Making money

Mrmofo

well being relativly new to this hobby and loving id like to know what to breed/colinate to make abit of money to keep up this new found "obsession".how should i approach a shop to sell them to?what tank specifications/flow rates do i need to breed the species.i dont want to make a community tank, i want a money maker tank.anyone doing this that can give me a tip or 2?there has to be, i heard cleaner shrimp maybe?maybe somthing a little more exotic with a high demand

Brandon

breeding fish is pretty hard considering your new to this. Did you think about fragging coral? Zoas are in very high demand now, i think hammers to.

caferacermike

This is an outright horrible attitude I see all the time. It's one thing to be lucky enough to be able to frag some coral to trade but it's a huge turn off being in the shop and hearing people say, "does it grow fast? I want to be able to frag it and make money".

Here is the short answer. Unless you dedicate an entire propogation area to raising and rearing you'll lose money attempting to make money. You must keep in mind that this all takes clean water, salt mixes, supplements, huge amounts of electricity, not to mention the purchase price of tanks, live rock, equipment and the coral or fish int he first place.

Being able to frag or breed is usually considered a sign of success by a dedicated hobbyist. A friend of mine has a complete frag operation up and running. He keeps about 200 species of SPS coral. He generally makes 40 frgas a month. Glues them down and waits 2 months to sell established frags for $10 each. Because of his cycling effect he has about 120 frags in the grow out tank. The grow out tank is another large tank, filtration set up, heavy lighting etc....... So sure the guy makes about $400 a month right? Wrong. Some people come by and wan t multiple frags. This generally leads to deal making and price dropping. Next, some people come over with frags of their own to trade. So let's say you make $300 a month on the side, not bad eh? Get this, his electric bill is $600 a month. He had to beg to not have his service shut off as he was considered a high energy consumer. The elctric company thought he had wiring problems in his home and did an audit. They called the city inspector to walk it with them as they figured the house (4 years old) would need to be condemned until repairs were made. Both inspectors cost him money to show around the house. They don't come out for free.

So put it all in perspective. Change the approach. Focus on the tank itself. Enjoy the hobby and when you are a successful hobbyist learn to enjoy trading frags. You won't get rich but it'll keeep you busy.

Mrmofo

hmmm ok.so your basicly saying there is no way to possibly turn a profit or equal amount return into another tank say by growing more of somthing thats easy but not many people know how to or bothered are bothered to, to obtain the fish/coral/invert that you want?im not trying to be disrespectful or make a quick buck.just wanting to know if i do happen to frag or get some fry and raise it, it will be able to be traded for either credit or somthing in a fish store, which can go into more fish or pumps or somthing for a better ecosystem, basicly to make the tank not only biologicly stable but basicly give my tank an..economy if u will.it creates more, it recieves more. thats simply all im trying to ask.i did hear from a friend u can actually go to a store n trade kept fish in too, is it possible or not really?

Melissa

making money in the saltwater business does not just happen. It takes experience and time and lots of money. If you are new to this i wouldnt even attempt it. Alot of saltwater fish wont even breed in captivity. The only one i have heard of are clowns, and you are lucky if that happens. I hear that most of the time the fry dont even make it.

And propegating corals takes alot too. First the corals have to be good enough to propagate, and then you have to have the right equipment, light and supplements to make them survive. It is not something for the begginer to do. And when someone does do it, like i said earlier they are experienced with years of knowing everything about what they are doing.

But yes, in a nut shell it can be done, you can make money off of saltwater. But it will take a long time and even more understanding to do it.

Matt

1 way that my dad and I make money off of it is we do lots of Frag swaps.
We have TONS of Frags that we just cut off and put on the little holders. Then store in a different tank until the next Frag Swap.
We have Huge Leathers and different type of things but My dad has been doing this for Years So he knows all the Requirements of the Corals and fish.

Also, Breeding clowns isnt all that hard
You just Have to Know what you are Doing.

Brandon

The main reson i would ever do this is to make money so i could buy frags. But i wouldn't anyways.

trreherd

What i would do is learn up on everything saltwater. then start your own tank. Have fun with it. If you enjow keeping corals and want a bigger chalenge, then start fraging, if you find you have a nac for fragging, set up a propagation tank and start trading and selling. I dont know what is involeved in fraging or how long it takes but it seems simple.(corect me if im wrong.)
If you reely like fraging then you can go out of your way to buy corals that are in demand. You could save all the money you get from fragging(after you other aquarium bills have been paid) and if you save enuff money you could buy a expensive peice of sps(this is once your a pro though) you could then frag these and make big bucks. I think fraging is a great idea. It limmits the strain on the reefs and it is great for people like me who want coral but cant afford the wild cought stuff.
For the fish i would raise clowns and cardinals and sell them for cheap. i would love to buy a cardinal off someone for 10 bucks. you could make alot of money off that.

musho3210

just get a large tank, maybe.... 75 gallons? Get an anemone, get a breeding pair of oscelarius clownfish and hopefully they will breed. But remember, anemones arent easy to take care of, you can try breeding clowns without anemones but it is very very hard, please also not that the clown wont immediatly breed, it will probably take a long time which can be hard on you if you have a large 75 gallon tank, mega high lighting, supurb filtration, tons of live rock and sand, and all you house are two clowns and an anemone. IMO dont start fish breeding until a later stage. You could for now get a basic tank, 55 gallons, get some mushroom corals, get moderate lighting, add desired fish, and just enjoy, if the mushrooms ever reproduce then sell the one you want to get sold for some money, this way you have a nicely stocked 55 gallon tank with medium lighting, medium filtration, medium live rock, better viewing pleasures, and maybe some reproducing mushrooms.