AquaFarm is a stand-alone desktop application built on the knowledge base and quantitative methods of aquaculture and aquatic sciences and engineering.
The Software Overview is a PDF introduction to AquaFarm built around example systems you will recognize, along with its architecture, facility types, species coverage, and user interface. It is the best place to start, before the full User Manual.
Download Software Overview (PDF)Also available: the peer-reviewed technical article published in the Aquacultural Engineering Journal. Find it on ResearchGate →
AquaFarm uses computer modeling and simulation to test and analyze user-specified aquaculture, aquarium, and aquatic systems and facilities. It provides structured aquaculture and aquatics expertise and intensive calculation processing — reducing the need to assemble custom engineering teams for each project.
Simulation-generated data are reviewed in data tables and graphs, management logs, facility resource budgets, and complete economic enterprise budgets. Every output is traceable to peer-reviewed quantitative methods — not proprietary black-box estimates.
AquaFarm is designed for professionals with a working background in aquaculture or aquatic science and engineering. It is not intended for daily operations record-keeping; it is a design and analysis platform.
Land-based closed-loop systems. The fastest-growing segment in global aquaculture — and the primary target for major capital investment. The same approach underlies the life support systems of public aquariums and zoos.
Open or semi-open water flow systems for salmonids and other cold-water species with access to natural water sources.
Pond and tank-based systems, including solar-algae aquaculture integration.
Multi-species systems where byproducts of one species become inputs for another — reducing waste and improving system economics.
Microbial-based water quality management for shrimp and tilapia — high-density production with minimal water exchange.
Combined fish and plant production, modeling both aquatic and horticultural components within a single integrated system.
Sea-cage modeling for operators evaluating or transitioning from open-water production.
Aquarium life support systems (LSS) for exhibits and holding systems — filtration, disinfection, gas exchange, and temperature control sized to the animals in each system.
Aquatic exhibits and behind-the-scenes holding systems, designed around animal welfare and stable water quality.
Wet labs and experimental systems where water quality must be controlled, repeatable, and documented.
Broodstock, larval, and juvenile rearing systems for fish and invertebrates raised for release to the wild.
Ponds, streams, and other engineered water features where water quality, flow, and treatment are designed together.
The largest and most diverse category in commercial aquaculture. Includes salmon, trout, tilapia, catfish, bass, cobia, yellowtail, sturgeon, and many others. Most finfish production targets human food markets, with some species raised for sport fishery stocking programs. Many species are also kept in public aquariums, zoos, and research facilities.
Shrimp, prawns, crayfish, crabs, and lobster. Among the highest-value segments of global aquaculture by market price. Shrimp production in particular represents a massive and rapidly growing sector, with land-based biofloc and RAS systems increasingly replacing coastal pond operations.
Oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and abalone. Primarily food products, though some species are also cultured for the pearl and shell trades. Mollusk aquaculture is among the most environmentally efficient protein production methods available — no feed inputs required for filter feeders.
Sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and other marine invertebrates with significant food and nutraceutical markets, particularly in Asia. Sea cucumbers in particular command high market values and are increasingly produced in controlled land-based systems.
AquaFarm's species models are parameterized for each group and can be calibrated to local conditions, water source characteristics, and specific production targets or exhibit requirements.
The quantitative models used in AquaFarm for simulation of aquatic processes and animal performance are based on methods reported in the peer-reviewed scientific literature — aquaculture and aquatic sciences and engineering. In addition, original algorithms and quantitative models have been newly developed specifically for AquaFarm and are documented in the AquaFarm User Manual.
A technical article describing AquaFarm's methodology has been published in the Aquacultural Engineering Journal and is available through ResearchGate.
AquaFarm is installed together with its User Manual, and the Manual is not a help file that grew too long. It is a reference on the science and engineering of aquaculture and aquatic systems, written to the standard of an upper-level text, that happens also to document a piece of software.
It sets out the quantitative basis of every module: species-specific bioenergetic and growth models, water quality algorithms, system-type configurations for each facility class, and the economic modeling framework. The parameters and assumptions behind each model are stated plainly and traced to the peer-reviewed literature they derive from, so a result can be interpreted and defended rather than taken on trust.
That makes it useful two ways. Read straight through, it is an account of how aquaculture and aquatic systems behave. Opened at the module in front of you, it tells you exactly what the software is calculating, and why.
The User Manual is installed with AquaFarm, on the 30-day trial as well as on every paid license. It is not distributed separately.
The full platform — every system type, every simulation capability — available for 30 days at no charge. The User Manual is installed with it.