Can I make money?

[dannobiocube]

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?

 

[Stick Man]

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?

You could I mean most people set up there own RO system a must have in my opinion and Salt water well people make there own unless you collect natural sea water and that's risky

As far as selling coral as other have mentioned top shelf corals grow slow and are fussy and fast growing corals most people have and sell

If your new to the hobby get your head around keeping a reef first as this isn't the easiest hobby

 

[Costareefer]

The answer is yes if you are creative any hobby that implements a process for reproduction is self sustainable

 

[leepink23]

The answer is yes. I have made enough selling frags to pay for my current build and pay back the initial investment in frag tanks. But it takes time for it to grow out, so likely you will be a 6-12 months before able to recoup anything. It’s a hobby to me so I love hooking reefers up with great deals when I can and at the same time offsetting costs. I am delivering this massive pack of acros tomorrow to a reefer out of state on my way to take a vacation. I love selling, trading and meeting new people!

 

[Royce White]

First find out that you enjoy the HOBBY and then when something happens, like with me after 7+ years with no major problems and then something happens, don't know what and trying every thing I have learned on R2R, every thing in the tank die back and you love this HOBBY so much you stick with it and start over, never figured out what was wrong. It is now starting to come back some.
Things can happen. Reef aquariums gets into your blood so be aware.

 

[Scooter21]

I've been profitable by gettint in to this. Bow in my greatness


And not by selling frags or any other normal way. I make product review videos.

 

[BangingBaking]

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?

Don't know the exact cost the person runs on as i'm a fresh new reefer, but i knew a guy back in japan who specialized in cultivating mushrooms(the one with mutated bubbles) and high end torch corals with 2 dedicated 100gals, which isn't even much compared with farms and making 20-30grands annually by selling frags through internet and LFS. This was a side hustle and he had a full time job. He had no main display nor passionate with the hobby, it was pure side business to him so maybe such routes are still there if the primary objective is to make profit. Some people also take bulk orders from community and do a live sales session while traveling to Bali by letting their audience choose what they want(and sell for markup on steroids) for their living . This is little bit tricky as imports and exports of exotic corals needs professional knowledge and a hell of paper work to go through, and most importantly risks of DOA.

 

[OasisBEE]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. It's really interesting to know that you can make money from the hobby. I have a friend who sells aquarium equipment and supplies online, and he's doing pretty well.

 

[RubbiRois]

Making money from your hobby can be a fantastic way to turn your passion into a profitable venture. Selling premade saltwater or RODI water, along with coral and fish, can be lucrative, but it's essential to consider all expenses involved to ensure you're actually making a profit.

 

[mazelovv]

Selling premade saltwater and RODI water can be a great idea, especially if you've got quality stuff. I started doing that on the side, and it's been a nice little income boost. As for coral and fish, there's definitely a market, but it's a bit trickier. You'll need to establish a good reputation, provide top-notch care, and maybe even dip your toes into social media to showcase your offerings. I even started a YouTube channel documenting my coral adventures and found a surprisingly supportive community.

 

[mazelovv]

About making money – it's totally possible, but it does take some time and effort. As for coral and fish, there's definitely a market, but it's a bit trickier. You'll need to establish a good reputation, provide top-notch care, and maybe even dip your toes into social media to showcase your offerings. I even started a YouTube channel documenting my coral adventures and found a surprisingly supportive community. Speaking of YouTube, have you checked out youtube shorts monetization? It's a game-changer if you're into video content. Now, the expenses part is real – equipment, maintenance, and unexpected surprises can add up. But if you're smart about it and find your niche, you can definitely make it work.

 

[Paul B]

I have made some money on the hobby as I have two aquarium related patents and wrote a book. While the book sells well I give 100% of the profits to MS research but if I opted to keep it, I could partially support my hobby but I doubt I could support it 100%.

At one time I designed, manufactured and sold (through wholesalers) thousands of these. They made money but wasn't worth my time so I stopped making them.





I recently designed and built prototypes of a new diatom filter and have working models. I do not build them to sell and have no desire to but I could have them manufactured and probably make decent money on it but as I said, I have a couple of patents and invented a few items for the hobby. To get someone to build it is very time consuming and if you try to get a patent it could take a couple of years and cost well up to $30,000.00 or $40.000.00 even though you may still not be awarded the patent.



I designed this "Paul B" Mandarin feeder many years ago. I tell everyone how to build it and I know some people sell it. I could have applied for a patent as many people use the thing but as I said, it is just to much trouble but if I were a lot younger and needed the money, I could easily make money on this hobby.



I have never sold anything from my tank as I prefer to just give it away because it's just not worth the effort.