Keith's Frag Tank / Coral Propagation Tank Build

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mr_X said:
Being in California is a benefit in itself. You have all the wholesale companies out there.,...well, all the ones worth mentioning.
If I buy a box of corals, it's about 80 bucks shipping, and that's if i don't trans ship.
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Yeah the bummer part is until I move into a brick & mortar store most of the wholesalers here will not sell to me :(. I'm not at that stage yet. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
 
mr_X said:
Who do you want to buy from that won't let you? the only one I had a problem with was ORA.
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Just for starters Route 66 Marine. I've actually ran across several that state that though. If you happen to know any that would be friendly to me I would greatly appreciate a pm.
 
Keith,...So for us outsides looking in and have never proached trying to getting into this business ,...I take it that "Ora" and " route 66 marine" are very large importers/ wholesallers of the live marine corals/ fish that'll supply your " dealers" wether it be Joel's fish store or live aquaria etc.with their coral/ marine life supplies.?
I assume that they operate out of a large warehouse containing a million bins etc? ( playing the devil's advocate for a minute ) I assume that most of them or some of them are prob set up to handle mega accounts and really do not want to get involved with the " little guy" just starting out .. They want accounts spending tens of thousands of dollars and not a hundred here and there.?
I assume that they have a " rule" that unless you do in fact have that " motar and brick" store then you have to go else where ?
.... Just curious
 
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Not only is it a matter of how much business you do with them it has to do with competing with the LFS. Surprisingly most of the accounts I've secured (except for my closest wholesaler) do not have monthly minimums, only minimum $ order amounts. It's more a fact that without as much overhead as a LFS people operating out of their home could potentially sell the same products at a cheaper price. However I've found that some of the big online vendors (with brick & mortar stores) still can sometimes sell cheaper than I can buy wholesale due to their massive buying power. Also, its more of an issue with the wholesalers selling dry goods than livestock.
 
Keithhjs said:
Not only is it a matter of how much business you do with them it has to do with competing with the LFS. Surprisingly most of the accounts I've secured (except for my closest wholesaler) do not have monthly minimums, only minimum $ order amounts. It's more a fact that without as much overhead as a LFS people operating out of their home could potentially sell the same products at a cheaper price. However I've found that some of the big online vendors (with brick & mortar stores) still can sometimes sell cheaper than I can buy wholesale due to their massive buying power. Also, its more of an issue with the wholesalers selling dry goods than livestock.
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Keith.., thats pretty much how i had it figured.,.. Its all about the big $$ and protecting those accounts with the big $$..... Its understandable on their end... Its just something that youll have to accept and work around until you get that "B&M" store... Im sure that most of them prob started just as you're doing right now.... Perseverance my boy perseverance !
 
First, your systems look really good, congrats on that. I too am trying to set up a grow out facility. Although it isn't intended to make much money!

The issue I have seen with suppliers is they don't like seeing their stuff on eBay with a 10% markup. It handicaps those that invest in a real storefront. Certainly, for most starters in the hobby, a LFS can be critical. Maybe that's because I owned several LFS that I feel this way.
 
Gregcoyote said:
First, your systems look really good, congrats on that. I too am trying to set up a grow out facility. Although it isn't intended to make much money!

The issue I have seen with suppliers is they don't like seeing their stuff on eBay with a 10% markup. It handicaps those that invest in a real storefront. Certainly, for most starters in the hobby, a LFS can be critical. Maybe that's because I owned several LFS that I feel this way.
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Thank you Greg. If you mention my system being decent that is a well received compliment, considering the knowledge you possess of our hobby. Yeah I'm not on ebay with any livestock yet. An occasional filter or such to just try to move some inventory to allow myself to keep purchasing to make my monthly minimum. Also most ebayers i see can sell cheaper than i buy due to their buying power. Honestly though, I've only sold one dry good (a skimmer) and I am focusing on corals for now. Trying to offer aquacultured pieces from my local wholesaler and frags of my own colonies for now. Starting small for now!
 
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Few pics of a couple of today's pieces:
 

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If you did start shipping out your corals would you do your country only or could you find out if you can ship to Australia?
 
So what all is your setup how many tanks and what kind of price tag for this operation if you dont mind me asking
 
Cameron6796 said:
So what all is your setup how many tanks and what kind of price tag for this operation if you dont mind me asking
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For my frag room I only have two tanks with a sump going so far. The main frag tank 6' x 3' with a connected 55 gal in the side. I'm currently looking for a cubicle bank to house so e fish. My DT us a 125 that I cut some colonies from.
 
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