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Old 11/22/2007, 12:40 AM
tekknoschtev tekknoschtev is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: SCS, MI
Posts: 2,027
I have to agree with the general sentiment here and echo that it can be done, but you really have to want to get it done, and also recognize that, especially on a smaller scale, you'll not be making much extra money. Alas, profit is profit - or that's what my business planning professor would have me believe.

I tried this venture when I moved off campus. I had two 30 gallon breeder tanks draining into a common 60 gallon sump. One lit with 4x ODNO bulbs pushing ~55-56W each, and the other lit with a 250W halide (I bought both lighting setups for $75 from a guy on a local forum). My total cost, including the lights, tanks, stand, salt, and miscellaneous crap necessary to start it up was less than $300 because I did most of it myself, and bought most of the stuff used over the course of a couple months. Sadly, I didn't have the time to dedicate to the endeavor in order to make it worthwhile (having a part time job to pay for my car and college expenses, plus being a full time student pushing 18-20 credits a semester at that point left me with very little time to actually do much "hobby" wise and I had other hobbies that required more attention like my iguana). My total yearly electrical costs were about $4-500 a year, give or take (I forget what I used for a return pump and for powerheads, but that was a quick estimate).

The long and short of it is - if you have the time and patience and the ability to maintain it appropriately it can be profitable. As others have said, pick a species and target the system to that (it seems you have). That'll assure your corals aren't competing with one another, expending resources that could otherwise be used for growing! It'll also assure you have the ability to provide the optimal conditions for the coral you are growing, instead of sacrificing some optimal conditions to suit multiple corals.

Good luck!