How to learn this hobby

[Humblefish]

I am first in line for the 'humblefish' fish!:D
I recall bringing this up a while ago!!!;)

If my wife gets this new job she's been interviewing for and we can finally move to a different city, Humblefish Aquatics is happening. :D

 

[helen ann]

If my wife gets this new job she's been interviewing for and we can finally move to a different city, Humblefish Aquatics is happening. :D

WoooHoooooo fingers crossed for Mrs HumbleFish's job interview!!!

I will be your first shipment of fish!!!

 

[sil40sx]

If my wife gets this new job she's been interviewing for and we can finally move to a different city, Humblefish Aquatics is happening. :D

With your reputation of how you take care of your fish, I guarantee you that you'll be selling them like hot pancakes. ;)

I'm local to you, so put me on the list. Hehehe

 

[Humblefish]

WoooHoooooo fingers crossed for Mrs HumbleFish's job interview!!!

I will be your first shipment of fish!!!

With your reputation of how you take care of your fish, I guarantee you that you'll be selling them like hot pancakes. ;)

I'm local to you, so put me on the list. Hehehe

Thank you both. When it starts, it will start out small to minimize the financial risk. But it will be done right! No shortcuts, no unscrupulous business tactics, no excuses. If I can't run an honest company the "right way" in this day & age, then I'd rather just go out of business.

 

[dbl]

Thank you both. When it starts, it will start out small to minimize the financial risk. But it will be done right! No shortcuts, no unscrupulous business tactics, no excuses. If I can't run an honest company the "right way" in this day & age, then I'd rather just go out of business.

Spoken like a soon-to-be-successful business owner!!!

 

[Chrisfish]

Well crud, here I thought you were serious for a minute!

Me too:rolleyes:

 

[TUSI]

If my wife gets this new job she's been interviewing for and we can finally move to a different city, Humblefish Aquatics is happening. :D

Wish you the best

 

[Elementalj]

I've helped my fair share of people get into this hobby, and I've noticed a trend lately that almost always backfires. The prevailing attitude goes a little something like this: "I can skip learning the basics because I'm going to buy a controller, some reactors and a few other gadgets to automate everything for me." :eek: I actually advocate the exact opposite for noobs: Learn to do everything manually first, and then look for devices you can can connect to your WiFi and control with your iPhone. :p My reasoning is this:

• You spend more time learning how to operate the gadget than focusing on the fundamentals of the hobby. I know people who will check every probe and every setting on every controller before even thinking of looking to see what's going on inside the aquarium to find the problem. Maybe a snail is stuck inside your pump and it's shell jamming the impeller is the reason why the pump won't come on? ;)

• If ever your kalk or calcium reactor or ATO were to break ... Do you know you can use a milk jug and crimped airline hose to gravity drip supplements directly into your tank? :eek:

• Spending thousands on toys for your aquarium really adds pressure to succeed with it sooner rather than later. Especially in the eyes of a disapproving spouse.

• The best deals in this hobby always come secondhand. Unfortunately, top-of-the-line used equipment isn't always readily available. But if you're patient and keep an eye out, a deal will come along. In the meantime, learn to do everything the hard way. :p

I'm also not one to push a newbie into buying "the biggest tank you can afford/fit" and insist that you have to use a sump. Buy a cheap, small, second hand system and work out the kinks of your tank husbandry with that. Experiment with all the things you heard, think you know, in there. :D Once you feel more confident in what you're doing, then is the time to upgrade to a larger system. By then you will have realized that a quarantine or frag tank is a not a bad idea, so your "old tank" won't go to waste.

So how do I get better and learn this hobby? #1 Go slow (can't stress the importance of this enough) and #2 Read. I'm going to share a secret with you: No matter how well you plan it all out, no matter how hard you try ... you will never, ever reach the finish line with your tank. There will always be a coral/fish to trade for some other one, or a tweak/modification to make on your tank. It never gets completely finished. ;) So be patient, enjoy the ride, and go slow.

Read as much as you can here on R2R and other forums. And there are two books IMO every newbie in this hobby should read cover to cover:

1. The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner
   
2. Natural Reef Aquariums by John H. Tullock

Literally nailed it. Right to the frickin' WALL!

 

[LParker480]

As a new hobbyist, I am going at a slow pace and trying to do right. I'm not going out and just buying anything cause I need one and its cheap. I'm trying to go through these forums and learn everything that I can so I know not just how something works, but why I need it to work. Great tips thanks!

 

[Elementalj]

Patience and vigilance is usually what this hobby requires. Like anything though, it gets easier with time, patience and LOTS of reading.

 

[nervousmonkey]

WoooHoooooo fingers crossed for Mrs HumbleFish's job interview!!!

I will be your first shipment of fish!!!

@Humblefish , does your wife know how much pressure is on her at this point? :eek: I think there are thousands of reefers counting on her, or potentially thousands of reefers. Imagine the possibility that we don't *have* to QT fish anymore, just pay 10 or 20% more for a fish than we normally would (however the economics work out) and have a stress free experience. That would really be nice. I hope that Humblefish Aquatics works!!

 

[Brew12]

just pay 10 or 20% more for a fish

I think you would be looking at paying 3 to 5 times more for a fish (still potentially worth it imo). The amount of extra equipment needed to quarantine all the new arrivals and hold them for 30 to 40 days would put him at a huge cost disadvantage. He would save some of that in his survival rates but would be no where near price competitive to those who can add new stock into inhabited tanks and turn over fish in days instead of weeks.
I think the model would work, but it will not be a mass market.
That said... send me a PM on how much you want for a Humblefish Aquatics Coral Beauty! :p

 

[nervousmonkey]

Agreed but don't know if it will be 4 to 5 times higher, we could get into a discussion on the economics of how to create savings, and at first, you are right, he can't create volume based savings that allow a smaller markup, but could purchase fish wholesale that are 25% of what we pay retail, so there are a lot of ways to create ways to cut costs. Initial set up you are right, no way to have the cash to buy all equipment, fish, etc. and mass market the idea, but over time, with a great care on actual healthy fish, he could win over the customers who want to pay less. Either way, we all agree that it will take time and proven disease free fish to achieve a bigger market, niche nonetheless. I've set up similar, non-aquatic businesses that survive on volume based margins, but those are not easy and similar business models have to be followed...

 

[Humblefish]

I think we may need to start a new thread (in the Lounge or something) on "Humblefish Aquatics" so I don't get in trouble with the Rev. :p

 

[rockworm]

I think we may need to start a new thread (in the Lounge or something) on "Humblefish Aquatics" so I don't get in trouble with the Rev. :p

Come on now. You can't get in trouble with the @revhtree so long as you like his build thread.[emoji16] jk