Cost of farming corals vs growth rate/profit

[MoshJosh]

What are the profit margins from coral farming inland? More specifically, how would the cost of exclusively farming corals (not reselling wild collected/no buying wholesale) without easy access to the ocean, compare to the profit?

Not that I want to or plan to do this, just wondering.

Like reselling corals (buy wholesale, sell retail) seems like it could be profitable, but growing all your own corals seems like a lot of overhead and likely doesn't leave huge margins. . . I guess if you are farming only high end corals, or maybe you have a massive farm????

I don't know, just thinking out loud

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Seems like it would take a long time to see any meaningful profit...

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I mean, if I don't buy any more coral, and then trim/frag what I've got as it grows, I can sell the frags and technically make a profit; but certainly couldn't make a living doing so.

 

[NeedAReef]

ask these guys that is what they do @SouthwestAquaculture

 

[MoshJosh]

I mean, if I don't buy any more coral, and then trim/frag what I've got as it grows, I can sell the frags and technically make a profit; but certainly couldn't make a living doing so.

Yeah, seems like exclusively "farming" would be tough! Maybe I should really be asking what constitutes a "coral farm". Is it only fragging what you grow, is it growing out wild frags for later sale, is it just keeping coral alive long enough to get from the ocean to the customers tank? All of these things?

So I guess without using the "farm" term. Could a person/business make a profit only selling frags they grew themselves? . . .

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yeah, seems like exclusively "farming" would be tough! Maybe I should really be asking what constitutes a "coral farm". Is it only fragging what you grow, is it growing out wild frags for later sale, is it just keeping coral alive long enough to get from the ocean to the customers tank? All of these things?

So I guess without using the "farm" term. Could a person/business make a profit only selling frags they grew themselves? . . .

Again, it depends on your definition of profit

 

[MoshJosh]

Again, it depends on your definition of profit

Profit is probably not the right word, guess "sustainable business" would be a better way of putting it. Could it make enough money to pay for the ongoing cost of lighting, water, heat, labor, etc. . .

 

[Reefer Matt]

The business model is usually to import corals maricultured in the ocean, then frag those. It can take years to grow some out into sizable pieces. Some coral do grow quickly, but they are usually low cost and not as popular.
To have an aquaculture only business would require a large facility to hold and grow out coral. Basement vendors can sell enough to pay for their hobby, usually not enough to live of off though. But I'm sure there are exceptions.

 

[NeedAReef]

I would think you would need to breed snails or inverts too maybe macro, a variety of things to make it profitable as lots of things grow at different rates. Soft corals and easily fragged items are more common and generally do not command high prices. That would all be a guess on my part though.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Profit is probably not the right word, guess "sustainable business" would be a better way of putting it. Could it make enough money to pay for the ongoing cost of lighting, water, heat, labor, etc. . .

Doubtful. They just don't grow fast enough.