Can I make money?

[EmusJames]

Greetings,

I am excited to get the hobby underway. But I am curious am I able to make money from the hobby? Enough to keep the hobby going or extra on the side? Can I make money at selling premade saltwater or RODI water? Can I make money selling coral and fish? Anything I can make money from I would like to know. Any experiences you have please share, good and/or bad.

*Edit* I realize I can sell everything, but what I am asking is am I really making money after expenses?

 

[Dave1993]

Its more of a money sink than making money if you want to make money i don't think this is the correct hobby for you lol i mean you can buy expensive frags and sell them once they grow but most of the expensive frags grow slow hence why they are expensive i have spent about £6000 and got 0 in return

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Greetings,

I am excited to get the hobby underway. But I am curious am I able to make money from the hobby? Enough to keep the hobby going or extra on the side? Can I make money at selling premade saltwater or RODI water? Can I make money selling coral and fish? Anything I can make money from I would like to know. Any experiences you have please share, good and/or bad.

*Edit* I realize I can sell everything, but what I am asking is am I really making money after expenses?

I'm sure it's possible. If you Start with the intention of aquaculturing, and purpose build an entire system, KISS style, for the purpose, as well as source in demand, relatively fast growing coral that you can reliably supply.

Id venture to say that those here that do Sell to help support the habit, come nowhere close to breaking even on a yearly basis.

 

[moorjames]

Well how would you make the hobby better?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Unless you get a store up and running, it’s not easy to really be making lots of money off the hobby. Best thing to do for profit is breeding fish/inverts and growing/fragging coral. Most important is finding what you enjoy - don’t just get something because you can make money off of it, get it because you want to see it in your tank.

 

[ReeferBean]

I'd start with getting a tank setup first before you have dreams of becoming a Frag Star Millionaire.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I have a co-worker that made money in the 90's selling rodi to LFS's and reefers. He had bought a 2000g water truck and would sell to the stores and the folks would come to his 12x12 shop and buy water, either mixed with 35ppt salt or just standard rodi.

Things have changed since the late 90's when he was doing this, home sized roding units are at reasonable cost and a lot of LFS's make water in house.

If your new to this, raising fry or propagating coral is work and a LOT of trial/error and LUCK!

 

[EmusJames]

I'd start with getting a tank setup first before you have dreams of becoming a Frag Star Millionaire.

I never mentioned anything about making lots of money. Pretty much thought it was clear when I asked if money could be made to support the hobby. I referenced making money on the side, but did not reference a dollar amount.

 

[EmusJames]

Well how would you make the hobby better?

I am confused with your question to my question. Why would I need to make the hobby better to make money to support the hobby?

 

[MaxTremors]

Are you wanting to get into the hobby or start a business? Because those are two different things. If you want to get into the hobby, do it because you love it, not to make money. We all end up with frags to rehome as our corals grow out, and I’m not opposed to making some money out of it, but IMO hobbyists trying charge LFS prices for frags they’ve grown out are ruining the community spirit of the hobby.

 

[EmusJames]

Are you wanting to get into the hobby or start a business? Because those are two different things. If you want to get into the hobby, do it because you love it, not to make money. We all end up with frags to rehome as our corals grow out, and I’m not opposed to making some money out of it, but IMO hobbyists trying charge LFS prices for frags they’ve grown out are ruining the community spirit of the hobby.

I think the purpose of selling frags would just be to get something out of it in return, not to get rich. I agree with your comment on selling at LFS prices. I also would think selling at LFS prices would be harder to sell your product being that the person can't physically be there to see what they are buying. Trading wouldn't be a bad idea. Also, no one yet has really answered the part about selling to keep up the hobby and if it was viable. They just seem to go into get rich schemes that they think I am dreaming up that I never mention in my original post.

 

[revhtree]

Please be nice this is a fair question.

 

[EmusJames]

Greetings,

I am excited to get the hobby underway. But I am curious am I able to make money from the hobby? Enough to keep the hobby going or extra on the side? Can I make money at selling premade saltwater or RODI water? Can I make money selling coral and fish? Anything I can make money from I would like to know. Any experiences you have please share, good and/or bad.

*Edit* I realize I can sell everything, but what I am asking is am I really making money after expenses?

Man what is up with some of the hate on here. I actually never mention getting rich, that is just something most people seem to keep reading. Please note I mention making money to keep the hobby going pretty clearly, and money on the side seems to lead people to the assumption that I am trying to get rich. Please think of making money on the side like a side job. Its just a little bit to maybe play with or buy a new piece of equipment, but nothing to live off of. If I was expecting to get rich I wouldn't consider it on the side, haha, that would just be my main source of income. Money on the side at that point would be my regular day job. I expect more from this group. I am new to it and new to the hobby. Some of you so far I have liked your comment because you actually added a piece of advice or comment to the forum that a new or existing reefer could take away from the site. But some of you just post ignorant comments, and I am not really sure the point.

 

[Tonycass12]

Just started making some money back from frags and im probably in over 10k at this point. And by making money I mean enough for the small things from the local shop maybe enough to cover my salt. You could probably do better starting up a massive phyto or pod culture and selling those. Less overhead and a lot less heartbreak figuring things out as you go. That is if your goal is to make money. If your doing this for the love of what your keeping you still won't be upset. Reef tanks are awesome

 

[mattdg]

It is possible, but requires the same time it takes to run any full or part time business. If your goal is to make more per year, than what you spend on your equipment / maintenance / utilities / expendables, you'll need to think about drafting a business plan, or at least a spread sheet for how much you are spending.

If growing coral, at least 2-3 years to have a system that is producing enough to cover your initial costs and expenses. Then another year or two selling regularly, to break even. Don't forget cost of shipping and supplies, if you go that route.

If you are not fooling yourself and really keeping track of all expenses associated with keeping your reef, you will see how difficult it actually is. There are other ways / dry goods to sell, but require a vendors license, retail location, DBA. Tank maintenance is a legit full time gig, but requires years of experience and being on call 24/7. Not for everyone.

Be happy to break even, when and if you get to that point (most people don't) and spend the rest of your time helping other hobbyists out.

 

[EmusJames]

Just started making some money back from frags and im probably in over 10k at this point. And by making money I mean enough for the small things from the local shop maybe enough to cover my salt. You could probably do better starting up a massive phyto or pod culture and selling those. Less overhead and a lot less heartbreak figuring things out as you go. That is if your goal is to make money. If your doing this for the love of what your keeping you still won't be upset. Reef tanks are awesome

I have seen people setting up phyto and pod systems on youtube. I find it very interesting. Would have never thought about that.

 

[fish farmer]

Will your LFS buy frags from you or will they give you credit?

When I started I had easy growing softies that I was able to get store credit for and maybe a few got sold cheap to new hobbyists starting out.

See what is or isn't available in your area regarding coral, phyto or services like RO/DI. Basically find out what people want in your area, if they don't want it, they won't buy it.

 

[Tonycass12]

I have seen people setting up phyto and pod systems on youtube. I find it very interesting. Would have never thought about that.

If its something that interests you start a tank and get comfortable with it then try a phyto culture you can use to feed the tank and sell whatever extra you have. Just remember the golden rule, nothing happens fast in this hobby. Take your time and be patient and you will be proud of what you create.

 

[GARRIGA]

Guessing every company making money at one time was just a hobbyist thinking about making money. Best if there's a focus to satisfy a need either locally or regionally and able to provide said need by being able to meet the required logistics. Likely requires a background in finance and business as well as how to deal with suppliers and customers. In the end, one might find it's best just to enjoy the hobby and let others worry about making money. Conclusion I arrived at trying this very concept in the early 90s and decided to just pursue my finance career and breed designer boas on the side as that was easier logistically to sell then fish or in my case protein skimmers. Having said that. Only one life to live and one never knows when it will be cut short so might as well do as one pleases then never find out. Failure is acceptable and yet very educational.

 

[3D Reefin']

Greetings,

I am excited to get the hobby underway. But I am curious am I able to make money from the hobby? Enough to keep the hobby going or extra on the side? Can I make money at selling premade saltwater or RODI water? Can I make money selling coral and fish? Anything I can make money from I would like to know. Any experiences you have please share, good and/or bad.

*Edit* I realize I can sell everything, but what I am asking is am I really making money after expenses?

I'll share my experience with you. I often 3D print parts for my fish tanks, all kinds of things, even made a 3D printed nano tank. can be seen here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/3d-printed-5-gal-aquarium.628100/

I also like to keep my aquarium things organized, so I made organizers for my test kits, can be seen here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/salifert-test-kit-organizers.711394/

I thought to myself, hey maybe I can sell some of these and try to offset the cost of the hobby, so I tried selling them. Long story short. I made 3 for each test kit available, Salifert, Red Sea, Hanna, etc and only ended up selling 2 pieces. In the end, I ended up getting stuck with a bunch of organizers. Part of it was probably me not advertising them as much as I need. At some point someone copied the design and started selling them.

I think I may have broken even, but it was not worth my time. I'm in the hobby to enjoy it, not to try to make money from it. I've made money from other hobbies, but in the end it left me with a bitter taste for the hobby I was once really into.