Can I make $2000 in my refugium?

Update.

Update.

O.K. so here's my progress check.

Not very impressive so far. What I realized very quickly was that my refugium was not the right place to try this so, I rerigged the setup and moved the frag growout area to my sump. I will be adding a SeaSwirl and 130 lbs of LR to help.

I also decided to pick 5 or 6 wild colonies and only pull off 10 or 15 frags at a time then regrow the colony and pull off a few more frags. I have now begun to think that it may be upto a year before I am really ready to sell nice frags. I have a green, purple, red and blue colony which I have not yet fragged as well as a yellow, red, purple, and green frags taken from my own tank that I am trying to grow out as well (all acros). My goal now is to be able to have a line of a dozen or so colonies with 10 or 20 frags infront of each growing out to different sizes and all available for viewing on the web. Then take a few down to my LFS every month while offering them on the web as well, but obviously it will take me a while to get the mother colonies going.

Interestingly enough I am finding that the few people already doing this are rather tight lipped about the exact process they are using. Not that I blame them, I just thought it was a little humorous myself.:p

frags0204.jpeg

FirstFrags.jpeg



Joe:bum:
 
I wish I could do this as fast as I want, but the initial cost of MH bulbs and new tanks will give me more time to do my homework. I have found a lot of interesting information from www.garf.org They even have short vids on propagation.
Good luck, I hope you have great success.
Mark:strooper:
 
MH is not as expensive as most people think.

If you went with online vendors instead of Ebay.

Let say for example you wanted 2 250W MH and only used Electronic Ballasts instead of Magnetic. You can always upgrade.

250W Advance Magnetic M58 / H37 Ballast - $47 ea
http://www.hellolights.com/25unmagm58ba.html

250W Ushio 10K Bulbs - $89 ea
http://www.hellolights.com/2510us.html
OR
250W Iwasaki 10K Bulbs - $59 ea
http://www.hellolights.com/2565iw.html

MH Parabolic Reflector Set w/ Mogul Base - $29.95 ea
http://www.hellolights.com/methalparref.html

All you need is a little wire and some 3 prong plugs from HD or Lowes. About $30 total for both Lights.

So with the Ushio Bulbs, you're looking at a total of $343.90 +$30 for wires add $50 for shipping. Your about $420 total.

Now for Ebay prices.
I've bought 2 250W Sun 10Ks for about $60 shipped, great bulbs.
Reflectors I'm getting the ones above from Hellolights to replace my Street light hoods that I got.

Ballasts on Ebay. Hunt around, you can find them cheap. There is no need for the for the big bulky covers they sell with them, although they do keep everything hidden, if you've got extra room, you can buy those ballast kits for dirt cheap.

For example, this was a killer deal!
Also this 400W...You can find these all day long

There's no reason to think you need a ton of money to get into this hobby.

When I was looking at lighting for my 180G, I wanted to use 4 400W lights. I got quoted about $900, which I thought was a good deal, bulbs and all. That 400W on ebay, about $50 shipped, that's $200 if I could find 4 of them. $120 for 4 reflectors and mogul bases. Bulbs on ebay $35 a piece, it's a good deal at any price. So that's $140 So for the total, a 4 BULB 400W system, about $460. That's a $440 price difference from retail and I thought my buddy was hooking me up.

Another 400W Ballast
Most of the time these people have more than 1 on hand.

If you're interested in getting some good deals on the same stuff you get on Hellolights, my buddy at www.robsreef.com gets the same stuff they do and the prices are a little better. Check into it, email he what you're interested in and tell him Mike Infinger sent you.

To sum it up, it's not that expensive comparably, the best thing, you can still buy one setup at a time, grow some frags, and sell them, buy another setup and so on.

Mike
 
May I ask a beginner's question along the same line as this thread? Is it a reasonable idea to put a rack for frags inside a fuge? I have an extra T5 light hood, and thought I would put it over my Q tank and fuge - and have wondered why not put in a rack or shelf in my fuge to try and propagate corals for myself. Obviously as a beginner this will be a while away - and I have no plans of earning $$ but wondered if this might be a reasonable use of space in the fuge (45 gal) and my extra light.?? It would be easy to build a little rack and put it in the fuge before the spaghetti takes over completely.

Would this have much deleterious effect?

Thanks
 
My biggest concern would be having such setup connected to the main tank. During the beginning stages, you could be regularly introducing several foreign colonies into your system.

We've all heard the horror stories about parasites getting into our tanks via newly intorduced corals. And most of those folks are just adding a coral here and there. With the number of corals you are proposing introducing on a regular basis, it would seem to become a matter of when, not if, you will have a problem.
 
I was thinking more of down the road, once the corals in my main tank are big enough to frag - would it be reasonable to grow them in a fuge and then re-site them? Particularly if I end up with a second tank?

I am going to use a quarantine tank for all new introductions. How long do you recommend quarantining corals? I have seen recommendations ranging from 1-4 weeks.
 
One guys opinion.

One guys opinion.

Hi John,

Your question is exactly where I started from, and my experience was "No" the refugium is not a place to grow frags. For me the refugium was an inviting unused space, but the kicked up light and flow necessary for fragging was not what a refugium should be about. On the other hand I believe many people are already doing as you are suggesting; so "Yes" it can be done. Its just that after trying it I must agree with some of the comments from people in the beginning of this thread - a refugium is a place of "refuge" free from predators (like corals) and not really the best place to grow frags.

Anyways, thats my opinion.

Best of luck!

Joe
 
Good luck!!
I am using one of my sumps as a "frag Tank". I found that you can sell more frags if you also sell the faster growing soft corals along with the SPS's. I can sell 10 to 15 soft corals for every 1 to 2 SPS's. So I am trimming the SPS out of my tank as needed and letting the stock soft corals grow in the sump.
I have also found that it is a bonus to work with people who run tank maintence businesses. You can get a fair amount of business that way.
 
Joe,

Just wondering why you don't grow the nice colonies in your main tank so you can enjoy them and, as necessary, frag them on occassion when they are growing too big?

I had a similiar idea (fantasy :p ) to what you are planning on doing, but on a MUCH smaller scale :)
 
Update and answers.

Update and answers.

Hi All,

Just thought I would add the latest update to my ongoing blog of experience:

Skylergirl, You betcha I will be fraggin' my display tank colonies right along with the work I am doing in my basement. I was just looking for the typical male instant gratification and my display tank colonies are a long way from being major sources of frags.


TYRYFIN, You are making me think about soft corals more. Without question they sell better than acro's over most of the country. So far I have focused on hard corals just because that's what I am obsessed with, but if I am serious about making a couple dollars with minimum investment I think soft corals provide a better return.


FragShop.jpeg



Otherwise here are the latest problems and plans I have run into:


1) Up to now my basement has been cool enough to maintain my tank temperature at a level which actually required year round heating, but the added lighting and pumps from my new frag shop setup pushed the heat to where I am being forced to consider adding an air conditioner or a chiller. The temp rise happened while I was away on a trip. I came home to find the tank at 86 degrees and absolutely freaked, but aside from the Orange Montipora lightening up a bit I haven't noticed any other damage. At the moment I am compensating by leaving a window open in the basement.

2) I recently discovered that light diffuser plastic is a perfect growth medium for hair algae (polystyrene based) so I have had to dramatically increase my algae clean up crew.

3) My calcium and magnesium usage is off the charts and I will need to invest in a significantly larger calcium reactor.

4) I am now commited to growing out my own colonies of a few select corals and using those as my supply chain. I have purchased several groups of frags from already existing frag businesses and hope to duplicate there work.

Other than that - its been great.


So there's the latest.

Still learnin' in NY.



Joe:rolleyes:
 
I really applaude you Joe. I'm sure it is such hard work.

Perhaps if you started small, say trying to grow the frags in your show tanks first, you won't feel as rushed or be as burned out from doing your basement frags?

I'm sure your showtanks must be very lovely! It would be such a shame if you got so burned out that you didn't have time to maintain your main tanks.

Sounds like you are pushing yourself towards the huge cash outlay (reactor, chiller etc) but you do not know if you will be successful yet. And then it might be a LONG time before you sell enough to recoup outlay and operating costs. In the end, you might just be doing double time and count yourself lucky if you are "even steven" when all is said and done.

How about spending the money on your show tanks and making the corals in there things of beauty that you can frag and sell?

I'm just yammering outloud :p If I had the money and space, I'm sure I'd be tinkering like you are too! :D

Seriously though, I wish you the very BEST of luck. Please keep us posted.
 
Plug fit.

Plug fit.

Eric,


The plugs do not fit in the eggcrate. They actually fall through.


I bought the plugs from CyberChef (I think that's right) here on RC, and the eggcrate from Home Depot. After buying the eggcrate I read a thread that mentioned not all eggcrate will accomodate the "sprinkler head filter" plugs, and the truth to my picture is that I used epoxy to fasten the frags and used enough to overflow the plug top slightly so that it would fit in the eggcrate without falling through. I must admit they are really doing great at the moment (knock on wood), but man the effort involved so far has been disproportionate to the expected outcome. Hopefully someday I'll be able to start selling some. . . :rolleyes:

Sorry for the delay in answering. I was on vacation in Orlando. It was my first time to Disney World, believe it or not, and man what a zoo.:p

Joe
 
man if i wasnt living with my parents (only 15) i would defiently try doing some small basement frags. its very intresting. right now im pretty much running a 150 (my dad asks me questions to help him) and my a nano cube that i upgraded the lights in. but i would love to propergate some small soffties or sps corals. keep up the good work and if u ever do, do some softies i would be more than willing to buy some from u
 
Good luck JPMagyar!

There is no reason why your plan can earn you some money. I made a fair amount of cash just selling Xenia to my LFS a while ago.

Have fun!

ri
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

jeffrey_ropp
System Replacement - Lost in Eaton Fire in California
Replies
2
Views
228
albano
albano
M
Can I use 2 bubble magus qq2 in my tank?
Replies
3
Views
116
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
Niven
I'm back....and ready to jump back in, feet first in the deep end, speedo, everything!
2
Replies
20
Views
439
vlangel
vlangel
newlifeolsen
Activated carbon in saltwater canister filters?
Replies
3
Views
512
griss
griss
S
Novice Aquarist - Sump & Equipment Questions
Replies
9
Views
204
wvned
wvned
Back
Top