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[Killietalk] Cost of fish? was RE:Aquabid vs BNL - I prefer BNL
Givin the BNL thing a rest...
Just thoughts, speculations and ramblings...I've had a few civil & lengthy
debates with Shene on the cost of raising fish, just sharing those
thoughts...<long>
(Bill you won't mind if I sorta paraphrase your prev thoughts on this; will
you?)
I think Shene looks at the total cost of the hobby (time as wage, gas, elec,
postage, food, equip, et) So when approached from a business expense angle,
the actual cost per pair may be more accurate...if frozen bloodworms and/or
certain commercial foods make up a lrg percentage of your killies diet, then
cost can soar (and time spent doing water changes IMHO)
I've approached cost from a less accurate viewpoint: considering the "perk"
aspects of the hobby as "sunk cost"...my premise being, it's a hobby and/or
entertainment cost (basically subtracting the enjoyment gain & my time, from
the more mundane expenses)
...and if your fish's diet is represented by a high % of live foods, then
actual expenses drop (unless you consider your time as a wage, then the
added bother of raising live foods is a wash)
So I guess the critical factor depends on whether you consider your time as
a "wage" or your time spent in the fish-room as a perk
Here is a lengthy dissertation from a "junior" killie keeper and full time
cheapskate (this effort is given just for you to compare notes & cost)...
If I were to break down the assorted cost into categories, I get this: for
approx 100 tanks (or about 800 gals):
Electricity: running that fish-room adds about $80/mo winter or about $50
summer (this is a rough est.)...running watts breaks down like this:
Lighting = 600W; heating = 2000W (Nov-Apr); Air = 45W; water pump = 400W,
heating is the largest % in winter, pump/air cost summer (I drop lighting to
6-8/hr day in summer this far north)
Food = : All depends on amt of time I devote to live foods: I go through
about 1/2lb Blackworms/mo = $20; 1lb of frozen Bloodworms/mo = $15 (I
think); 2oz BBS eggs/mo = $4 ; 7oz FD Bloodworms = $7, Live food "feeds" =
$2-4/mo (as you see, if you have time to feed/prepare daphnia, grindals &
earthworms, food cost drop dramatically)...
Water: This is linked to the percentage of live foods AND hours of lighting
(sounds speculative, but it's truly observable)...if I bump up the total
lighting hrs/day from 8-12 (and be disciplined on ferts), I can decrease H2O
changes from 40-33%/week to 25-20%/week....if I feed a high percentage of
"Aquatic based" live foods (daphnia & blk worms), water changes can
"potentially" drop dramatically to 25% bi-monthly (If I so
choose)...regardless, I est. additional water cost to $20/mo (very rough)
Misc reoccurring expenses:
Salts (Na,K,Mg) = it's looking to be about $10 every 3yrs ...
Meds: should be zero IMHO, but I'll post later as this is a lengthy worthy
topic
Chemicals, Carbon, et: 10lbs of De-chlor = $50/yr, no longer buy carbons and
such, peat = $5/yr
Est $100/yr in "consumables"
Total Reoccurring cost = $150/mo for 100 tanks (or about 800 gal)
"Capital Expenses" are harder for me to estimate since fish acquisitions all
depends on how many species I'm replacing after the latest heating
disaster...Equipment cost have recently been high since I've been changing
to a higher lighting/higher O2 setup (I'm still editing that "novel", I'll
bore everyone soon with one)
If I were to guess, I'd est I have about $3000 worth of equipment and spent
over $600 buying fish (with postage fees being almost 25% of that: a cost of
doing Biz on Aquabid vs. buying at shows)...I "think" I got 30-40 species (I
can't even begin to guess the actual number of fish; could be 60-600 FAIK)
My summary/take: I try to keep cost lower using my time & leveraging live
-foods; depending on my current scam (I'm posing as a under-worked/overpaid
Auto worker for now) that's only $22-25/hr...Perhaps double that if I wanna
stress out and go back to a office gig, (but die quicker)
So figure 1-2hrs day or 16/hrs week using Shenes formula adds $400 week,
using mine subtracts $400 week...
I've also figured out that 10gal are pretty cheap to buy and maintain (from
a stability angle) vs. the "hobby std" 5gal...you get less eggs, but loose
fewer females, and can skip a occasional H2O change w/o finding "gill
burned" aphy's...I see it as a wash
Central systems vs. Air? IMO Air is cheaper to own/operate, central systems
save time in spades, but likewise represent a wholesale risk w/regard to
euip failure & disease
Ken (whew!)
Ken
-----Original Message-----
From: killietalk-bounces at aka_org [mailto:killietalk-bounces at aka_org] On
Behalf Of rwpierce at att_net
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 10:42 PM
To: killifish discussion list
Subject: Re: [Killietalk] Aquabid vs BNL - I prefer BNL
Hi Ed,
No offense taken. I should have mentioned that when I sell australes direct
to people I ask $10 per pair. It is only when I put them in fish auctions
that they get in the $20 range, and believe it or not I saw a pair go as
high as $45 once. The $45 fish weren't my fish and in this case they were a
donation to the hosting club. While these prices may seem outrageous, they
are what people are willing to offer at auctions, so who am I to complain.
Besides, the hosting club gets a cut, so it is to their benefit also. I put
my e-mail address on all my bags and if possible I speak to the bidder and
let them know to contact me with any questions. On the flip side, I have
had bags of other, less common killies go for only a couple of dollars, so
things tend to even out in the long run. If I could raise killies for a
profit I would quit my day job, but I don't think it is possible even at $20
per pair.
Rich
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: BrandtEdL at aol_com
>
> Hi All, In regard to Rich Pierce's post, I'll have to say that in the last
> 32 years that I've raised and bred killifish, I've never done it for a
> profit. To sell a pair of Australes for $17 - $23 is an outrage to me.
As I
> said
> it's not for the profit but a hobby and interest I have in maintaining a
> species. And what I sell them for is the standard prices usually listed
in the
> BNL. This barely feeds them, but that's my choice. I don't see how
anyone
> could ask for this kind of price for Australes (which are quite common
and easy
> to breed). This is only my opinion and mean no offense to anyone.
Thanks,
> Ed Brandt
>
>
>
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