Rays on a budget- My (somewhat long) story w/pics

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
So here's the thing about selling fish... it's an awful business. It's poor way to make a living, and only a few survive as their form of income. You'll see sellers come and go, you'll see tons of money invested only to ultimately end up as a waste because the fish selling industry is brutal. It has it's ups and it has it's downs, and always goes by the wayside during tough economic times. There is a thin margin to make a profit, and most of the time, it's a losing battle.

There are some very profitable sellers too, don't get me wrong. But those are rare, and even some of those are just smoke and mirrors. I've been reading your thread over the last few months and shaking my head every time I read this.

So, I wish you luck, but I suggest a real job and a backup plan is in order (since you have a wife and kid to think about). It's not just your future you're gambling with.

Also, friendly advice is to NEVER consider it sold until money is in hand. If the personw ants to buy it, they'll come through with the cash.
 
I appreciate your input. However, I must point out that I didn't put all my eggs in one basket. My business plan is solid, and even though the majority of my investment has gone into rays, my bread and butter is with food-fish. It's really a nice combo actually, because people will have to eat no matter how bad the economy gets.

I know how people tend to be about buying things...I'm just not used to it, and I tend to let things bother me more than I should.

This IS a real job. 2700 Tilapia fry went out yesterday, and I am updating my hatchery today.

Again, all input is welcome, but you'll lose if you bet against me. ;)

Mike
 
Today it is finally time to toss aside the stupid egg tumblers. those things work fine for a few hundred eggs on a hobby-scale, but my production has increased to the point now where I bet they were resulting in about a 50% loss of eggs and sac-fry. Not to mention the realization I made the other day about the swimmers being trapped in there with no food for a day or 2.

I have a plan going in the back of my mind about how I want my hatchery and nursery tanks to be set up, but there are a few different ways that I can't choose between. So for now, I ordered just one of these jars to get started with a temporary hatching setup that I can "tweak" to help formulate my final plan.

For today, I just want to get it up and running to test for leaks and such.

jar 002.jpg
 
It's been a while since I've been in a productive project "mode"

This stuff all fits together.

motivation.jpg

pump&prefilter.jpg

sterilizer.jpg

tempjarmount.jpg
 
Ok... I'll do it...but you asked right after I just did and "arm clearing" of this shelf...lol.

Mike
 
soulpatch;4550604; said:
I am also curious as to how that jar contraption works so a brief writeup on that would be cool too.

agreed on both posts
 
Ask away and feel free to point things out. I didn't have one second to tidy up, I've got containers of stuff strewn about looking for all the odds and ends to get this hatch tank going. I have about 15 minutes before I hit the road for an away HS football game.

first pic is taken from stairway opening seen in second pic. none of the tanks have direct overhead lighting, so they aren't "quite" as dark as they seem.

I'll 'esplain the hatching jar once I can show a pic of how I get it set up...it'll be a lot easier to make sense of it then.

room 001.jpg

room 002.jpg
 
wow it looks awesome mike, im very impressed
 
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