Tank Maintenance Business....

[r00onmac]

So i am getting married next july... yes i know im young, etc..

but the deal is that we are paying for our own wedding and id like to find a part time job to make some more money to support the hobby so i can save more of my "real job" money for the wedding...

i would REALLY like to maintain people's tanks as a job... go in to someones business once a week or once every two weeks and maintain their tanks... buy all the items they need with their own money, build a beautiful reef that their customers can look at, etc...

ive asked around at a couple local places and they either do all of their own or contract it out completely...

im available all day fridays, most of the day tuesdays and pretty much every other morning before 11 as well as most weekends...

do you think this is something i can setup as a personal business and that it would work? i can afford business cards, pamphlets, maybe a website...and i have SOME connections at LFS so that they can possibly put my name out there.... what do you think the average joe who wants a pretty tank would be willing to pay me for regular maintenance? is there anyway i can prevent being liable for your everyday average tank crash related to a death in the tank or something that is out of my control during the time between maintenance?

this is really a serious thing that id like to add to my current schedule so if anyone knows anything please let me know...

 

[melev]

Matt, you really need to talk to a few LFS out there and see what they charge. If you get a few "good" contracts, it will snowball to other good ones. Otherwise you'll have to work harder for less money doing the smaller, more aggravating tanks.

I've entertained the thought for about 2 minutes myself, but I really don't feel like lugging in water change water to each maintenance tank.

 

[r00onmac]

WOW melev posts in MY thread... lol

Well Marc,
I think that you make a good point about water change water, but really if i turn this into a serious business i could easily buy a dolly to bring it in on, im not opposed to spending money to make money. Plus i think the things i buy for the business will help me in the long run - for instance i still havent been able to afford good Salifert test kits, i use a cheap red sea kit and still dont test for calcium because i couldnt afford that.. BUT if i get the kits as a business expense i can also use them to maintain my own tank...

 

[melev]

Most tanks that are serviced, based on my limited interest in the topic, tend to be easy tanks with mostly fish and some soft corals. You won't necessarily be caring for tanks loaded with SPS and all the required gear/lighting.

There are a number of serviced accounts that truly get abused by the maintenance company. I know specifically of relatively expensive clients that have MH lighting on top that doesn't work at all, and the company just inserted some NO lighting instead of dealing with the problem. Or they get tap water to mix up water change water or for top off. Only the guys that really care will do a good job, and get a great reputation in the process. It is a slow growing company that really needs word of mouth.

If you set up a nice tank in a doctor's office, be sure you put your business cards on top in a small acrylic holder so that others can grab a card when they view the tank.

 

[r00onmac]

Most tanks that are serviced, based on my limited interest in the topic, tend to be easy tanks with mostly fish and some soft corals. You won't necessarily be caring for tanks loaded with SPS and all the required gear/lighting.

EXACTLY so i figured how hard could it be to startup a decent maintenance business... I havent been in saltwater all that long (a little over a year at this point) but ive done freshwater my whole life and i learn REALLY REALLY fast... i read these forums religiously and often diagnose problems or correctly identify a mis-marked fish and corals at LFS in my area to the employees...

There are a number of serviced accounts that truly get abused by the maintenance company. I know specifically of relatively expensive clients that have MH lighting on top that doesn't work at all, and the company just inserted some NO lighting instead of dealing with the problem. Or they get tap water to mix up water change water or for top off. Only the guys that really care will do a good job, and get a great reputation in the process. It is a slow growing company that really needs word of mouth.

If you set up a nice tank in a doctor's office, be sure you put your business cards on top in a small acrylic holder so that others can grab a card when they view the tank.

i hate the idea that there are maintenance people out there taking major advantage of clients like that - for instance we have a tank at my university that is ALWAYS in a state of disrepair with dead fish, tangs that constantly look starving because there is NEVER nori in the tank, condy anemones with normal output lighting, etc... i have complained so often that i may even offer my services to the university for "cost" (test kits, fish, etc) so that we can have a nice tank and i can have a reference...

 

[melev]

That sounds like a good idea to start. Again, get some kind of recognition (business card, plaque, etc) near the tank so people will know to contact you.

 

[r00onmac]

bump

anyone else have any experience or advice? maybe a link to info on insurance for a business like this,,, maybe someone who may know a going rate... just any general info?

still waiting to hear back from the person in charge of our university's FOWLR

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8116571#post8116571 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by r00onmac
WOW melev posts in MY thread... lol

You had a 21,947 : 8,116,571 shot of him posting in your thread :lmao:

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8122384#post8122384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
You had a 21,947 : 8,116,571 shot of him posting in your thread :lmao:

If my math is right, that means he had a 1 in369.825989884 chance.

Or maybe I'm figuring that wrong. Maybe it was 0.027% likely.

Either way, he really got lucky.

 

[Peter Eichler]

I had a maintenance business for a little while some years back. If you love this hobby and want to keep loving it the way you do I'd suggest finding another part time venture. Maintaining other people's tanks nearly ruined my own tanks. You WILL get blamed for fish dying even if they die as a result of something stupid the customer did.

I had a lawyer customer who contracted me with a tank in very poor shape. It was a cesspool. I got the tank cleaned up and got him on the right track and told him he could add one fish until I saw him next time. My next visit he had 8 large fish, we're talking large angels, groupers, triggers, etc, in his 90 gallon. I asked him what the story was and he told me "the fish store said it would be fine". I told him that he should return some of the fish because his tank wasn't large enough and that it wasn't ready for that many fish even if it was large enough.

To make a long story short the guy ended up harassing me and then trying to sue me after all his fish died a few days later. People that are too lazy or busy to maintain an aquarium (the average customer) will frustrate you to no end.

Not trying to totally discourage you, but consider this a friendly warning

 

[imtheonlylp]

matt...my church has a 300g FO tank on the first floor in our "Kid's World" area and i was asked what i would charge to maintain it...as melev said, i entertained the thought up until the water changes came into play...that means about 30g a week at least!! now i certainly wouldnt mind scraping the glass and cleaning the substrate, but not only spending about 6hrs just making the water then taking it there seemed like too much of a hassle...so take this and multiply it by several contracts...yuck!...now if you were to purchase say...2-3 ro/di units (more units = more water production in less time - also use their water bill, not yours!) and take them with you, make up the fresh water as you clean the tank then do the water change after you are done (possibly removing a lot of floating contaminates at the same time), then it may not be so bad...a lot of people say to let the freshly-made water sit overnight, but honestly i think that with a large tank, a 10% water change doesnt affect the already stable levels that much..just my opinion though

 

[Peter Eichler]

If you decide to go forward with this I'd suggest trying to setup mostly freshwater tanks. Planted tanks and african cichlid tanks in particular. If I were to do it over again the only way I'd suggest maintaining saltwater aquariums is if the customer was going to do a lot of the basic things for the tank, and only then if they were ok with having only the hardiest of marine fish and inverts. The customer being willing to invest in an RO/DI unit witha storage container and auto topoff is a big plus as well. Lugging around RO/DI water just isn't practicle.

 

[r00onmac]

all of these items are very very true... i guess i am taking it for granted that i would have customers i could correctly convince to get an ATO and would be willing to do things like not buy their own fish at random intervals when im not around..

im not a huge believer in water changes if you dont have a heavy demand for something like Calcium that can be depleted so odds are i would do maybe one water change a month or every other month depending on the stability of the readings i get from the system... i suppose i have some more thinking to do, but really if i get one or two contracts for a decent amount of money thatll support my teeny tiny 60 gallon system so i can save more of my real money for the wedding...

 

[nyvp]

r00onmac remember where we live we have a easy out being we can use NSW ( Natrual salt water ) to make the job easier.

 

[melev]

Matt, the problem is what goes on when you aren't there. When they drop in excessive food on a daily basis, your monthly visit just about requires that you do a water change. Think about this: If you just show up, clean the glass, siphon the substrate and leave, will they think they got their monies' worth? Probably not. However, when they see you trudging in with multiple containers of water, changing water out for 20 minutes or so plus cleaning, they feel you did something of value. Impressions count in the service industry. You gotta actually do some physical stuff to justify the price.

One LFS I know has his phone on around the clock, so that if any tank he services has a problem, he's a call away. He may go ASAP to deal with it, or talk them through the situation over the phone.

Obviously there's money to be made, but it won't be easy. You'll be cleaning up a month's worth of accumulated issues each visit...

Like I said, I gave it some thought after a few people suggested I do it. But I talked myself right out of it.

 

[barrierreefcf]

I've been in aquarium retail since 1991 and started my own servicing business on the side in 1996. I could write a book about the ins and outs but this is not the place for it. Here's a couple things to think about.

1. Problems with your clients aquariums (ie emergencies) will not happen when your schedule permits. They just won't. If you are not willing to commit to being available 24/7 the customer is going to assign at least some of the blame to you for not showing up promptly to fix the problem. Maybe rightfully so. The flip side is that if you are willing to be on call you can charge rates like a Doctor...ok...well maybe not quite that high

2. It is very hard to land new clients unless you are working at or with a LFS. Getting a few high traffic clients ( ie restuarants or professional offices) will help. You will have to knock on some doors and have your sales pitch and presentation down, with all the wrinkles ironed out. Selling somebody on a $2000-$5000 quality marine setup is not easy. If you can raise the capital to fund a few leased aquariums you have a much better chance to get your foot in the door in the commercial setting. I have watched 5 guys in my area who know their stuff inside and out fail because they could not land new clients and had no referal pipeline established with LFS.

Feel free to PM with specific questions and good luck if you decide to jump in!

 

[r00onmac]

I currently have a position where i am essentially available 24/7 so answering the phone at 2am ro respond to an issue is no big deal to me... the only interference would be if i were on duty for my main job and couldnt get out of the building until 9am the next day or worse 5pm on weekends...

Really its not an issue for me to be able to respond, my only concern with that is getting the client to identify an emergency from an unknown event in the tank... for instance snail spawning is no reason for a 2am call,, but a 14+" BTA spawning is...

thank you for the invitation for questions and ill take you up on that

 

[miwoodar]

I did servicing for a couple of years. I made money but it was a lot more work and a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Barrierreefcf is right on.

It was very difficult to convince customers to really 'go for it'. They often dropped their jaw when they realized how much their dream tank would really cost to set up and maintain.

Most of my tanks came from referals on existing setups that were not up to snuff on either hardware or maintenance. Get a good contract in place or another maintenance service will come in one day and say 'this guy doesn't know what he is doing, we at Company XYZ can do it much better'. Poof - account gone. I never earned my tanks by discrediting the other guys - fortunately they were often bad enough the owner was actively searching for a replacement.

I had difficulties making customers understand that an emergency needed to be dealt with in a timely manner. They would do things like call me a week after a major fish died. By that point many of the other fish were sick or dead too.

Before you invest a lot of dough, you should see if you can maintain your own aquarium by only touching it once a week (or two, or three, or four). It's a lot tougher than I ever thought it would be.

Convincing your customers that freshwater and cichlids are way underrated will help address reliability problems. Tell them about what they've been overlooking. Cichlids are awesome, they have great personalities, are bullet proof, and are always out to say hello to the onlookers.

I've posted in a post that MELEV participated in!

 

[Kogo]

from what it sounds like your hoping to get out of a`service business and what would have to be put in, i think you maybe farther ahead picking up some hourly work part time.

school is tough... marriage is tougher... marriage and school is tougher still ... adding a business so you can keep an aquarium wont make it any easyer.

you only have this time in your life once so enjoy it without filling it up with extra stuff.

if you focus on your wedding and new life together youll never regret loosing a tank... you can always buy a 180 for your aniversary

... advice from someone who's been there.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8125948#post8125948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by miwoodar
I've posted in a post that MELEV participated in!

There's no turning back now!