Can aquaculture really be profitable?

[dasstheboss]

I am in no way an expert in aquaculture but I am considering setting up a small aquaculture system in my basement as I have free time during college and I live at home. The goal would be for financial gains but I want to keep in mind the basis of aquaculture for this hobby - to protect the reefs. So even though there are many suppliers for corals that will provide for a profitable business, I want to try and make this as minimally destructive as possible on wild reefs. Hence, I am going to set up tanks, and culture profitable but easy to culture organisms like RBTA's.

 

Possible species:

1. Red Bubble Tip Anemone

2. Ricordia

3. Zoanthids/ Palythoas

4. Duncans

5. neon nepthia leather

6. tridacna clams - possibly

 

The money will be made by selling quantities not selling a few corals at a high price. I have been to many LFS and I feel if I see a deal I end up spending more money because it makes me feel better - for example I would buy 10 corals at $20 rather than 5 at $50 because even though I would be getting a better coral with a bigger piece, the risk is less with the smaller one so I think its better to sell smaller frags at a cheaper price - win win for both parties.

So far, I have gotten my priorities for my tanks down, it is as follows:

 

1. Water Quality

2. Lighting

3. Water flow

4. Aquarium (the container holding water)

5. Biological Filtration

 

At first, I don't want to try and go with SPS although I believe they can be more profitable because its easy to buy a big coral and then break it up and sell. Though this is a possibility in the future, I want to try and start with softies first.

 

As a result, would there still be a need for a calcium reactor/kalkwasser etc? I think not, so I will just be dosing baking soda to increase alkalinity - a very cheap procedure. Also, I listed biological filtration last because I will only have corals, do water changes on a regular basis, and soft corals like somewhat dirty water. Due to this, I may not use a skimmer or live rock - just a frag tank with egg-crate.

 

Financially, I am trying to get each system done for under $200 in total not including corals. This is my plan so far:

 

(coming soon based on suggestions on my priorities for the system listed above)

 

Thanks -

Das

[sephly]

Its going to be tough to do all that. I mean even if you do a DIY t5/mh/led or any kind of lighting set up your looking to spend atleast half if not more then your entire budget.

 

Also keeping sps without a skimmer is tough. not impossible just tough.

 

Idk, i hope you make it happen and i'll tag along this thread to see how it goes but honestly thats a really really tight budget. I highly recommend finding a local reef club and seeing what deals on equipment you can find there.

 

best wishes!

[herranton]

What are you going to use for biological filtration if you have no live rock?

[dasstheboss]

There would be minimal ammonia produced since I have only corals, therefore I will rely on water changes and the space on the tank walls to contain bacteria, if not, I can add a few lbs. of live rock but I will try using just water changes initially.

[xxbrianxx]

i wouldn't really suggest that. I tried it with minimal LR one of my frag tanks and the bacteria simply couldn't keep up with regular feedings even after several cycles. but you know enough LR to support one of your tanks probably wouldn't cost that much anyways. You can get some dry rock from BRS for pretty cheap. Or.......you could try an algae scrubber??? LOL just kidding guys..

[dasstheboss]

I won't be feeding, I believe feeding is supplemental and that since there is no skimmer there will be tons of crap in the water. Regardless, I will probably get a bit of live rock and a bunch of base rock that can be combined - free frag plugs if you throw them on the floor

[herranton]

There wont be any(very minimal) biological filtration in a tank with no live rock. You could substitute some bioactive media like a biowheel/balls but that will still be lacking the anaerobic bacteria. You will be left with water changes as your main source of filtration and you will be doing those every day. Probably largish ones like 40-50%. That will get expensive.

 

I would start with a small amount of live rock and some base rock. If you just get a couple of lbs of live rock, it wont break the bank and you could add base rock as the tank grows.

[xxbrianxx]

I won't be feeding, I believe feeding is supplemental and that since there is no skimmer there will be tons of crap in the water. Regardless, I will probably get a bit of live rock and a bunch of base rock that can be combined - free frag plugs if you throw them on the floor

 

I dont really understand how you're going to do zero feeding and expect them to grow lol. Especially since you're doing this for aquaculture, I highly doubt they're going to grow fast enough to give you any profit whatsoever.

 

There wont be any(very minimal) biological filtration in a tank with no live rock. You could substitute some bioactive media like a biowheel/balls but that will still be lacking the anaerobic bacteria. You will be left with water changes as your main source of filtration and you will be doing those every day. Probably largish ones like 40-50%. That will get expensive.

 

I would start with a small amount of live rock and some base rock. If you just get a couple of lbs of live rock, it wont break the bank and you could add base rock as the tank grows.

 

I've actually read that algae scrubbers remove ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I'm sure it's true to a certain extent, just not sure how much exactly.

[herranton]

Maybe someone with more expertise can chime in, but I'm pretty sure that protein skimmers will not reduce ammonia. And ammonia will probably kill algae too. It needs to go through the cycle before it can be removed.

[Dizzle21]

how big are of a frag tank you thinkin of setting up??..

multiple tanks?

 

i would do a big sump full of liverock, with the biggest skimmer you can afford which you can find cheap on craigslist sometimes, and a reactor with bio pellets your set, of course a pump and heater, then you can just plumb in a few tanks off that sump throw halides(there cheap right now and the lower kelvin bulbs grow faster) and does 2 part b-ionic or bulk reef supply.

 

and you probly wont be makin a profit might break even on your electricity bill tho.

[Gerber77]

There would be minimal ammonia produced since I have only corals, therefore I will rely on water changes and the space on the tank walls to contain bacteria, if not, I can add a few lbs. of live rock but I will try using just water changes initially.

 

Tried this in my 8 gallon growout tank and it was a haven for algae, nasty algae. And nobody wants to buy frags full of algae. Now I have the 30 gallon frag set up with 30 gallon sump. It had 40lbs live sand and 40lbs of rock. The frags do much better in it, growth rate is intense. Just my .02

[dasstheboss]

Firstly, I am basing this off a guy I know who cultures corals in his basement. I know halides will run up my electricity bill so I will be using PCs most likely for the low light corals - ricordia and leathers. For clams I will go with T-5 but I want to avoid using halides if I can - if my funds build up I will go LED instead to save money in the long run.

 

I do think I will have biological filtration although there will be a mix of live and base rock - which I can perhaps culture and sell too when they get seeded well enough. I will start with 10lbs. of the best live rock available and then seed with 90lbs of marco rock. I just thought about it and the though of also culturing the live rock eventually makes it worth it.

 

The set-up right now will be 2x 40G plumed to a large sump - which I dont know what it will be. The stand and sump are the biggest questions at the moment IMO, as well as the tank to some extent. I know which equipment I will be using - Aquatraders Odyssea stuff since they are decently priced and I will be able to buy spares even if something breaks.

[sogreedy23]

whats the benefit of running PCs over a budget T5 system like a FNI? it'll keep your temps a bit lower, longer bulb life and a better color spectrum. for lower light coral just use less bulbs, no reason to go to PCs.

 

i also agree with what they're saying that you'd need LR anyway, so thats good that you'll do it and culturing your own rock sounds cool, save money and make the rock yourself then culture it? that could make you a few more bucks (maybe? how much is it typically per lb if you made your own lr?

 

there's no reason NOT to feed, IMO especially if explosive growth is what you're looking for. it is the best way to maximize the growth and with that comes the $$$. i'd buy one of the huge frozen blocks of mysis and brine since it'd be cheaper per feeding that way.

[gulfsurfer101]

If your getting in this to make a profit just know that your a long way off. The cost of initial start up, livestock, and maintainance will hold you off from making a dollars profit a long and distant goal. Just remember don't let the dream turn into a reality nightmare. If it were me I would opt to do it as cheap as possible. I would find a large heavy duty plastic container at a livestock feed place and use that for a sump to hold all LR and macro. Then you can find one huge plastic barrel that you can cut in half and use both halfs for prop tank and just line the insides out with eggcrate. This will help lower your initial start up cost leaving more money for lighting or livestock.

[gabe_j]

your not going to be able to get by without filtration man. like everyones said above you have to keep that water clean. i'd opt for a heavyduty skimmer for sure.

 

have you considered spending a little more outta the gate and grabbing some acrylic and building your own tanks? just throwing out there. and if you plan on upgradeing to leds why not start a smaller system and use leds for that and as you start making more $ then worry about upgrading systems.

 

personally i wouldn't go buying my frags from a garage full of cut up barrels unless they were REALLY nice. and then i might do it.

 

imo i'd do it once and do it right than try to skimp out and waste more money in the long term having to do things twice.

[reefer916]

It's going to be tough to make a profit in the hobby because the initial investment will take awhile to recoupe. Also, the larger the colonies you purchase the faster the growth rates of the corals. I personally like to purchase larger colonies of higher end pieces and grow them out before fragging. Still haven't made a profit after 3 years, but the money made is to help offset the cost of the hobby:)

 

I'd start off with easy to keep corals like you listed, but would recommend getting into higher end corals. Nothing $500 an eye or $100 a polyp, but corals that will fetch at least $20 pp. Cost the same amount to grow out a Red Hornet than it does a Tubbs Blue, but you'll get $20-$25 pp compared to $1-3 pp.

 

Profit wise I'd go with nice zoas because they're relatively hearty corals with good growth rates. SPS could take a month or two to grow an inch or with some species longer. That'll fetch between $15-$100 depending on what lineaged piece you have.

 

I'd also shop around on Craigslist because I've picked up some awesome collections for pennies on the dollar. I usually have a $1000 slush fund in the event I run into a collection that I want and will pay generally 10-20% of retail value of the corals. It provides added protection if you lose some during transfer or if the price of the corals drop.

 

Good luck and hope it works out for you. Nothing like making a few extra bucks doing something you enjoy:)

[dasstheboss]

Thanks for all the input, I will do some more analysis and come up with a plan, i have money saved up and if I can even get enough money to get my display tanks running, then I would be happy to just let the hobby pay for itself.

 

Regardless, I will start out with two systems, one with barrels and one with 40 breeder tanks and see which works better.

[gabe_j]

sounds like you got enough to research. but i'll toss in $.02 extra, go with the 40 breeders you'll get much better flow, and you can always set up egg crate to have different heights for different light requirements. thats gonna be harder to pull off in a curved bottom tank (barrel) if you can try and get old 75's they aren't too deep and you can still stagger the height of the egg crate while still keeping higher flow and you can run a BIG sump under the stand. personally i like to force feed my corals (i'm using the term lightly) rather than keeping less than ideal water quality. it buys you more time incase things take a down hill turn you've got perfect or close to it water quality. if its already got latent nutrients there can be less room for errors or the like.

[franklypre]

not to be negative but you shouldn't be devoting yourself to an aquaculture farm in college, it is supposed to be a time where you get out and have fun. If not just get a job that pays minimum wage, YOU WILL BE BETTER OFF.

[Colby88]

I am in college, and my aquaculture endeavours have paid for my school and my car. And of course all my beer...

 

There is no reason you can't go to college and be involved in aquaculture, and have more fun that you should...

[gulfsurfer101]

The place I buy from opened up with a single large fuge and something like a 300g plastic white barrel contatiner cut in half from top to bottom giving each frag tank about 150g of water and a nice sized show area. It looked very sleek the way they had it set up. It has come a long way from that to two professional frag tanks, both now have their own sump as one has different requirements being all sps and the other is just the lps and softy tank. It's good to see that the place is using the money it's making to constantly improve their facilities and love of the hobby by practicing agriculture.

[mrbigshot]

imho i would do a small runway setup. plywood covered in epoxy or maybe fiberglass resin. when i had a large (100g) tub running i wasn't able to achieve any growth with ricordea or zoa's until i added fish to the setup. lighting was a 2x250w halide, and 4 t5's.

 

i can tell you from experience its not really a fun thing or profitable.

 

1. starting with wild stock inst such a great idea, it seems to take way to long to get any growth out of wild corals from my experience. not only that but you will get something fun to deal with, hydroids, zoa pox, bubble algae, melting, protozoa, etc. the "ripper" reputation alone will prevent quite a few sales.

 

2. one little strand of hair algae is all it takes to not be able to sell any of your frags to locals or shops.

 

3. check with shops and see how they bay, i have yet to find one that would pay cash, everyone of them was store credit.

 

4. the electricity alone was $80 a month plus another $40 in salt, not counting water or my rodi upkeep costs.

[blasterman]

i wasn't able to achieve any growth with ricordea or zoa's until i added fish to the setup.

 

Slightly off topic, but I've had this discussion quite a bit lately with other softie keepers. A pristine frag tank is the worst environment for zoas, rics and shrooms. They'd all prefer to live at the base of a sewer if they could.

 

Other considerations for doing this are that current inflated prices for 'exotic' Zoanthids are clearly temporary, and once they start growing in everybody's tank prices will drop. You can make some money now selling a single polyp for three digits, but those prices won't last. It's clearly speculation at this point.

 

Where you live is also a consideration. Many of the more savy and smaller reef shops make a fair amount of coin on the side selling at swap meets, locally etc. No over-head and dinking around with shipping. I recently attended a local swap and was impressed at the variety and quality of what was being sold, but was more impressed at how cheap everything was.

 

Even at $10-25 per frag some of these guys were easily selling 50, 100, or more frags per day. That's a fairly nice income for a day's work. I was also kicking myself when I saw what was selling and popular because nothing really high end was in demand. When people see blue hornets next to other zoanthids or rics suddenly the price drops to more reasonable levels. I know this much, I could have made a mint selling my King Midas or Gobstoppers because both are growing like weeds in my tank and are far more eye-grabbing than what I saw being sold.

 

Last, nobody says you need high end lighting, and even dedicated frag plugs. Softies and LPS do fine under a few dozen watts of LED, and I use lava rock now for fragging. Lava rock is cheaper, it's more attractive in an actual tank, practically free, and because it's porous things grow on it faster.

[gabe_j]

wow i never tought of useing lava rocks to hold my over growth. i figured it'd be saturated with metals and such... but if its mostly glass'ish then i could totally see the benefits. good idea man.

[dasstheboss]

I didnt think it was THIS hard to do, I currently work at Rutgers and is the caretaker of the aquariums there that carry corals for research. However, the electricity is the biggest money-sucker there, so thought if I can lower the electricity I can make profit - guess not. I will stick to my phD then lol