whats the average profit for you guys per month

[gemini aquarius(t)]

i do work at a lfs!

[Serioussnaps]

Get a job, u have a hobby.

[gemini aquarius(t)]

read the above reply!

[ahenson]

I think the small amount you will make is not worth the hassle. It wasn't for me, zoanthids are by far the most popular if you are shipping. For me it took the fun out of a fun hobby. If you are in it for the money, long term I don't think you will enjoy your time.

[organism]

unless you make it large, oh so large scale, you can expect to not turn much of a profit at all. the best way to pull it off would be to have a revolving stock of frags so that there's always some ready at all times, but the only way to compensate for the even relatively slow growth of xenia is to have massive stock on hand at a time. I generally have anywhere for 300-500 frags readily growing out, and I'd say maybe 40-50 are ready at any given point in time, that's a lot of real estate just sitting there! I'd say that after factoring in lighting, water, and all of the above mentioned costs, I clear mmmmaybe enough to pay my bills and half of my rent from frags, and we're talking a tank the size of a honda civic here. Also, you've got to think about market, even though you work at a fish store, are they willing to take that many gsp frags? Are people willing to buy that many gsp and xenia (which doesn't ship well at all) frags online? If so, how will you go about it? growing them out is only half the issue, moving them can actually prove to be much more difficult, I'd say you've got a good plan going with minimal power usage though, do keep us posted if you decide to go on through with it

[zapata41]

i run a little frag system and it keeps me in the red all the time. pge alone just went from 140$ to 210$ since it is now summer time and the rates have gone up. with the amount of frags i have going, between 20-50 sps and 10 or so zoas i couldnt sell enough of them each month to cover the pge alone. dont factor in water changes or bulb replacement cuz that will just make the red number larger. i am thinking about trippling the frag tank size but need to find a way to do it with the same lighting i currently have, dont need to add another light purchase and higher pge bill to the red numbers.

the other major factor is trying to get rid of the frags. ppl arent always looking for what you have and the lfs will only take soo much. also selling to the lfs yields about 1/2 to 1/4 of what you get selling to pther ppl. shipping cost is the biggest factor, ppl dont wanna pay 75$ to ship from the west coast to the east coast, last box i shipped of 10 frags cost me almost a 100$ to ship, and i only charged the guy 70$ so i took a big loss there.

so in short, keep a frag tank for yourself, a place to put new corals in to watch them prior to adding them to a display and also a place to store accidental frags, not a place to turn a profit from.

organsim hit it pretty spot on with the size needed to turn a profit, and that size is pretty hard to put under your stand.

Tim

[gemini aquarius(t)]

ok thx

[colby]

All I can say is rock on man.

Colby

[Krypticol]

AQUACULTURE IS THE ONLY FUTURE FOR THIS HOBBY...IT IS RESPECTABLE, AND IF WE CAN EVEN HELP OUR HOBBY SUPPORT ITSELF WHILE PROVIDING HEALTHY STABLE TANK RAISED SPECIMENS FOR A DECENT PRICE. THEN WE ARE ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING GOOD AND WORTH DOING.

To be truly profitable, one must go very large, use naturaL SEAWATER most likely, and ship wholesale to retailers.
these nitches are there, and will become more neccessary as the hobby keeps grwoing like it does,

Start small, deliver to local LFS and reefers and grow as your $$$, skill, and demands allow!!!

job or a hobby??? The frag tanks are an exension of my hobby...
It won't be a job, unless I get a boss and a timeclock,

[Pazazz]

I agree it really is not for profit it for me it is the love of the ocean and its beautiful colorful creatures and I dont have to drive 15 hour to see it !!!! I have a very stressful job and this hobby allows me to really relax, I often just watch my tank and not the tv...

[MiddletonMark]

Once adding up:
salt, bulb replacement, chemicals, etc ... even with my cheap 60g tub setup [MH, 2 ph, heater] it was never going to make much money. [setup cost under $100, as most everything I already had].

Do it because you love it, because you have success with propagation.

Honestly, the vast majority of folks never make a dime [once setup costs, LR, etc factored in]. Realize that, and only spend what you can afford to lose, and only do it if that's how you really want to spend your time.

For your setup - I'd DIY all you can, very strongly consider power use, equipment cost, the like.

And while there is no timeclock ... my free time is worth a lot to me. That evening every few weeks when I change water, keep up on maintenance, etc ... on top of my display tank's required time ... that time is valuable to me [for doing other things in life].

[ladyfsu]

Take pictures and monitor EVERYTHING. Research why aquaculture is so good. Learn ways to cheaply grow things at home and show what works and doesn't work. Find a way that works making own live rock and growing corals. Enter it in the science fair. 99% of the stuff entered is crap! WIN A BIG SCHOLARSHIP! Go to a great college for free and keep working on the stuff. Make a lot of money from your education doing what you love!

[silversnake]

Ive spent over 4gs on my tank and I havent sold a frag yet.

[gemini aquarius(t)]

geez 4000 bux i would spend like 1.3 max!

[smp]

Originally posted by ladyfsu
Take pictures and monitor EVERYTHING. Research why aquaculture is so good. Learn ways to cheaply grow things at home and show what works and doesn't work. Find a way that works making own live rock and growing corals. Enter it in the science fair. 99% of the stuff entered is crap! WIN A BIG SCHOLARSHIP! Go to a great college for free and keep working on the stuff. Make a lot of money from your education doing what you love!

That's the best advice so far.
You can make 20 bucks a month now on a shoestring budget cutting corners everywhere or you can put all that effort into education and work as a marine biologist or something down the road.
I know it's hard to think that way when you're 13 (or however old you are) and I'm not telling you not to do it, in fact, I think you should do it, just don't expect to make any money. You're more than likely going to spend more than you bring in. That's not altogether bad though, as returns on investments aren't necessarily quantified in dollar value .. but education as the above poster said.
I'm starting a frag tank too, same dimensions and I just want to do it because I like to grow things. It'll give me something else to tinker with and frags to trade in the local community. I'm plumbing mine into a shared sump with my display however.
I also have some experimenting in mind

[ScotchMaster]

smp - How are you going to tie the tank into your main display? Im going to be adding a prop tank to my display and want to know hw to do it

[goda]

10 k in the hole from setup of my display / prop tank. selling a few frags here and there id say so far i only got 50 bucks from the frags... not gonna make anything till my frag tank is compleatly set up and i get a few more going ( gonna try to do large scale ricordia. and small prodution of sps

just remember. if you have somthing nice and you just sold another thing just like it to an lfs. wait a while to sell them it again. makes it a lil rarer. ( guy at the lfs i work at was bringing in xenia once a week and getting 30 bucks store credit. the amount he is getting is slowly dropping)

[smp]

Originally posted by ScotchMaster
smp - How are you going to tie the tank into your main display? Im going to be adding a prop tank to my display and want to know hw to do it

The frag tank will sit next to the display, but lower.
I will probably tee off my return line, half to the frag tank, half to the display. I'll just put a little overflow in the frag tank and ball valves on the returns to control flow. Both tanks will drain into the sump.

[D-Rod]

Oh come on now! i met this guy who does for a living and you are all very low-balling your income and i understand why...these walls have ears.
And if they found your true $ you would be banned here for doing this for profit. but then again they let some get away with it!

I asked this guy and his # are no where as low as you guys have "reported" here.
Give him a PM or email him with the real $$$ let him in on the action. Theres enough room for him also, he wont take away all your business.

[goda]

where do alot of you sell to? cause i have a few lfs who will pay for frags but in no way will they ever be able to take the 5 a day that i should be getting per frag tank


seems to me the main problom is selling the frags not growing them
for example. i GAVE some hydnophora ( really nice 1 inch frag) to the lfs and priced it at 20 bucks. its still there.

i am selling some slightly larger pieces on this fourm for 30 ( well worth it considering how much i paid) several people intrested but several hundred views and no takers

[yetti]

Originally posted by gemini aquarius(t)
i do work at a lfs!

Why don't you try talking to the LFS owner to set something up at the LFS instead of your home? Kinda of a partnership of sorts? You guys could sell and ship plus sell out of the LFS, where you would be able to sell for more since its retail.

Put the numbers together, a plan and go to him/her. If the numbers clearly show the amount to get it started and the return on investment then they could make an informed decision.

If you are in good standing with the owner, show that you have initiative to do this and show how they can make a profit......there you go.

[jay24k]

I think a little otherwise.

It costs me about 65 dollars a month in electricity for my tank. I do 2 water changes a month if I'm not busy but usually 1 at 20 gallons.

I sold about 11 frags of SPS on ebay that I accidently broke off. I made about 375 dollars AFTER shipping which they paid. The boxes were free since I get them free at my job (City gets alot of stuff). Bags are cheap as dirt. IF you get the right size box and fill it up right, then you don't need to add too much filler. I get that free from all the boxes coming in.

That was just one weeks worth of frags and you can't tell any difference in my tank. I'm not looking to do a business but I want to use every summer to trim down my tank and let it grow back during the winter. Is it great money? Not really but it is extra.

The key imo is having great growth and good FAST growing colorful corals. The more colorful, the more it sells for. I'd love to do it as a business but honestly, it would be tough. If you are looking for an extra 100 to 200 a week, it is definetly feasible but you better have a fully stocked tank to trim from. My average growth is about 1/2 to 1" of growth on every stalk in my tank per month. Take my blue tort for example. It has probably 20 to 30 stalks. At even 1/2" a month that is 15 inches a month. My slimer grows faster then I can frag it for locals.

Softies don't sell as well although mushrooms do well for some reason. Hope this helps

[organism]

Originally posted by ScotchMaster
smp - How are you going to tie the tank into your main display? Im going to be adding a prop tank to my display and want to know hw to do it

that can end up as a very risky proposition, a long time ago I had my frag tank plumbed into my display, somehow monti nudis got into the display, possibly hitchhiked on live rock, and next thing I knew my frag tank was totalled, now I keep the farm tank a completely separate system, with anything going into it massively cleaned, and I'm still paranoid...

[jay24k]

Organism makes an excellent point. All new additions should go in the prop tank. If you need to intercept or add some dangerous chemical that isn't fish safe, you do not run the risk of killing your main tank.

[k87staff]

I've been a successful business owner for ten years. I'm 34 years old. Try your absolute best to make it work if you don't have too much to risk. I'm new to this hobby, so I couldn't advise you on anything in this area, but the wealth of knowledge, people skills, business techniques, marketing, attitudes, etc. will benefit you forever. There are so many skills and ways of thinking that you will develop that will never be taught in any other classroom. Just don't let other areas of your life slip any( like grades).

Make sure you filter everything that you hear or read. Sometimes it is good solid advise and many times not.

ps. I just read an article in a famous business magazine about a young billionaire in the pond landscape business. He got started with a turtle when he was 13.

Something to think about.