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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2015 10:34:50 GMT -5
Short version: I may have a client willing to buy my entire setup for more than I would have guessed it would sell for. Wasn’t really looking to sell, but this could potentially fund an upgrade. If anyone else was in a similar position with a fully stocked reef, is there a magic number that would allow you to let go of all of your hard work?
Longer version: One of my clients saw my tank for the first time and started asking me questions about it, primarily about costs involved with the corals, equipment and upkeep. I told them I maintain it myself and clean it for a couple hours every Sunday and they were amazed (funny how people assume you need to drain the entire tank and replace 100% of the water in order to clean it).
Anyway, curiously I asked them what they expected it would cost, and they threw out a number that made my jaw drop. Maybe it’s in part to the show Tanked, but I think many business owners are under the impression that you will need to spend ungodly amounts of money to setup a salt tank... and I guess if you have a professional company come in and set it up, that is likely the case (especially if it’s custom) - still, these setups on TV usually aren't even real reefs.
The thought of being able to fund a huge upgrade would be awesome, but starting over with no coral would suck, not to mention all the blood sweat and tears that goes into some of our setups... I'll post some pics later but I've been happier with my tank as of late than I ever have in the past.
I’m especially curious to hear from those who have well established fully stocked reefs, you know who you are. Some of us addicts have easily put 10-15k (and probably more if you count the equipment that’s sitting unused in a closet) into our tanks. The full setups I tend to see on Craigslist are always listed at 2-3k for tanks covered in algae and a couple of common soft corals..
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Post by jasonandsarah on Jan 29, 2015 11:36:19 GMT -5
I just quickly added up my tank equipment and probably half of my livestock and came to $5,443.... that was prices large Sps colonies to sell, not retail.
Would I sell it for that? No because I didn't even add everything up. I think we all know we spend a lot of money. But at the end of the day it's all just for the fun of it for me and I enjoy stocking and building the tank just as much. So if someone offered me double my tank cost would I jump on it? Yes I'd be happy to build it again with enough funds to it it! ;D
You'll love the next one just as much if not more because you have more experience going into this build.
Just make sure you really add stuff up and make sure your making out really good.
Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards
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Post by moulton712 on Jan 29, 2015 12:45:56 GMT -5
I'd sell! I'd keep a couple of choice peices.
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Jan 29, 2015 13:35:31 GMT -5
I'd do the same. If somebody offered me my magic number for my entire setup, I'd sell it all except for maybe a couple of fish and choice corals.
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Post by gotareef on Jan 29, 2015 14:25:37 GMT -5
depends....
like ryan said there are certain things I wont part with (fish)mostly,
but coral is easily replaced hell you could even cut a frag from the corals you have,for the new setup....
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Post by scoobnoob on Jan 29, 2015 15:58:46 GMT -5
I would need over 5k definitely. But my very first fish (an aquacultured clown) is priceless because its been with me through everything and is now going on 8 years old. What you say about people thinking it costs a lot you have to consider what we do we consider "normal" to an outsider explaining RO water mixing salt, water test etc may just sound exhausting, and who wants to put there hands into a gross tank anyway? Lol. I've started doing aquarium maintenance up in Bangor and have been very successful with just a few clients to help fund my addiction. Its also cool because your not limited to the one ecosystem you can have in your tank and get to do a bunch of different stuff.
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Post by Sean (90 reef, fw rack sys) on Jan 29, 2015 18:04:58 GMT -5
I agree with everyone else. It's always been a favorite part of my hobby, is watching everything start from nothing and develop into the full beautiful ecosystem that we provide for our charges. Unfortunately, most of us have to start from ground zero, but if they're talking good money, you could buy everything you need. The diversity of corals and fish has expanded dramatically since I first started. Also remember, not only, as suggested, could you work out something with them to keep choice pieces or frags, but there are a lot of people around selling frags.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2015 18:09:31 GMT -5
great responses from everyone, thanks guys! i feel better already. if/when the time comes, i may need to call on some of you to babysit some frags as the upgrade likely won't be for several months or possibly longer. there's a chance i'm going to buy the house that I've been renting, which means the dream wall-dividing aquarium could start becoming more of a reality and less of a dream... 300+ gallons.
anyway, i totaled everything up, and it's going to take a lot of $ for me to be happy so we'll see if he puts his money where his mouth is! another difficult aspect is the tank itself. i have a half-round aquarium from Oceanic - occasionally they pop up on craigslist, but for the most part, they're pretty rare, i believe originally only available commercially. oceanic retailed my version (76g) for $2100. The 144g version retails for $3500! insane. it's a sweet looking tank but was a complete nightmare to figure out correct flow, lighting, aquascape, maintenance, even photos. that's part of the reason for my apprehension... I spent so much time mastering the difficulty with this tank that putting a price tag on it is tough.
I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks again
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Post by gotareef on Jan 31, 2015 9:25:45 GMT -5
great responses from everyone, thanks guys! it's a sweet looking tank but was a complete nightmare to figure out correct flow, lighting, aquascape, maintenance, even photos. that's part of the reason for my apprehension... I spent so much time mastering the difficulty with this tank that putting a price tag on it is tough. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks again this reason alone would to me says sell and sell fast  |
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Post by industry on Jan 31, 2015 21:10:06 GMT -5
I have WAY less in my tank than most here I think. Mine also doesn't look as good as those tanks I assume. I'd sell if I thought I could put the money into a 300dd.
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stephen
Full Member
"Slow is Pro"
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Post by stephen on Feb 5, 2015 8:36:40 GMT -5
I do agree with most people up to a certain point. I do have experience with people offering large amounts of money for display tanks and also large coral colonies in those display tanks.
I think for me it depends on the size of the corals in the tank. If you could not see any rock in the tank because it is covered in 50sp of coral. If a lot of those species are 40-50 head plus colonies and the sps are large (8years of growth)then it is those colonies that are not able to be replaced. A normal person cannot just go out and buy multiple huge corals all at the same time. So that would have to be factored into the equation.
I suppose there are different ways to look at it there are lots of different sized aquariums out there with different numbers, types and sizes of both fish and corals.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2015 13:13:45 GMT -5
Welp, this fell through almost as quickly as it was coming together. Sucks because I was starting to get excited about an upgrade, even went as far as picking out fish haha... sometimes I get too far ahead of myself.
I'm going to resort to Craigslist and eBay and see if I can find another local business - law firm, dentist office, hotel, restaurant, etc (or I guess any home owner with deep pockets) to come close to the number I was getting excited about.
I appreciate everyone's input on this thread, will keep you guys posted.
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