Starting an Aquarium Business

F

flame83

New member
hey i want to start a online store probably not open to the public unless i do like premium and only open on day for a few hours. well in the next 5 yrs or so i would like to be up and operating. the biggest issue for me is bioload and how i could figure out how much and what is the best filter to use.

lets just say i will four 2000 gallon systems, lps, sps, clams, and sofites to start off with. all the tanks will be stocked to max not to wast any space. so would the best route be masssive amounts of live rock, wet/dry, ozone, or a combination of these and obvisly huge skimmers are a must. thanks for any help after reading through several books i still dont see a clear exact way to jugde a large system like this. and just in case if you wonder i will start off with a much smaller system than these and over a few years work up to larger system.
thanks for any help
 
my best advice is not to be a common reseller of imported livestock my friend. You are likely the least (work/age) experienced to handle this most risky and volatile (profit) competitive (!) niche in the market. To succeed... you will need a remarkable amount of capital to work with.

Farm corals instead for your highest profit, lowest risk. Then you will not be at the mercy of CITES, airline delays, weather, etc for the the things that make your livelihood!

Above all... start with writing a business plan. There is software out there to help with this such as Business Plan Pro

This will reveal the world to you my friend: how much moey you need to start up, how much profit you can make... when/can you afford to startup, etc.

Some of the info you will need to finish a business plan can be found in the industry trade journals such as Pet Business, Pet Age and Pet Supplies marketing. Also form the industry lobbyist group PIJAC. Subscribe to these orgs for the info that will make the difference between you succeeding or just becoming a statistic.

If you do not make a good and thorough businessplan... you are almost certain to fail :(

Please do not underestimate this!

If/when you do write this plan... you will see exactly what I mean about avoiding resale in an online market. And you will learn which questions really need to be asked first :)

Also... check with your local universities that have business schools. They often have free or cheap counseling for small business entrepeneurs like you. They can give advice on writing plans, seeking loans, grants, etc.

Work hard at this and you will be rewarded!
 
yup i didnt add that but it will be a farm and i'm a business major and already know about the business plan and the business incubator that we have with very low intrest so i have all the finacial and cost worked out i feel thats the easiest part at least for me and i have also been watching a couple of members on this site have the greenhouse where they are trying their luck at farming corals. the two i know of are one in florida and one in central il. the hardest part is i get different opions and different stores use different fliteration and i was just curious what is the most efficent and will work for years and not cause problems down the road. i guess when people talk about bio wheels vs lr over a time period the biowheel have the greats potential to cause problems however their are underliying issue to both of these. so i dont plan to just dive in any business of that sort with out years of expericence and and at least 2 research market share cost and all the numreous issue that concern businesses of any sort.
so if anyone has a recommendation for flitration part let me know and i will also post in the other area as suggested.
thanks
 
ohh forget to thank ya for the ogranzatiosn i havent found them yet in the search but i will be sure to look into asap
thanks again
 
flame83,

It's very reassuring to hear that you are aware of the need for a good business plan and seem to have avenues/resources to your advantage that most folks do not.

As for filtration issues, you will learn soon that farming has little to do with aquarium keeping - namely, the use of live rock is a huge liability for prop systems (countless nuisance, pest or competitive organisms to targeted farm species). You will want to utilize controlled media such as seeded sand filters or mechanical filters and ... above all... plan for such high turnover of inventory by strategic selection of the most salable species that your water loss to sales each week will be enormous (and a principal support of water quality).

You'd also do well to invest the time and money to visit profitable coral farms in the North and Midwest too; see some successful models in action.

Lastly... and please understand that this is profferred with the best intentions (no slight intended), but if you want to be taken seriously and given due respect by other professionals and industry folks, then you need to make a strict rule to write and speak like you are well informed and literate.

Your lack of punctuation, capitalization or even complete sentences is not only difficult to read, but makes you look unpolished if not amateur. I do hope they teach that in business school ;)

I realize it has little meaning online here beyond being courteous to those of us that will read (easier) your messages and be able to help you (better). But, I'm strongly advising you to make it a habit to always and only speak concisely and properly in life as a matter of putting your best foot forward. This is especially necessary when seeking advice, giving advice, and dealing with customers or suppliers. Your business will benefit from it immensely.

Best of luck and life,

Anthony :)
 
ohhh yess all my english teachers i so drove each and everyone of them nuts. well yes i do tend to be sloppy on the net and should just get use to typing if i were turning in my memos and such in class. but once again good old college has sent me through all kinds of that good stuff. ahh to many camp fires with the locals, and their deer stories will give you the worst slang terms in the world, humm wouldnt it be cool if the Blue collar comedy tour could be my daily job
well anyways i know where your coming from and spell check is one of the greatest inventions.
again thanks for the help
 
And no one mentioned the "Book"?

This should be required reading to anyone considering even having a reef tank.

I also think that the name is a bit misleading.

"Book of Coral Propagation" This book talks about much more.

Before you spend a dime on anything else, Anthony's book is a gold mine of information. Learning from someone else's mistakes is certainly faster, cheaper and much easier. (Well assuming what he is sharing came from a few mistakes here and there:D)

http://readingtrees.com/
 
You are too modest.. That book has saved countless hours and dollars.

Oh did I mention I own the posters?? Hey I hung them all in my fish room and they get as much attention as my main tank. Go figure....
 
Hmmm everyone hear that? there is a sequel coming, Now we can start asking when are the new posters coming out?? :D Oh and about the follow up book too?
 
heehee...yes, if the posters sell well enough to break even on the print costs, I'll redo them annually :)

I'm very eager to finish the second volumes of the books too... am working to gather the capital to print them.

Anth- :)
 
I admire your entreprenurial spirit! I have owned and operated over 5 Aquarium businesses: Wholesale, Tranship, Maintenance, E-commerce and Consulting. Anthony Calfo is telling you "like it is." This Industy is very competitive and many people fail to realize the competition but more importantly the capital of both time & money. Many LFS run in the red or very close to it; usually the stores with plenty of capital have enough long money to make it work (building a reputation takes years). I understand in most aquarium-business related threads, there are very discouraging remarks from those who come or have come from the business Industry. I agree with Anthony Calfo, in that it is best to start a mini-coral farm (growout) from your own basement as this will yield the least expenses with a higher margin of profit.
 
Also, I concur with Randall James. Anthony's book of Coral Propagation is a very interesting book with unique content (many people would not readily give out pointers on how to start your own coral farm or any aquarium-related business for that matter). I found his book refreshing with creative ideas and methods that make for useful & entertaining knowledge.
 
Right on, this will be a smaill basment project and we'll see where i end up with it. Small steady increase no leaps here!
 
IMHO, in order to start a coral farm, you need to understand the basic science behind it. Basic freshman chemistry and some marine biology knowledge will greatly benefit your future business. One of the successful person operating a LFS has a BS in Chemistry and MS in Marine biology. If you are not the science type, get some help. Good luck.
 
I recently recieved Anthony's BOCP1 in the mail, as I am going to start propogating some mushrooms & soft corals. It is an AMAZING resource & amusing to read. My wife was reading it and getting a kick after Anthony's peculiar humor. :)

I have to ask. Is it just me, or does anyone else's book smell like mushroom corals?
 
The business degree will take you farther... even here ;)

It will teach you how to find the right personnel/information while still being productive/profitable :D The latter being a big downfall/weakness of too many know-it-all hard science types that want to be businessmen :p
 
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