More than just a hobby, a money maker?

revhtree · Mar 10, 2020

We were at the Reef Stock show in Denver this past weekend and after looking around and seeing a lot of live stock vendors it got me thinking! Scary I know!

I was thinking about how many of them started as hobbyists and are now in the industry full time and making a living from it. I would wager to say somewhere around the 75% or so! That's my guess at least. So let's talk about that today and about your thoughts of ever going "commercial" in the saltwater aquarium industry.

1. Have you ever seriously considered making a living, going commercial, in the aquarium industry?

2. If you answered yes how do you think you could be different and better?

3. If you answered no then why not?

AZMSGT · Mar 10, 2020

I have a friend who is going down the path of turning it into their livelihood. I wish them all the best. But they have a huge initial investment.

For me, I just like a pretty tank... For now.

NeonRabbit221B · Mar 10, 2020

I would absolutely love to work on the product development side but as far as selling livestock or fish professionally I have been turned off the idea. Startup costs would be absurd and profit margins would be fairly small... We all dream though.

Mhart032 · Mar 10, 2020

1. Have you ever seriously considered making a living, going commercial, in the aquarium industry? no sir

2. If you answered yes how do you think you could be different and better?

3. If you answered no then why not?
I feel like once a hobby becomes a business, you tend to lose sight of what you actually enjoyed about it. besides i mostly give stuff away vs trying to sell it. the hobby is already expensive enough with the price of things now days there needs to be some middle point to allow the newer enthusiast to understand that not everyone is about making money and this is supposed to be enjoyable so that maybe just maybe when they get some free stuff weather it be locally through clubs or online with a couple extra frags, they can maybe pay it forward to the enthusiast that are newer than they are. i feel like this cycle has been a little broken, when i got into the hobby 14+ years ago this was kind of the way it was i miss that about it..

andrewkw · Mar 10, 2020

I've been in the hobby for almost 15 years. In the past I have sold a fair bit of frags and thought about going bigger but always resisted due to fear of ruining the hobby. Each passing day / year of working jobs I don't like that don't make a ton of money make me reconsider more and more. I now have some unrelated small business experience I don't really want to get into but I've managed not to run it into the ground after a few years so I feel like I could handle the business aspect of having a coral farm.

Now is not the right time mainly due to where I am living but one day I'd like to have a coral farm. Even if it doesn't make much money it would be nice to enjoy doing a job just once.

The reason why I favor coral farm over other things including potentially more profitable things like installs is growing out corals would is more fun, doing larger scale ie selling to stores would mean less annoying customers and no worries about today's trend being tomorrows afterthought.

AcroNem · Mar 10, 2020

Been in the hobby for 15 years now. My path didn't take me working on the hobby side of things or owning a store, but professionally in public Aquariums. So I voted other.

Timfish · Mar 10, 2020

Started maintaining aquariums part time in 1995. Went full time in 1997. Have focused on reef systems since 2000

ca1ore · Mar 10, 2020

I tried my hand at aquarium system design and maintenance back in the 1990's. I quickly concluded, for me at least, the best way to suck all the enjoyment out of a hobby is to turn it into a business. Plus I am generally unsociable and irascible, so anything that requires regularly dealing with customers isn't for me LOL. No thanks!

JustAnotherNanoTank · Mar 10, 2020

I have absolutely had that itch. I could do better than @randyBRS jk Randy you rock!!

MHascsak · Mar 10, 2020

I gave it a lot of thought but I decided I don't want to keep/ grow coral or keep up with trends that don't interest me.

TheHarold · Mar 10, 2020

I don’t have too much interest on the livestock end of things. Too much randomness, and I don’t like the “$300+ for 1/2” saturated stub” game. But I do really like the technological aspect of it, and coming up with ideas to make the hobby easier. Thats what ive been doing and it supports the

JoshO · Mar 10, 2020

I've always wanted a hobby where I can cover my costs with sales of items. I've partly managed that with another hobby and it makes it ever more accessible.
I really hope to do the same with reefing, which is why I've started small and will use frags (maybe fish one day) to trade up to bigger and better items. Who knows maybe even learn to graft corals, Jason fox style!

Greybeard · Mar 10, 2020

Making a business of a hobby always seems to make a person loose interest in the hobby, and most of the time, loose money on the business.

I've seen it happen, several times. Guy starts selling coral frags from his own grow out system, gets a vendor account at a few wholesalers, starts undercutting LFS's on livestock, who have overhead to worry about...

Generally doesn't end well. I try to support actual businesses.. LFS's. Preferably, ones that will quarantine for me.

rogersb · Mar 10, 2020

When I retire I plan on opening a very small store in town that sells only coral. Being so specific I hope it won't pull me in 5 different directions and will allow me to focus on just having the best pieces at fair and affordable prices. Most of my floor space will be dedicated to $15-25 pieces. I've heard that's what sells the most from other brick and mortar vendors. I'll try to have some high end pieces as well but that won't be my focus.

Sisterlimonpot · Mar 10, 2020

What about the people that are attracted to the hobby with dollar signs in their eyes? I see that more often than I'd like. I have a friend that got drawn in by the over saturated sale photos of corals. Then thought, "I can do that", started a few tanks for the sole purpose to make it a business. Thousands of dollars later he struggled to keep things alive because he didn't really know what he's doing, he just knew he wanted a slice of the pie.

Like most, I saw a for sale post of slightly used gear for a fraction of what he bought it for.

On the flipside of that coin, I think David is onto something. I personally took a short hiatus from the hobby, long enough to miss the incremental rise in cost. for me the dramatic uptick in price slapped me right in the face. which begs the question, have we seen prices and the people who defend those high prices increase because more and more people see it as a means to make money?

JerSaint · Mar 10, 2020

I've made some money to put back into my tank on the sale of frags and flipping items (Mostly putting together whole systems or piecing out bundled purchases). The main way I have jumped into the industry is through a different avenue, by starting and co-hosting a podcast. In the last two years, we have put out 104 episodes! Providing weekly episodes that usually run an hour or so and are full of great content. Check it out if you get a chance, great for commuting or to listen to while servicing your tank. The Reef News Network @ReefNewsNetwork

fish farmer · Mar 10, 2020

Yes.

I went to college back in the early 1990's for Aquaculture and Fisheries Technology. I was passed over for a job at a Florida brine shrimp farm because I hadn't finished school. I was interested at the time, but didn't pursue any jobs down in Florida....I just didn't find them in the publications where I was looking. I found enough Federal and State seasonal jobs in my field and focused on my other aquatic hobby...fishing.

Another fellow I went to school with did venture into marine tropical fish breeding in Hawaii and also worked at Aquatic Ecosystems in Florida.

If I went into a commercial farm, I would more likely be starting at the bottom. I have no desire or capital to build my own place. FWIW a few years back there were a few young guys wanting to open a wholesale marine shop in Winooski, Vermont. I though....hmm...there's a way into the biz. They never opened and sold off their supplies at auction and another LFS bought their stuff and he went out a few years later.

Brew12 · Mar 10, 2020

Not a chance.

I love my day job. I would not love dealing with difficult customers.

kapnkush608 · Mar 10, 2020

Yes, I am more than considering it I'm actually working towards it. I currently work for a wholesaler and plan to go retail on my own. I'm going to grow organically and scale as needed to keep costs down. Another positive is so what if I fail? I have a plan A in a field that's not going any where and have no overhead when it comes to Website design/development, hosting, maintenance and digital marketing and SEO so building myself a $50k website is nothing but some late nights and rockstar jitters. Quality over quantity with reasonable prices. I feel like someone needs to come in and make some waves in this industry and shake up the status quo. Pre-Petco, LA was killing the game reasonable prices and decent livestock. They were doing something right because there is definitely a vacuum left in the space they once occupied. Will I be the one to shake things up? I'm not sure but it's worth a shot. Turning a hobby into a business can kill the love for the hobby seems like a stretch because I was taught to do the things you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.

Mr Fishface · Mar 10, 2020

1. Have you ever seriously considered making a living, going commercial, in the aquarium industry?
Yes I really have. I tried opening my own coral farming small side business, but it never ended up going anywhere. Local there is almost no demand lately for corals that are not free. I have even tried to take my main tank down and have had a hard time selling big coral frags for even $5.

2. If you answered yes how do you think you could be different and better?
If I do something like this again I would definitely figure out how to ship corals so I could operate on the internet. My local area is absolutely awful for corals. It used to be better but something has changed in the last 2 years or so. People feel like they are owed free corals now, regardless of the type of coral, and shouldn't have to pay for anything anymore.