 2021. Funded by Innovate UK, in partnership with SAMS and Great British Prawns.

Always on hand

Ready when you need it

Stable at ambient temperature, so you can keep a reserve on site.

Stored unopened between 5 and 35 degrees, RAS-Right keeps for 24 months from manufacture. There is no need for refrigeration or controlled storage, and temperature-controlled transport is only needed in extreme conditions. Once opened, use within a month and keep the container closed between uses.

That stability is useful in practice. Because sealed stock lasts and needs no cold chain, a site can keep RAS-Right on hand as a reserve, ready to dose the moment a biofilter stalls, a clean-down finishes or an ammonia reading starts to climb, rather than waiting on a delivery while stock are under stress. It ships and stores anywhere, which matters for remote sites and distant markets, and it does not expire on the shelf before it is needed.

Off Flavour Control

Fish Transport

Technical Support

REGISTER NOW: Understanding and managing the biofilter microbiome in RAS

Interested in the microbiome in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems?

Join us on March 2nd, at 14 h CET for the latest EAStalk webinar where we will explore the benefits of renewing the focus on RAS microbiomes!

Nova Q in the news

Our approach to the RAS microbiome, presented, reported and discussed across the sector.

Responsible Seafood Advocate

How active microbiome management gave a RAS operator a foothold against off-flavour geosmin.

Fish Farmer (April 2022)

Managing the microbiome in a RAS farm, on the Kuterra results.

The Innovation Platform

An interview with Julian Beatty on Nova Q's approach to sustainable fish farming.

Globally Adopted

Proven across a small, global industry

RAS is a global industry, but a small and tightly connected one. The same specialists, integrators and producers move between projects and across markets, and knowledge travels quickly among them. A product earns its standing through results the community can see and share, not through advertising.

RAS-Right has earned that standing. It is proven and globally adopted: in use across Europe and North America, and at land-based sites in Japan, Singapore and Indonesia, on multiple species and every common biofilter design. The principles of biofilter biology are the same wherever a system runs, which is why the approach transfers across species and markets. How those principles play out in practice depends on the specifics of each system, its species, temperature, salinity, growth stage and feeding rate, and matching the approach to those conditions is exactly where our technical expertise comes in.

That standing is backed by independent certification. RAS-Right is certified under the Irish Organic Association (IOA) Organic Licensed Product scheme, which licenses inputs that meet the organic standards for use in certified organic production. The product itself is a natural consortium of beneficial bacteria, free from pathogens and GMOs. For producers supplying organic and premium markets, that licence carries real weight.

IOA Organic Licensed Product

Free from pathogens and GMOs

In use across Europe, North America and Asia

THE RAS-RIGHT RANGE

One approach, matched to your salinity and setup. Our specialists confirm the right combination for your system.

FRESHWATER / LOW SALINITY

RAS-Right

Seeds and maintains nitrification up to 14 ppt. Ready-to-use liquid. Organic Licensed (IOA).

SALTWATER / HIGH SALINITY

Free from pathogens and RAS-Right Marine

Nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria for saline systems above 10 ppt. Organic Licensed (IOA).

BIOREACTOR ENHANCEMENT

RAS-Boost

Grown on site in Bioreactor Grow-Tanks for enhanced nitrification, denitrification and off-flavour control.

All RAS-Right products: ready-to-use liquid, free from pathogens and GMOs, effective from 5 to 35 degrees, with a 24-month shelf life from manufacture. Once opened, use within one month.

PROVEN IN THE FIELD

Trialled in commercial and research RAS operations. Ask our team for the full studies.

Maintenance dosing, a controlled trial with SAMS, with commercial validation at Great British Prawns
Nitrification recovery and accelerated start-up, salmon parr RAS, Norway
Off-flavour control, Kuterra land-based salmon RAS, Canada
Live transport survival, College of Fisheries, Mangalore, India