Side Hustle: What's the best & worst coral to grow and resell for hobbyists?

[revhtree]

MANY hobbyists have thought about, and attempted, selling coral to help recoup the cost of equipment, dry goods and to buy new livestock etc. In the beginning of my "reefing career" and for several years I made some extra money by fragging and selling coral. Of course it all went back into the reef tank and then some! But if you're wanting to make a little side money, NOT COMMERCIALLY, to help feed the addiction then there are probably some corals you should steer clear of and those that you should really consider growing out. So what are they? You tell me in today's discussion by answering the following questions:

Keep in mind while answering these questions that the average hobbyist isn't going to have a lot of dedicated room and extra equipment for propagating corals.

1. What would you say is the best coral to grow out, in order to help offset the cost of reefing?

2. Wat would you say is the worst coral to try and turn a profit on as a hobbyist?

 

[ScottR]

I am still cultivating xenia but not by choice, and it is free for local reefers. They sometimes want to pay for it. I say no, please take it no questions asked.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Great question! I try my best to cover my current costs this way. I try to sell some decent corals like acans and hammers but honestly most people want xenia when they come by. So I'd say xenia is the best (although I sell it dirt cheap) and acans are the worst.
Acans are difficult to frag (I can't control how exactly how many I cut off) and they can't be fragged very often.

 

[ScottR]

1 best coral to grow out: homewrecker
2 worst coral: Clove polyps

 

[Alexreefer]

I think maybe some Zoa's or euphyllia

 

[ReefGeezer]

Seems like I break something every time I have to get in the tank. I bought frag plugs and make frags from the broken stuff for local trade. I'm a klutz... frag rack is pretty full.

 

[Schnizzle]

1. Colorful acros
2. I have to agree with Clove Polyps
Everyone acted like they were as bad and Xenia. They've barely grown at all since Christmas.

 

[lmm1967]

I currently give xenia away as I get pieces on plugs or small rock rubble. I don't like giving away free floating pieces as they can be a pain to get to attach where you want them.

Other stuff - I have plenty of tank space right now so not really selling anything - if I were low on space - yep, stuff's getting sold to local hobbyists.

 

[ZoaAddiction81]

I have so so many RBTA that multiply over night it seems.......I trade for diff corals with my local reef shop....Save some money I guess

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Zoas are hot right now. In the right system, they grow like weeds and everyone likes them. I purchased a bunch recently just for my frag/grow out system so I can start selling them to fund future tank builds/stocking.

 

[ISFNick]

High end Zoas and acros

low end chalices that grow slowly

 

[FLSharkvictim]

The toughest coral that i DID not have much luck with was the Reef Raft Asia Wolverine

 

[Jose A Venereo]

Best: BTAs; Euphyllia; Acroporas
Worst: Pocilliopora; Xenia; Yellow polyps

 

[AngieRN]

I have so so many RBTA that multiply over night it seems.......I trade for diff corals with my local reef shop....Save some money I guess

If you ship, I'd be interested!

 

[rtn]

When I was first getting started, I envisioned offsetting costs by selling frags etc, but realized that once it became more of a "business" it would start to lose it's luster. I haven't sold anything yet, but I have given away a bunch of frags, small colonies, and anemone splits. I learned a while back that it's best for me to separate hobbies from business -- keep it focused on enjoyment!

Edit: Best and worst corals!

Best for me might be Zoas, Acros, or Euphyllia, they all grow super well, pretty fast, and are in demand. Maybe Blastos. Even pulsing xenia, is always popular, but I tend to give it away. Heck, the best money might be in Chaeto if people weren't always giving it away.

Worst for me might be Scolys or something like Jack-o-Lantern Leptoseris, which is taking -forever- to encrust.

 

[Daddy-o]

I think a lot of what is hot and what is not is driven by local reefers. If your locality has been flooded with a certain type of coral, it would be hard to make any money on it.

 

[ZoaAddiction81]

If you ship, I'd be interested!

I’ve never shipped them before but I’ll let you know I definitely won’t run out of them

 

[Kremis]

I grow out zoas to sell for a few reasons, mainly:

- They are usually in pretty high demand
- Grow pretty fast
- Hardier, more tolerant of off water parameters
- Easily scaleable, there is everything from $1 pp zoas to $1000 pp.
Plus I just really like zoas, but those are my logical reasons for doing it

I mainly sell zoas so I can afford to buy more zoas since a lot are over 20$ per polyp

Id say worst money makers are for sure LPS unless its high end torches, they just grow too slow. Acros are good, just harder to care for and grow slower.

 

[that Reef Guy]

Great question! I try my best to cover my current costs this way. I try to sell some decent corals like acans and hammers but honestly most people want xenia when they come by. So I'd say xenia is the best (although I sell it dirt cheap) and acans are the worst.
Acans are difficult to frag (I can't control how exactly how many I cut off) and they can't be fragged very often.

Acans are easy to cut.

You just need a Frag Saw.

I would not cut them without one.

 

[lester lloyd]

i want trying to frag for a profit but was forced because of a thriving system I have a small system and if I don’t frag I would loose a lot of corals because of cw and now I had stat a new larger frag tank if I’m not careful my frag tank is full of corals I think the best coral to frag are euphyllia filled by polyps because they are hard and tend to grow in every tank you have higher returns off acros the worst are Kenya tree corals and xzenia they grow so rapid in a thriving system frag tank they are more of a hinder to keep in the system almost as bad as aptasia lol