[teamreefers]

I’m getting tired of the 9-5 grind and am looking for a new career… something I enjoy doing for a change. Been crunching numbers on an aquaculture facility and would like some advice from those of you who have done it. I’m not looking to get rich and from the numbers I’m getting and from what I have read, I don’t have to worry about that.

It appears that the volume required to make a profit in the retail/e-tail market would require too much labor… i.e. boxing and shipping small orders and customer support would be labor intensive. I am leaning toward a mix of high end corals wholesale to regional LFS and e-tailers. Target is 500 pieces per month at $30 each. This would require a substantial initial investment but should produce some profit in the second year of operation.

Here are some things I am struggling with.

Start out big or small to get my feet wet first (Pun intended). If I start small, the initial investment would be minimized and I would have time to build up my brood stock. I could sell a small volume to local hobbyists and some e-tail to offset costs. Starting small I would not see any significant profit for several years.

Greenhouse vs. brick and mortar. From what I have read, a greenhouse is required to increase profit. My numbers just don’t seem to show that. It seems any cost savings realized by using natural light is quickly eroded by increased heating and cooling costs, primarily heating. I am leaning toward a BM facility and DIY LED lights supplemented with MH or T5 as needed for best color and growth. The LED lights would require a substantial initial investment but the breakeven point should be about 2.5yrs considering the lower energy cost and no bulb replacements.

If you had it to do over, would you? What would you do differently? Any advice?