Feed conversion ratio (FCR) calculator
The feed conversion ratio (FCR) is the feed given divided by the biomass gained over the same period. Enter both below to compute FCR for a pond, a tank, or a whole cycle, and optionally your feed cost to see what a kilogram of growth costs.
- Feed given over biomass gained
- Works for fish and shrimp
- Optional cost per kg gained
- Runs in the browser, no sign-up
Calculate FCR
All feed delivered to the unit over the period, as fed.
Final biomass minus starting biomass, plus any weight harvested during the period.
In your own currency. The result uses the same unit.
Feed conversion ratio
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Feed cost per kg gained
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Calculations run in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored.
How is FCR calculated?
FCR is total feed given divided by total biomass gained over the same period. A pond that received 1,200 kg of feed and gained 1,000 kg of biomass ran an FCR of 1.20. The lower the number, the less feed each kilogram of growth cost.
Both inputs have to be real for the result to mean anything. Feed given means feed actually delivered to the water, not the ration that was planned, and biomass gained has to account for mortality and for anything harvested mid-period.
What is a good FCR in aquaculture?
There is no single good number: FCR varies by species, life stage, water temperature, feed quality, and production system, and figures quoted out of that context mislead more than they inform. The comparison that pays is internal: this pond against that pond, this cycle against the last one on the same unit.
A pond whose FCR runs above its neighbours on the same feed and the same water is telling you something specific, and it is telling you while there is still cycle left to act on it.
Economic FCR counts what the biology hides
Biological FCR measures feed against the growth of the animals that survived. Economic FCR (eFCR) divides all feed purchased for the cycle by the biomass actually sold, so mortality, uneaten feed, and escapes all land in the number. It is almost always higher, and it is the one the business runs on.
The gap between the two is itself diagnostic: a wide gap points at mortality or wasted feed rather than at the feed table.
A farm-level FCR hides the ponds that are losing
Averaging feed and gain across the whole farm buries the two underperforming ponds under the ten performing well. By the time a farm-level figure looks wrong, the cycle that caused it is usually over.
Computing FCR per pond, every period, from confirmed feedings is the fix, and it is a record-keeping problem before it is a biology problem: it requires knowing what each unit was actually fed, including the days it was skipped.
AquaOS computes FCR per pond automatically, from daily confirmed feedings against the live biomass record, so the number exists every day rather than after harvest.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my FCR worse than the feed manufacturer quotes?
Manufacturer figures come from controlled trials with no skipped days, no waste, and no mortality. A farm FCR computed from real feed deliveries and real biomass gain includes all three. If the gap is large, the usual suspects are unrecorded not-fed days, overfeeding against an outdated biomass estimate, and mortality between samplings.
Does FCR include fish that died?
Biological FCR does not: it measures feed against the growth of surviving animals. Economic FCR does: it divides all feed used by the biomass sold, so mortality raises it. Track both when possible, because the difference between them separates a feeding problem from a survival problem.
How often should FCR be calculated?
Per pond and per period, not once at harvest. A running FCR over two-week or monthly windows shows drift while there is still time to respond. Computing it at harvest only tells you what the cycle already cost.
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