- Location
- Coral Gables, FL
Aqua-culturing corals really isn't expensive as long as you do it efficiently. There are a lot of people that get into aqua-culturing corals with threats to sell wholesale, but they don't use the space they have well or they aren't that serious about it over the long term.
In my experience hobbyists prefer aqua-cultured corals to mari-cultured corals because they are cheaper and tend to be pest free. I have much better success selling my smaller aqua-cultured corals than I do larger mari-cultured corals.
Mari-cultured corals are beautiful, but by the time they are shipped here the freight cost makes them pretty expensive and resale value is not nearly as high as those corals I grow myself.
It is true they also tend to come with an array of parasites or invasive algae. Also the mortality rate on a lot of mari-cultured sps is very high depending on who's doing the shipping, so it kind of defeats the purpose.
As far as aqua-culturing on a wholesale level, someone would have to have a truly massive operation to make it cost effective enough to cater to major wholesalers across the US. ORA has lovely corals, but they aren't cheap and there is a limited amount of money a retailer can make on reselling them.
One option that wholesalers have is to start aqua-culturing corals themselves. I have been to a lot of different wholesalers that have large vats with only a couple corals in them. Corals really aren't that hard to grow and it doesn't take that much time to produce corals that are ready for resale.
I will continue to sell my aqua-cultured corals retail until I am simply overrun with frags and my production surpasses my demand.
I really think that in today's economy aqua-culture is a valid market because hobbyists have less money to spend on corals and they can purchase a bunch of aqua-cultured frags for the same price as one imported coral.
It also costs very little to grow a large variety corals as long as you have a good propagation setup. Also the turnover time for most corals is usually between 1-1.5 months.
With imported corals you have to pay ever increasing freight costs which cut into your profit margin, there is always a certain percentage of loss of from shipping stress, it keeps F&W off your back, and you can tell everyone you're saving the environment. I think its a win win situation and has the potential to become the future of coral sales in the US.
In my experience hobbyists prefer aqua-cultured corals to mari-cultured corals because they are cheaper and tend to be pest free. I have much better success selling my smaller aqua-cultured corals than I do larger mari-cultured corals.
Mari-cultured corals are beautiful, but by the time they are shipped here the freight cost makes them pretty expensive and resale value is not nearly as high as those corals I grow myself.
It is true they also tend to come with an array of parasites or invasive algae. Also the mortality rate on a lot of mari-cultured sps is very high depending on who's doing the shipping, so it kind of defeats the purpose.
As far as aqua-culturing on a wholesale level, someone would have to have a truly massive operation to make it cost effective enough to cater to major wholesalers across the US. ORA has lovely corals, but they aren't cheap and there is a limited amount of money a retailer can make on reselling them.
One option that wholesalers have is to start aqua-culturing corals themselves. I have been to a lot of different wholesalers that have large vats with only a couple corals in them. Corals really aren't that hard to grow and it doesn't take that much time to produce corals that are ready for resale.
I will continue to sell my aqua-cultured corals retail until I am simply overrun with frags and my production surpasses my demand.
I really think that in today's economy aqua-culture is a valid market because hobbyists have less money to spend on corals and they can purchase a bunch of aqua-cultured frags for the same price as one imported coral.
It also costs very little to grow a large variety corals as long as you have a good propagation setup. Also the turnover time for most corals is usually between 1-1.5 months.
With imported corals you have to pay ever increasing freight costs which cut into your profit margin, there is always a certain percentage of loss of from shipping stress, it keeps F&W off your back, and you can tell everyone you're saving the environment. I think its a win win situation and has the potential to become the future of coral sales in the US.
