fragging coralsfor cash. spend more then you make?

[cjsrch]

if some one was to grow acropora coral and frag it. how much do you think you spend ( electric water chamicals food) to get those frags to grow 2 inches.


i was considering setting up a frag tank to do this with and sell them for 10 bucks each. kinda cheep. but how much do you think it would cost. i am talking about a tank full of frags( 55 gallon tank)

i want to do this but want to sell them for hardly anyprofit. just enough to keep the tank going. (hobby is expensive enough w/o buying frags for 40 bucks!)

 

[Anonymous]

If you want to sell Acros for profit you will likely need to buy Metal Halide lighting.

 

[cjsrch]

ill set then outside befor i go halide ohh that can be my new sig

 

[Anonymous]

Its possible to make profit, although there are too many variables for me to want to calculate, what I would do is just have a growout tank for your tank and use all that water/electricity.

 

[cjsrch]

yeah next to it.. it will still need its own lights

 

[Anonymous]

If you have the ability to set up a frag tank, you should . Small scale coral farms are the future of the hobby, and the sooner we get started the better.

 

[Anonymous]

If you want to sell Acros for profit you will likely need to buy Metal Halide lighting.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Bucktronix]

i recommend you read this book before you make any more decisions.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&n=507846

 

[Anonymous]

In my 6+ yrs of reefkeeping, I has yet to make any profit from selling frag.

If you buy a coral head for $40, chop it up into 10 pieces and sell each frag for $10, then you may be making $30/hour for your time. You need good turn-over rate, that is, nothing stays in your tank for any more than a week.

But if you buy a frag, and want to grow it and frag from it, you will need to have access to free, clean ocean water and lot of free light. Once you figure in the cost of electricity and calcium, you will be pretty much working for free, but that is why it is a hobby.

 

[DK]

"but that is why it is a hobby."
This isn't a hobby, it is an obsession!! I frag for free salt and maybe trade. Unless you really commit to wholesaling, you wont make money on growing frags. That is why many that planned/hoped to be sucessful growing frags have gone to selling wild colonies along with some frags. Dr Mac and Reef Splendor are examples. They truely want to sell aquacultured product but the hobby wont pay extra for it with some few exceptions.
I set up my frag tank off the main system and added a 150DE halide. So the powerhead and the halide represent my cost----- but growing frags......priceless.

 

[Daemonfly]

Just sell on ebay, people there generally pay way too much for any corals put up for auction

 

[Anonymous]

When my last tank was going full steam I made enough to cover the cost of most of the expenses. I never made enough to cover the cost of my inital set up.

 

[cjsrch]

i could set up a frag room . ahh picture that. 4 walls of frag tanks ( and my main tank) just need permission from parents to "ruin another room with my fish crap"

 

[peterluber]

greenhouse. pretty expensive to set up but once you got going you might make some money, just because minus the cost of MH, glass or acrylic tanks, and the electricity from MH. other than that, it doesnt seem like a little frag tank would support you very much. it can help dampen the blows though.

 

[cjsrch]

sadly i cant have a green house in my new house i do have direct sunlight tho

 

[Anonymous]

I think it's more probable to just sustain your hobby, ather than make money. You could just let them grow pretty big in your tank, and then trim once in a while. THEN sell the frags. (exactly what everyone has been doing for years.) No extra setup/cost involved!

B