Weetabix7 Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 DROOL!!!!!!!!! Why, oh why couldn't I be local???? Sob, sniffle... Link to comment
bucknellreefer Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 I would love to see some details about how you set up the surge. Was is very noisy or messy (salt spray)? Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 where does one find a tub like that? i may have to invest in a similar project to fund my addiction. even with the wholesale + 10% discount, $9/hour at the lfs that owns me...er... that i work at barely covers gas and food, much less my addiction. my boss is trying to get rid of a 400w halid pendant and a couple used skimmers and pumps... Link to comment
bucknellreefer Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 If there are any farm supply stores near you they might carry these as stock tanks, I know rubbermaid makes a bunch of sizes from 50g to like 300g. Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 If there are any farm supply stores near you they might carry these as stock tanks, I know rubbermaid makes a bunch of sizes from 50g to like 300g. farm supply stores! the one place i haven't thought to look! all the rubbermaids at walmart, etc are too thin for my comfort. but that thing does look like it was designed as a cattle trough or something. i'll have to swing by the tractor supply co. later this week Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 The hardest part is moving everything. You have to establish local cliental and move coral online. You can only sell so much coral in the classifieds before the sponsors start complaining. If you do it every now and then and hook up the nano-reefers its ok, but don't plan on selling most of it here unless you want to pay for sponsorship, which may be a good idea if you want to make good money at this. I always just did it so I could have cooler corals and thought it was fun. Your boss may be pissed if you are jacking his customers, and chances are you will just be getting the same old crap that is constantly in the local market/stores. Try to look for sellers online that have great stuff for cheap, and then buy it in bulk so you get free shipping, smash it, sit on it for a bit and move it. If you want to make money propagating coral it is more about smashing big pieces and moving the chunks then it is about actually growing coral. Also it is imperative that you make a low watt system and or live some where where all utilities are paid. Remember, buy high end in bulk and sell little pieces for affordable, but with hella mark-ups. All of this coral is coming in florida or LA, if you can get into Walts in Cali you will poop yourself when you see all the best stuff that is then sold to everyone else in the country. There is nothing like going straight to the source for the best stuff. Everyone said that it is impossible to get in but if you are serious about it you will find a way. I think the minimum order was $600 but I turned it around and easily quadrupled that in a week. Just don't buy what you can't sell. That is GOOD advice. Sometimes the $400 SPS colony is a bad purchase when only one local can afford it, and most people just want the crap bread and butter corals. If you want to actually grow corals, go for the xenia, brown leathers and other fast growing crap corals out there. These are what beginners prefer and beginners are the largest percentage of reefers out there, really, they are the dominant force. Xenia grows like a weed and doesn't ship well so local shops will love to buy it off you since it comes in better condition and they can move it all day. SPS reefers represent maybe 2% of the marketplace, so beware buying the best SPS as you may not be able to move it due to lack of cliental. I made a ton of money on zoos by scouring online retailers several time everyday, and when they would upload their latest shipment I would cherry pick out the minimum order for free shipping, and call and see if they would give me a deal for buying in bulk. Then I had the best stuff online, took time getting great photos and smashed and sold the pieces keeping the best chunks for myself while paying for them in the process. Spend as little as you can on your setup, a little blue swimming pool doubled up has always tempted me. No need for high lighting in a shallow reef. And you can use surges to get a small pump to equal a huge flow, and the corals prefer it. Also go for function over form, this thing should be ugly, soon enough it will buy you a display. well heck in that case i may just use my empty 20 long and some spare PC's i have laying around. i would probably sell most of my stuff on ebay, or through consignment at my shop (i bring it in, boss pays me X amount for every piece we sell, everyone wins). we actually *knock on wood* just got in touch with walt smith's wholesale facility and we're going to try a couple of orders from them and see what happens. so i may be able to get some quality stuff here soon. it may be worth my while to invest in a few mother colonies of exotic zoanthids, leathers, lower light sps, etc that are colorful, popular, and easy to frag, and still profitable. i do live in a house where all the utilities are paid... and that actually will hurt me more than help me, because my step brother and i already hear constant complaints about the power bill (apparently he doesn't believe that the lights and TV in his room have "off buttons"...) lol. definitely something to think about so i can afford the 75 gallon system i've been pricing out . and then there's always that second kidney i don't need... Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Its in my signature, but I haven't sold coral for a while, I am getting out of the hobby.No need for a bigger system until yours is full. And congrats on the walts, but it is way different being there in person and being able to cherry pick, hands down the best on this side of the country, I am not sure what florida has to offer east coasters. Think giant vats with 1000w MH galore. Smash zoos, grow softie weeds. Read up on the landlord tenant act in your area and read that lease. Oh and get a credit card to get started but be on top of your ######, you want to make money not lose it. ugh. i hate credit cards . i have one, and i only want one. so i guess i'll finish paying off the last couple hundred $ and use that. it will proabably be more of a paycheck supplement, because i can order corals through my store (we usually order single polyp acans and get baseball-sized rocks for the same price--chaCHING lol). there's also a guy that's semi-local with a HUGE green house full of all kinds of awesome coral for really good pricing. Link to comment
mvite Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 LOL! This sounds like a familiar story! It's exhilirating--and then it starts to get to be too much to keep up with. As Chup says though---it's easy to make money to----totally invest into your system. The only way to keep it going is to take most of the cash and put it back. It's a lot to keep up with at times but you need: --The lifestyle to ship your a$$ off--(everyone thinks they can do it---but actually doing it well takes dedication.) --A supplier who won't consistently screw you. (good luck!) --Utilities will kill you---doing it at an apartment with utilities included is KEY!! Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 It's a lot to keep up with at times but you need: --The lifestyle to ship your a$$ off--(everyone thinks they can do it---but actually doing it well takes dedication.) --A supplier who won't consistently screw you. (good luck!) Very true! Link to comment
mvite Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 In my area--I got my tubs at Tractor Supply. They have all kinds. How does this thing surge? What pumps? Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 How does this thing surge? What pumps? I would like to know this as well. Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 LOL! This sounds like a familiar story! It's exhilirating--and then it starts to get to be too much to keep up with. As Chup says though---it's easy to make money to----totally invest into your system. The only way to keep it going is to take most of the cash and put it back. It's a lot to keep up with at times but you need: --The lifestyle to ship your a$$ off--(everyone thinks they can do it---but actually doing it well takes dedication.) --A supplier who won't consistently screw you. (good luck!) --Utilities will kill you---doing it at an apartment with utilities included is KEY!! i live in a house that's paid for, and my parents pay utilities--my step mom's house, she moved her kids in with my dad after they got married and kept the house for me and my older step brother to live in. yes, we are lucky SOB's--but that's kinda the problem. its a 25 year old house that is already very energy inneficient, so any spike in the power bill will probably be noticed and complained about. and as far as shipping goes, i would probably put myself on a schedule where i would only ship on X day and start any ebay auctions 8 days prior, so i could sell the item, get the money, and ship the item quickly. they don't pay before ship date, then the item doesn't ship out until the next ship date. but most of the corals would probably be sold through my store. i could get wholesale colonies of good stuff for around $15-20 a piece, break them into multiple frags and sell the frags for $5-10 a piece to my boss, where we would turn around and sell them for $20-30 a piece. i can get a 4", 10+ polyp colony of acan's of just about any color for around 50 bucks, chip it into 5 frags and sell them online for $10-20 a polyp and still be fair market price. now i'm seriously considering this... but not for several months. christmas + gf's bday +valentine's day is going to kill me for a while. my costs would be about $20/month in salt plus initial setup cost... which would be high because i have a 20L, spare 100w heater, mag7 i can use as a CL, 30" lunar aqualight, and egg crate and PVC. i can get a used bakpak skimmer for $50 on ebay. i'll just mix 20lbs of base rock with 5 lbs of live rock for biological filtration, toss in some hermits, snails, and a sixline to keep things nice and clean... great i'm not going to sleep for days lol Link to comment
AcroporaLokani Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 WOW How fast did your SPS and zoas grow? Link to comment
Joe b Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 CHUPA, you should write a book now that your gettin out of the hobby, just from the 3/4 posts, your very knowledgeable. One day I plan on rubberizing the basement, and flooding it! Make sure to bring waders!CHUPA, you should write a book now that your gettin out of the hobby, just from the 3/4 posts, your very knowledgeable. One day I plan on rubberizing the basement, and flooding it! Make sure to bring waders! Nice price by the way! Link to comment
varanus37 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 How high above the tank does that bucket sit? Just a 5 gallon bucket on a small shelf? What pump did you use to push the water to the bucket? Thats an ingenius setup, very simple but very well done. Congrats on doing as well as you did and good luck with the sale. Anyone local to pick it up is saving themselves tons of groundwork. Bill Link to comment
Left Coast DJ Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 If I set-up a tub with a surge effect, think I can grown this coral like you? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=160161010729 DJ Link to comment
epicfish Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 If I set-up a tub with a surge effect, think I can grown this coral like you? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=160161010729 DJ Too hard to frag. Link to comment
NanoClown Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 ive done it before.....haha Link to comment
euphoricgear Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 i've been trying to figure that surge thing for a while. saw it at vivid and they guy couldnt really explain it, or maybe he didnt want to. thanks for the pix! now totally get it! :-) Link to comment
epicfish Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 i've been trying to figure that surge thing for a while. saw it at vivid and they guy couldnt really explain it, or maybe he didnt want to. thanks for the pix! now totally get it! :-) You logged off AIM! lol. But yea, start a prop setup, man. Link to comment
Sushi Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 This is an awesome setup! Link to comment
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