Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well it depends on the LFS of course... Every one of them near me has AT LEAST a 200% markup. I know because I have sold fish to them, and the next week they are there at 3 times the price.

I suppose my brother was lucky that he belongs to a few forums and knows a few people. Which is something that most people can do. We found a guy 2 min walk down the road who deals with pumps and aquarium accessories. All aquapro dirt cheap... straight from the distributor.

Personally I would not buy from a LFS unless it was a real emergency...

200% ? i saw 80 cent SP's being sold for $8

is there really much of an option though for marine?

If there is a big local community for the marine hobbyists then I say yes. There are 3 people I know through my brother who are certified to dive and collect marine species. Most of the invertebrates where actually given to Nic as a trade for other stuff. We even scored a pair of metal halides free... As well as over 25kg of live rock...

He is now working for a guy one day a week who's whole job is cleaning the big private marine tanks in Perth. He has sourced a lot through him.

There are actually very few LFS who even want to touch marine, and those who do charge you through the nose. The specialist shops however are a bit more reasonable. Over east though I don't think it is too bad...

They shouldn't be collected from the wild. People with good running systems will eventually run out of space in their tanks and you can get nice corals for next to nothing, or trade for some cuttings from your own tank.

People that say marine tanks are harder to keep have obviously never tried. They do cost a lot more to set up as you need a lot more pump power (I have a turnover rate of about 35 per hour, whereas a typical freshwater system runs one 1 per hour) Expensive MH lighting and a RO water purifier. But once its all up and running I don't think its harder or more work than a fresh water aquarium.

I am talking about fish and crustaceans... I don't think many people in WA are allowed to take corals from the wild. I could go out and collect 40-50 lionfish a day, thats the bag limit. I can't sell them though...

Our marine tank probably only cost $100-150 to setup. It doesn't need a cannister filter, or special lighting as it isn't deep enough. Just a powerhead, a hang-on filter and a protein skimmer. Oh and the water, but at 12cents a litre I am not complaining.

bit of a sweeping generalisation.

what I found (i had fish / liverock / soft corals) was that it was less forgiving of poor maintenance.

i can let my tropical go for ages.

drop 10% of your water in a marine tank and you've increased the salinity from 37.5ppt to around 40ppt....................

What i also mean is that if some one cant keep tropicals alive then they should probably not try marine!

Balancing calcium and alkalinity is a miracle in itself. but then if you've got fish only its not a problem