Ridley native fish pellets

steve

Hi all,

As many of you may know i've been doin my nut in trying to find a supplier for native fish pellets in victoria.

This has been no easy task, Ridley aquafeeds supplied me with a list of distributors in victoria and NOT ONE of them had or would order any stock.

Native pellets contain about half the fat content of other feeds like trout pellets and i'm sure i've read somewhere that this is quite important for the native fish.

Anyway, i was desperate, so i bought a bag of trout pellets for now.

I've been in contact with Ridley aquafeeds, and the best they can do is supply me direct, but with one catch...............i need to order 1 Tonne :shock:

For those that don't know me well i can be VERY implusive...............and i actually considered building a small cool-room (to extend shelf life) and going through with the order :shock:

Luckily the small portion of my brain that is still linked with reality put the brakes on!

The prices i have been supplied are basically trade price i believe, it works out to about $35 per 25kg bag (bloody cheap)

Basically what i'm hoping for is that others in Victoria will be having the same issue and that a sizable number of people would like to get a couple of bags each (fat chance huh?).

I'll be happy to ship them to neighbouring states (SA & NSW) if anyone knows of a cheap transport method. Get this, Ridley can ship me 1 Tonne (two pallets) for $61, so cheap transport must exist!

I welcome discussion on this topic

creative1

steve just wondering if you could create your own brand?
here is some info you might find helpful
.....Growth in the Australian aquaculture sector and
improvements in production efficiency in the more
traditional livestock industries, has placed greater emphasis
on the production of more sophisticated diets using
technology such as extrusion. Extrusion involves the
application of pressure to a material that is capable of
flowing to produce a modified product. Most pet foods and
aquatic foods are produced using extrusion, as are many
human foods.
Development
of extruded
livestock diets
using commercial
scale equipment
is time-consuming,
expensive and
produces a large
amount of waste.
Recognising the
need to develop
capacity in the
production of extruded feeds for the aquaculture and
livestock sectors, the South Australian Research and
Development Institute, with support from Wenger
Manufacturing Inc., Allied Industries Pty Ltd, UAS
Industries, the Adelaide University and the Aquaculture CRC
Ltd, established the Australasian Experimental Stockfeed
Extrusion Centre (AESEC).
Operational Objectives
The AESEC infrastructure assists the development of
Australian aquaculture and livestock sectors by providing
services in the following areas:
Product development and core research
Training
Contract research
Toll manufacture of non-commercial quantities
of extruded feed
Commercial facility hire
Collaborative research and development
Key Features
The AESEC comprises of a Wenger X-85 extruder capable of
producing between 100 and 600 kg/hr of product depending
on the diet and barrel configuration. The equipment can be
configured to accommodate production of 1.2 - 20 mm sinking
or floating pellet diets. All extrusion equipment is fitted with
data logging capacity,
from the live feed bin,
along the barrel
heads and screws to
the die plate and
knife cutter. This enables production parameters to be
monitored during the course of product development and for
later use in up-scaling to larger commercial machines. As
little as 0.5 - 1 tonne of
mixed ingredients is
sufficient for use in
pellet development
processes, but
production runs as
small as 100 kg are possible once the process and extruder
configuration has been defined.
Complementing the extruder is a two stage, steam fired dryer
and a single stage cooler. This leads to a UAS vacuum
infusion system that can be
used for micro-ingredient
addition, pellet coating and
the incorporation of fats and
oils. Depending on the
formulation, pellets can be
produced with fat levels
exceeding 30% using this
system.
Key Contacts
Dr Robert van Barneveld Consultant Research Scientist (Nutrition)
Tel: +61 7 5547 8611 Fax: +61 7 5547 8624
E-mail: robvanb@dove.net.au
Mr Steven Clarke Aquaculture Program Leader
Tel: +61 8 8200 2443 Fax: +61 8 8200 2481
E-mail: clarke.steven@saugov.sa.gov.au
G
Government of
South Australia
AUSTRALASIAN EXPERIMENTAL STOCKFEED EXTRUSION CENTRE

Hope this helps.
C1

steve

Thanks for the info C1.
That seems like it would be a full time job in itself. I wan't convenience, and at less than $1.50 per kg the ridley pellets are my goal. They also contain all the vitamins and minerals apropriate for the native fish

Interesting info though

creative1

Never would I want to convince anyone to enter the business arena.
Though since I have been in business for ages(25+)years and having seen many a market niche's appear.
It does begg the questions-Who would form the market, who are my competitors, what cost to set up.
The blerb indicates a minimum run of less than 1000kg they own the plant n equip.
What do pet shops buy?
What consumption per annum for you steve?

steve

Well i'd like to have about 100 fish when i'm all set up. That will allow for 2 fish per week.

At an average size of 1kg and an FCR of 1.2:1 i'd be looking at 120kg per year.

creative1

So about $180 per year.
I wonder how many other consumers there are.
Would it be worthy of a sticky?
Could be an earner for B.Y.A's
Am I jumping the gun?

veggie boy

Steve - I raised a similar question for Brisbane. Luckily for me I can buy a bag from a middle man, and have. I expect however that in time it may be worth getting 2 pallets up here and distributing to the brisi folk, once our demand is a bit greater.

Remember that if you need to get a bag badly, an option may be to get one of the Brisi stockists to freight it down for you - or one of us when we go out to get an order.

creative1

There you go steve, that is your competitor.

veggie boy

I think you have misunderstood C1. I am talking about a co-operative. Everyone benefiting from the cheaper price, nobody profitting.

creative1

That is the co-op I like.
And I was alluding to that.
Just looking for the best out come for all,
and the answer came, thank you! VB

nick

what if you could split it. If it is made in brisbane you could order a tonne and someone could pick up half of it and then have the other half shipped down to victoria. that way steve you only have to rid yourself of half, but still get the good price.

creative1

But are they the design you want steve.

steve

C1, they are exactly what i want, the only problem seems to be getting them

Nick, this is why i love the forum...........will collate options and maybe speak to some of the brissie fellas. Keep the option coming guys. Thanks to all for the inputs so far

veggie boy

I expect the shipping is so cheap because Ridley would be sending container loads of stuff down south, not only fish food, things like chook food. Therefore shipping half a tonne yourslef would probably cost heaps more. Best bet is to find other in Vic (a big ask at this stage) or get it shipped a bag at a time until demand increases.

veggie boy

Just emptied by 25kg bag. Half is in an old beer fermenter and the other half in the deep freeze in big ziplock bags.

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics