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SubscribeHow much do your fish mean to you
Deuce Bigalow
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Registered: 06-Jan-2003
male ireland
Hi, im interested in having a wee job on the side maintaining fish tanks for people. What i am uncertain about is how much i should charge for the service.
I would like you to put yourself in the shoes of an inexperienced and uneducated fish keeper having problems with say a 50 gallon freshwater aquarium. How much would you pay to have a service done on your tank and recieve valuable advice on how to contiue looking after your fish?
I know this is a bit vague, any input would be greatly appreciated!
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile Homepage Yahoo PM Edit Report 
angeleel
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female canada
36 bucks is okay if you do EVERYTHING Clean the glass, clean the pump, gravel vac, equipment check, wipe down of out side, wipe off any deposits from the water, Maybe even doing a little rearangeing. Depending of the types of fish and stuff you need to use. I doubt if your gonna stick your arm in a tank with a stonefish for a lousy 36 bucks!!! I wouldn't anyways

Hope you have fun and make lots of $$$$

I was planning on the same thing, not that I need more money or something, just wanna see the fish

And to your question I LOVE my fish, like accually love them!!
Besides my hubby and my daughter, they come next.

Angel Eel

Last edited by angeleel at 14-Apr-2005 13:02

Last edited by angeleel at 14-Apr-2005 17:11
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile Yahoo PM Edit Delete Report 
Theresa_M
 
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female usa us-maryland
I really, really enjoy taking care of my tanks, so I don't know how much I'd pay.

Some things to think about in what you're offering though:

-For inexperienced/uneducated fishkeepers would this be a one-time lesson sort of thing, maybe a set number of visits, or indefinite?

-You could offer services for people who travel frequently or for vacationers; it's often best to have someone in the hobby take care of fish rather than someone who's not.

-Services for people who have tanks more of a status symbol than a hobby. For those I'd probably charge more

Good luck

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Dakafall
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i clean the 55 at my brothers elementary school and my teachers 75g for free, cus before i started the fish were in horrible condition, and i enjoy seeing clean tanks that look nice and have happy fish in them, and besides the tanks were a mess, when i cleaned out the schools one i counted over 20 pieces of gum in the bottom of the tank

Daka<<<<
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
angeleel
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female canada
O0o0o Daka thats so sad!!!!



Sorry I didnt vote just had to say....

Angel Eel
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile Yahoo PM Edit Delete Report 
victimizati0n
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male


$36 or more is just not worth it.

A said person could go out and buy a python for 2 payments of the $36.

PLus, $60-$120 a month is ALOT for the fish, on the other hand, $30-$60 isnt THAT bad (saying the $30 is every other week)
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Doedogg
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female usa
I clean a friends 12 gal tank (soon to be 40gal) and he pays me +/- $50 a month to do it. I would do it for free but he insists.:%)



I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
keithgh
 
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male australia au-victoria
Deuce Bigalow
I think you would be better to structure your costing to the size and type of tank eg 100Lt FW $$$ or 100Lt SW $$$
You would also want a minium charge.

Some service people structure it $$$service call then so much per hour afrer that.

There is work in setting up and maintaining tanks in the private buisness sector.

All the best

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
iltat
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male usa
I voted for other because you need to determine why you're doing it.

Either:
A)I need and want to make some serious bank and am really good and enjoy fish.

B)I wanna see all the cool fish people have!

If it's A, then you need to price higher and find the local businesses (especially lawyers, doctors, and other high-paying jobs that have waiting areas) to get as clients. Get the word out about how awesome these folks' tanks look afterwards and you can bank...

If it's B, cover expenses and make about $8-10/hr profit. Then it's just like you're working some decent job and you get to see all the cool shishies...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile Homepage AIM MSN Yahoo PM Edit Delete Report 
Hoa dude_dude
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male australia
5 dollars 4 half an hour

but thats only because im on a REALLY tight budget...
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile Homepage MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
Cup_of_Lifenoodles
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male usa
A great deal, up to say, 40 bucks. God, I hate maintaining my tanks---I spent hours on end cleaning, wiping the hardwood floors, washing, and recieving reprimand due to my clumsiness.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile AIM MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
PJ
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male australia
As said above somewhere, the trick is to get customers who only have aquariums for "ART", and don’t see fish keeping as a hobby. i.e. places like restaurants, office buildings and rich people that have aquariums usually pay someone to clean their tanks anyway. They'll also most likely pay the most.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
fishyhelper288
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i voted that i wouldent pay for the service

and thats because i just love cleaning and caring or my fish, i love rearangng their homes, and it also gives me a chance to check out the population growth
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Racso
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male usa us-ohio
The store where I work at, (but only for one more week) charges $50 us an hour per person for service. And people pay it. So that might be something in mind.

ALSO, if you make this into a buiseness of some type, you MUST remember insurance. That can cost an ARM and a LEG.

And what are you going to do if someone has a 125 gallon reef, and a larger fish is startled and darts, and knocks over a peice of live rock that wasn't balanced too well? That could destroy the aquarium.

Also, if someone has some delicate fish and is sick and dying, and happens to die an hour or so after you service the tank, unless it is a family friend or someone you know, they most likely WILL blame your for its death.

And while pythons are very convienient, they are not always useable. Only half of the faucets in my house can use a python, what if you get to a house that NONE of the faucets can use it? You must do it the old tube & bucket. And if you do, don't spill water on the the floor, or else you just bought a new carpet.

OK, i'm done. But these are just things you have to consider. In your house, with YOUR tanks, you might not care if you spill a little water. However, if you're doing work in a doctors office, they'll find any reason to get a new carpet in their waiting room.

Just some things to keep in mind. I love doing service for my friends and family's tank, but even with people I know and am close to, I still worry about problems that can happen and things like that.

Good luck though,
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Deuce Bigalow
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male ireland
Thanks for the input folks, really quite helpful and a lot of objective views
The reason i would like to do it is primarily to advise these people on how to continue looking after their tanks, as they dont seem to receive this as aftersales service from my lfs's.
My service will not be just to give the customers a nice aquarium to look at, i will demonstrate how i acheive this and get them aquainted with such things as proper filter maintenance, gravel vacs and test kits, which certainly seem to go amiss with a lot of fishkeepers here.
I will also advise on their choice of fish for their aquariums and have a helpful handout made up as an easy reference guide to maintenance and fish health problems.
Although i love sharing sound free advise with fishkeepers, i could not justify having this as a free service as i would need to cover travel costs and the costs of the apparatus, not to mention having an incentive for which my wife cannot complain about! (i dont know, she seems to think i spend too much time on my fish as it is! is that really possible??)
So aside from this i would like to come away with a small pocket full and i am sure i will also learn some more from experience and build up a customer basis for my ultimate venture of starting my own aquatic store!! !
keep your ideas posting folks! thanks again!
Deucey
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:30Profile Homepage Yahoo PM Edit Delete Report 
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