How to make a career from reefing?

[Miami Reef]

How can a person make a living involving reef tanks?

I think I would enjoy operating a fish disease/quarantine treatment facility but I’m not sure. How can someone work with fish/corals?

No judgement please.

 

[Pistondog]

How can a person make a living involving reef tanks?

I think I would enjoy operating a fish disease/quarantine treatment facility but I’m not sure. How can someone work with fish/corals?

No judgement please.

We have a couple of local people that maintain home reefs, maintenance.
One has opened a shop selling fish and corals.
Like many jobs, you might enjoy some aspects, but not others. If it's still a hobby, you can pick and choose. If it's your business, not so much.

 

[innovusaquaculture]

I'm currently helping a young man start a fish/coral LFS. It will take him several years to learn everything he needs to know from running a business to taking care of reef tanks. We are starting to QT fish for customers and developing the protocols he will use, growing coral, building systems, etc. He is learning business.

He is 19 years old. I am trying to be a mentor. I will invest in his store when he is ready to open.

 

[fish farmer]

Go to college, get a degree in sciences, aquaculture/fisheries/animal husbandry.

Apply for jobs in the industry or fisheries field, get experience, move up the ladder. I actually saw a few jobs posted with ORA not too long ago. I know places like Mote Marine in Sarasota have jobs once in awhile. None are these are specific to reef tanks, but an aquarium is an aquarium. Since you are in Miami....look to this local organization for leaders in the industry down there https://www.ftffa.com/ Maybe there are local fish farms/collectors you could work at to get experience. I seriously thought of tropical fish farming as a job in Florida a long time ago.

I know to work for private Aquariums you may need an AZA certification or something along those lines https://www.aza.org/?locale=en

 

[Opus]

How can a person make a living involving reef tanks?

I think I would enjoy operating a fish disease/quarantine treatment facility but I’m not sure. How can someone work with fish/corals?

No judgement please.

If you mean you investing in such an operation, it will be expensive and not lucrative. Quarantining takes weeks and weeks which means you have cash tied up in the operations, so slow overturn of your inventory. Most of the people I know that are doing it for money start out on the side growing corals. Fish are usually just too risky and take a lot of space to accommodate. You then have to build up your coral business by going to frag swaps and/or selling on facebook/band. Having a website with up to date inventory is also helpful but is time consuming. People today expect WYSIWYG so you have to photograph every coral you sell. Most seem to also ignore the legal requirements and don't collect sales tax when needed and like cash because then they can hide it from the IRS. Most of these guys tend to burn out within a couple of years or less. I've seen a couple locally that get tired of people constantly coming to their house to shop and open up their own shop.

 

[Jekyl]

Create a business as a dealer. Get in good with some wholesalers. Fill your basement with tanks and lighting. Tell the city you're not growing marijuana. Buy a ton of coral. Wait 6 months, sell frags, wait, frags, wait, frags etc.

 

[MaxTremors]

Get an education and move somewhere where this kind of career would be possible (ie one of the reef hobby hotspots in the country, or basically any fairly large city on the coast). It would really help if you specified what kind of job you’re looking for. Do you want to work in academia, the aquarium hobby (wholesale, retail, or distribution, livestock or equipment, sales or product development/engineering), zoology (public aquariums/zoos), aquaculture, conservation, etc. There are so many fields within the hobby and that are hobby adjacent, it really just depends on what you want to do. Having an education (either a marine biology, fisheries, zoology or some related/relevant degree) is incredibly helpful. Opening or working at an LFS is probably the easiest and most immediate way to work in the industry, but it generally doesn’t pay well. Perhaps one of the more lucrative and fairly easy ways to get started, though the ethics of it are debatable, is opening an online chop shop. Or the more ethical, but harder and less lucrative alternative of opening a coral farm/aquaculture facility and selling online. If you can source quality corals they will sell.

 

[BostonReefer300]

Jay Hemdal wrote an article (or book) on this exact topic. I believe he gives it away for free. I suggest you PM him to find out more

 

[innovusaquaculture]

Jay Hemdal wrote an article (or book) on this exact topic. I believe he gives it away for free. I suggest you PM him to find out more

If Jay wrote the book already, then it's the best guide you can get!

 

[Dolphins18]

I started in this hobby a while ago, and never anticipated it becoming a career, things just kind of happened - I am not content on it being a career as it is extremely intensive and devastating losses can be your entire livelihood. While it works out, I am only recently scaling up rapidly. The worst you think you can do is turn something you enjoy into a price tagging business.
I hate to say it but the maintenance circle is extremely saturated, and I would not consider that a career choice.
I found a back up in finance that worked for me, hoping that this (SW) can be my ultimate story. I'd be only hurting myself devoting myself to a career in this hobby without a backup.

 

[Jesminnovak]

One idea could be starting a fish disease/quarantine treatment facility. I once visited a local aquarium and was amazed by their quarantine protocols—it inspired me to explore similar avenues.

 

[Jesminnovak]

One idea could be starting a fish disease/quarantine treatment facility. I once visited a local aquarium and was amazed by their quarantine protocols—it inspired me to explore similar avenues.

Working with reef tanks sounds like a dream gig! I stumbled upon an article on https://www.vocationaltraininghq.com/ about vocational training—it got me thinking about pursuing my passion for marine life.

 

[GARRIGA]

Seeing all the LFS that have closed around me over the years with the only and most successful being the big chain stores such at Petco proves one thing to me I’ve seen coming since Home Depot wiped out the mom and pop shops. Can’t compete with large single store have it all.

Only other option is being boutique to the point you only cater to a very select crowd seeking that not found amongst the general availability. Yet this often get bigger than they should have remained.

Service side will always be a thing because the corporate and wealthy accounts don’t want to scape algae or change socks. Can you live on the funds that provides or have the charisma to land big accounts and hire others to scrape?

Could go the professional diy side such as building skimmers and other supplies but there’s a large established competition and most of todays tech isn’t new. Not likely building a better mouse trap therefore need to build something unique and heavily marketed. Have the funds and time to market on top of build and sell and offer warranty?

I’ve thought about the QT as it makes the most sense and seems very profitable from an afar but if it was easy then there be many already. It’s not a new concept and quite frankly can’t for the life of me understand why consumers accept the fact it’s not practiced by every wholesaler and retailer vs dropping the burden on the final guy or gal that buys that fish or coral. Yet the reality is most consumers don’t care and why they buy at Petco who either replaced the fish or sells them medication. Big money in medication.

The one frontier I see remaining that has little competition yet a large hurdle to admission being fish breeding due to the complex nature of that first meal. We are where fresh was in the 60s. Fish were harvested from the Amazon and African Lakes. Today I can’t recall last time I heard of a wild fish being sold. Perhaps new species found.

Captive produced fish at a wholesale level could be extremely profitable but this isn’t boutique. Perhaps start by supplying local stores not having contracts such as Petco does with major suppliers who breed fresh and purchase wild.

I know the first thought is fragging corals because today a one inch anything costs crazy money but how long will that be sustained if every frag swap is at full capacity and sooner or later what was rare is no more and now keepers exchange at clubs because it beats throwing that trimming in the trash. Will the cost of lighting and space pay for what remains profitable?

Not looking to slam on anyone’s dream. Have one life. Enjoy it. If profiting from one’s hobby a thing then go do it but I’d start out small and not quit that day job and perhaps paying for supplies by swapping with local stores good enough until product outpaces supply needs and one can expand or perhaps start selling to those same store. Build a relationship. See how that goes.

It’s not work if one enjoys what they are doing but you still have to put food on the table, roof over that table and cloths one one’s back and things get tougher when you decide best have a family and now also need time set aside for them and that includes going on vacation, watching soccer games and all the other things in life that will get in the way unless you get big enough and hire others such as self willing to do the work because being an owner with workers beats being a slave to your hobby which latter first needed before success allows anything else usually to happen.

If it was easy. Anyone can do it. Just so many buyers. So much demand. Lots to consider.

Perhaps go to shows and ask others what they’ve endured to get into the game. Find something that aligns with one’s skills, desire and ability. It’s not terrible to fail trying something you love as long as there’s a backup plan. I know. Talking from experience. Been there. Done that. Today I trade. Finally found my niche and love doing it but I’d trade it yesterday for my own shop. Dream I’ve had since I could read. Perhaps I’ll just make a ton of money and turn my garage into a mini sea aquarium

 

[Dan_P]

How can a person make a living involving reef tanks?

I think I would enjoy operating a fish disease/quarantine treatment facility but I’m not sure. How can someone work with fish/corals?

No judgement please.

There is an old saying that there is no better way to end a love for a hobby than to turn it into a business. I would guess this true for most people. The very tiny minority go onto to be successful at it. I’ve experienced the intense passion that goes with a new hobby that “clicks”. Photography, gardening, saltwater aquaria, carpentry, cats, dogs to name a few. I only made the mistake once of turning a hobby into a business: photography, I was good enough to get paid but as a business the added responsibility of pleasing more than myself with my work took the fun out of photography. Carpentry was just the opposite. I made things for other people for free, though most were so grateful they did a favor for me or cooked me dinner. Following your passion is a great idea if you can avoid killing it.

A safe approach might be doing it on a greater scale but not as a business to discover the things you don’t like about it. Work with a pet shop for free to run a quaranteen service for them. They of course would pay for most of the material but not your time or expertise.

Good luck. It will be a bitter sweet experience.

 

[i cant think]

How can a person make a living involving reef tanks?

I think I would enjoy operating a fish disease/quarantine treatment facility but I’m not sure. How can someone work with fish/corals?

No judgement please.

Easiest way, working in fish shops like me

You can also offer to work with fish shops to QT fish and others - most LFSs opt for as clean of a system as possible.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Like others have stated, I think the best way would be to get involved with a local fish store and learn the ins and outs from them. You could also attempt a side fragging business (No experience with either of the two haha)

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Hit up World Wide Corals! Probably get some cool stuff working there too

 

[X-37B]

My old local lfs's, there were 3, all said without maintenance accounts there stores would close.

If youe going to do corals you need a strong online presence and a several years growing out colonies, that people want, to have enough for continuous sales.

You also need a plan and few years of experience to put that to work.

Having a backup job, or one that pays the bills, until your up and running is good advice.

I have told many, im 66, whatever you do in life plan for retirement early. You dont want to be the one my age working at McDonalds because you have to. Just go into any fast food restaurant and look around, its sad.

With that said!
You can do anything in life if you have a plan for success regardless of what others may tell you.

Good luck in whatever direction you go.

 

[moosevandyke]

I bet Elliott @Marine Collectors would have a lot of advice.

 

[Reefer Matt]

This also depends on where you are in life. A single person that has lots of money and ambition can try anything and not have much to lose if it fails. Someone who has a family to support and a full time career has a lot to lose.
I am of the latter. I have a reefing side business, but no store. I can’t risk my family’s financial security right now. But maybe when I retire I can pursue things further. However, I encourage those who can do it, to try.