whats the average profit for you guys per month

gemini aquarius(t) · #1 05/14/2006, 08:25 PM

just like the title says what do u make on avereage per month of your frag tank

please post
average(including electricity and waterchanges and other upkeep and all)
and you frag tank specs

thank
you
very
much
~
xavier

Kaiden · #2 05/15/2006, 05:26 PM

Were Do I Start?

First You need To Think, Are You In It For The Money?

Second Are you going to be shipping, if so stop doing what you are doing. Go to the store and buy a goldfish tank, and forget you ever thought of this idea.

Most People that have frag tanks do not make that much unless they ship. I am assuming they don't make anything at all due to the cost of running the system in the first place as well as the shipping boxes (we won't even start there).

If you are doing it for fun, keep your head up. If you are doing it just to make money so you can buy other things, get a part time job over the summer. You will not make money with a small frag tank it takes a while to grow stuff and by that time you have spent so much time and money into it, you don't come out even. Most of the time you are in the red.

gemini aquarius(t) · #3 05/15/2006, 07:04 PM

well in that case i guess i will ship whats the deal with shipping?

Kaiden · #4 05/15/2006, 07:58 PM

The deal is on every item you are going to expect at least a cost of about 10.00 per package just the box, styrofoam, heat or cold packs, material to soak up anything that leaks, multi bags etc. As for the grand part, the shipping cost, in order to get a low shipping cost to offer you have to do a lot I mean a lot of sales through Fedex or UPS. The average cost for you to ship anything over night is going to be well over 50.00 just for the shipping. Nobody wants to pay 15.00 for a frag and on top of that 50.00 for the shipping, not including what you paid in box fees which I assume you don't want to eat. That would put the total at 75.00 for a 15.00 piece of coral. Does not sound good does it. You would have to invest a lot to get any return and even then the summer months are coming up so that means sales are going to be down. Anyhow good luck..

cwegescheide · #5 05/15/2006, 08:15 PM

-400 / month?? sounds about right to me

gemini aquarius(t) · #6 05/15/2006, 08:26 PM

-400 dollars,how?
it would only cost like 20 bux for electricity so i dont have to sell much per month to break even

cwegescheide · #7 05/15/2006, 08:38 PM

I'm joking...

But seriously, It will take A WHILE to get to the point that you can sell frags consistantly...

tekknoschtev · #8 05/15/2006, 08:50 PM

Interestingly enough, I had (key word, had) a spreadsheet setup to monitor costs (borrowed the kill-a-watt from work to get baseline electricity usage), the cost of mother colonies (or more often than not, the "cost" assumed in electricity and such to take frags from my tank at home and grow them out to "mother colony" status to begin the fragging in the frag system). I also monitored things such as the cost of salt, and everything up to and including the dual gang electric boxes used to wire the thing. Freebies and things I had laying around not counted in the setup, and JUST the setup of my system alone cost nearly $500. Thats 2x 30gal breeder frag tanks, 2x 25gal sump/fuges, and 1x 30gal sump. The pumps and lights and stand required to run it etc. Keep in mind that things such as water were "free" but I had to lug water from home in gallon jugs. What a PITA.

I'd be in the negative if it werent for the fact that school got in the way and I had to shut it down. Now that summer is rolling in, I should have more time to work on it and get it running.

I figured out that the best way to make a return on my money wasnt with the cool corals, it was with the weed corals; things such a xenia and green star polyps sell like mad, grow quickly, and are easy to frag - which makes up for the fact that $5 frags doesnt make a ton of money quickly. When I get it running again, I'll be dedicating one tank to growing out xenia frags, and the other for green star polyps and some cooler zoanthids.

As said above, if you're looking to do this for profit, you need to read though soem of the other threads (I'd get some but search isnt working and I'm lazy tonite

) concerning profit making techniques such as air lifts for flow, stock tanks for grow out tanks, and massive systems.

At home, the 40gal frag tank is enough to allow us to buy a new coral or fish every so often, but all things considered, its a negative investment as well, because we arent using it to pay for the cost of electricty to run it or the salt and such for water changes.

hamburglar · #9 05/15/2006, 09:19 PM

I'm at a pretty good -100 per month. Not too bad....it was -200 per month during the winter

cwegescheide · #10 05/15/2006, 10:12 PM

Air lift? Whats an air lift? You mean like the old UG filters with the air stones???

tekknoschtev · #11 05/15/2006, 10:13 PM

Sort of. I'm not 100% versed on them, but I know if/when I consider large scale propagation, that airlifts are going to be used instead of powerheads due to the cost of electricity and the simplicity of it.

gemini aquarius(t) · #12 05/15/2006, 10:18 PM

yeah but you have a huge electricity bill all io have to do is sell like 4 frags of 5 dollar xenia or zoos or gsp

tekknoschtev · #13 05/15/2006, 10:38 PM

You also have to factor in the cost of equipment upkeep, any chemicals you may dose/use (kalk, calcium, etc), salt, etc. I'm just playing devil's advocate, but there are other costs to consider before you can officially 'turn a profit'. My parents likely would have helped fund my frag system (which would have only served as a way for me to rush things, paying for it myself, I had to think things through and bargain shop a lot more).

Also note that while certain corals grow fast, you also have to have the market. Where I am, there is always someone looking for a frag of xenia, or some macro algae, gsp or zoas, so they go fast. Also consider that corals tend to not grow as fast as you need them too

It just seems to go that way.

What kind of setup are you considering? I realize you are 13, so there may be costs covered that you dont need to necessarily factor in. Just curious

gemini aquarius(t) · #14 05/15/2006, 10:43 PM

well i was thinking a 24x24x12 tank with a 150 175 or a 250 halide(i already have a 250) for a skimmer a aqua c remora witha maxi jet 1200 and 2 maxi-jet 1200 in the frag tank a 20 gallon sump with a custom made stand and a simple canopy(or hanging pendant)about 20 pounds of live rock in the sump and eggcrate a heater and a rio 1700 return pump

how does this sound

btw;i have to pay for EVERYTHING by myself

tekknoschtev · #15 05/15/2006, 10:55 PM

Sounds like a plan to me - I just dont know how realistic $20/month in costs is. I'm not sure on the power consumption of your light's ballast (though if you have a 250, I say keep it, it'd cost more/be trading down to find anything more or less respectively).

Like I said above, not criticizing you/your setup, just mostly curious. There were a lot of costs I didnt realize when I set mine up. $10 each GFCIs, the stand - despite being a cheap stand, still ran me $50 in supplies. Things just added up quicker than I expected, and while I was able to make due because I have a decent paying job, I think its best to be realistic than optimistic. If you have a tank running (or have in the past) you likely know what it costs to maintain the setup.

If you're handy or have family that's handy (or in my case both) then it helps shave a few bucks here and there. I know by the end of my setup, the $10 1.5" bulkheads were hurting my wallet to the point where it bled

gemini aquarius(t) · #16 05/15/2006, 10:58 PM

ohh yeah the light,i was told that by putting the tank by the window in sunlight you only have to turn on the halides like 3 hours per day!and i think i will only need like 3 bulkheads!!!,im not handy ut ill make it work

gh0st · #17 05/16/2006, 10:20 PM

The window thing only works if you have a window with good exposure, and even then you're ussually not going to see the growth you would under some Halides, VHO's etc. Most windows only have a very short amount of time when the sun will be blasting through and hitting the prop system.

tekknoschtev · #18 05/16/2006, 10:41 PM

I agree, I think that method is more effective in a greenhouse where the light hits the tank more often. Not saying it cant work, just that I believe its more effective when the tank gets more direct sunlight.

Just some actual numbers, after about 3 months of not having sold a single thing from our 40gal frag system at home, I have about $50 in corals sold. So add in the cost of electricity and salt for water changes and carbon for the canister filter, were only about -$250

gemini aquarius(t) · #19 05/17/2006, 10:26 AM

well if i sold 50 bux of coral(i will be shipping)so probly more,i would only be about -30 bux after 3 months and hopefully by then the zoo thing will be growing and the xenias will grow and the gsp will grow so i can sell more

i dont know even if im in -30 a month alteast i will like doing it and its not a bussiness completely its a hobby

RichConley · #20 05/17/2006, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gemini aquarius(t)
well i was thinking a 24x24x12 tank with a 150 175 or a 250 halide(i already have a 250) for a skimmer a aqua c remora witha maxi jet 1200 and 2 maxi-jet 1200 in the frag tank a 20 gallon sump with a custom made stand and a simple canopy(or hanging pendant)about 20 pounds of live rock in the sump and eggcrate a heater and a rio 1700 return pump

how does this sound

btw;i have to pay for EVERYTHING by myself

250w (e ballasts run at about 250, mags 300) @ 8 hours = 2000whrs
3 mj1200@20w=60w@24h=1440whrs

rio 1700? not sure what wattage draw is

so 3440whrs per day, or 3.44 kwh@$.15/kwh, you're looking about $0.50 a day to run this thing in power, so yeah, $20 a month is totally reasonable.

Get mj900s instead if you havent already bought them.

RichConley · #21 05/17/2006, 10:29 AM

Also, people keep mentioning chemicals.

I spent $20 on a 5 gallon bucket full of calcium hydroxide (Kalkwasser). I spent $5 on a 1 gallon bag of MgCl.

That much will last FOREVER on that tank. Theres no reason for silly expensive hobby additives.

hamburglar · #22 05/17/2006, 12:31 PM

Throw in bulb replacement cost, frag rocks if you are buying them, and packing supplies. You will need to buy your shipping bags in large quqntities (like 1000 packs from uline as an example) to get a good deal on them. Styrofoam boxes can be purchased reasonably in moderate quantities.

SaveOurReefs · #23 05/18/2006, 07:58 PM

LOL, I thought I warned you about this in your other thread?

gemini aquarius(t) · #24 05/18/2006, 08:08 PM

yes u did and i thought about it, and i do want to waste my money on it and if i make one dallar a month im happy

SaveOurReefs · #25 05/18/2006, 08:59 PM

I would look at getting a real job first imo maybe at a lfs or something? But good luck, the more people farming, means the less being taken out of the ocean.