is there any market for this?

[Guest]

I make a lot of my own pre-seeded media out of a healthy tank. I have been using it ang giving it away for about a month now to friends with good results.

So i am thinking i sould sell these "seeded media pacs" at a small price + shipping, to cover the material costs.

What I generally give is

2 cups PFS
a 6in' square of filter floss
10 bio-cylinders

They sit in the tank in an aerated container for about 2 weeks, or longer if i don't need them, with an airstone bubbling in the container to increase flow.

So far, many have been used successfully to kickstart cycles in new tanks and in my own hospital tank.

Would anyone be interested in something like this? What would be a good price? How would I ship the packs?


Thanks
P.

 

[verucaproduce]

My first reaction would be 'probably not'. It seems like the shipping alone for what you are proposing would be just as costly as biospira and less effective (would take more time).

Maybe someone else will chime in and offer some solutions.

 

[Thebluyak]

maybe close by, think about having to ship it, you would need to keep it wet and put some fish food in the bag to decay and "feed" the bacteria on their journey. If it is within a days shipping range it might work, but across country I wouldnt even bother.

 

[malkore]

it'd have to be overnighted, kept at a reasonable room temp, wet, and with some fresh oxygen flowing to it...or it'll arrive dead.

in other words, would work great locally...not so great to ship.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

keep in mind liability also, you get ich or other diseases and spread that to customers and that would be bad, especially if they have a discus tank or other expensive fish.

 

[Thebluyak]

well if they are advanced enough to care for discus then they should atleast have their own media already, plus if your doing discus you wouldnt take the chance of bringing an outside bacteria in to begin with. I think he is leaning towards the beginner crowd that just want to jump start their cycle.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I don't think there would be too much market for sale, as other products like biospira already exists.

As far as helping out new people locally, it would be great. Perhaps an advertisement in your regional forum, local fish club, or lfs would be nice.

I could see renting it out for $5 or so (too much more and the newbies who need it most probably won't bother with the cost) until their tank is cycled. Then take it back (ideally after you give their water a test), give everything a good boil and reseed it for next time. I feel the idea of you renting a service would make people more likely to buy that just getting a thing.