How much do People charge for Aquarium Maintenance to come and Clean your Tank?

[that Fish Guy]

I was wondering how much People charge for Aquarium Maintenance?

When they come to your Home and Clean your Aquarium.

Is it expensive?

[joshky]

My brother bought a reef off of a couple that had people come in and do it for them. They were telling us about the history of the tank and apparently they had a lot of fish and coral die off and went through 3 different people/businesses before giving up. I'm not sure I would trust someone to work on my tank for me.

[Brian DeGolier]

It's typical to charge by the gallon. The DT is 100 gallons, they'll charge $100. I hired one guy as a consultant to really look over my system for advice and suggestions, actually a TOTM from 2003 and felt he was worth it. Just make sure they're bonded and insured.

[H.reidi.MN]

I thought back in the day between 1-3$ a gallon to come do full works depending on what's involved...I dunno

[Reefmedic79]

I used to charge $45-60/hr

[ingtar_shinowa]

My buddy does this. He charges by gallonage but always complains about 1 time calls. He was telling me he spent 4 HOURS siphoning millions of red planaria flatworms out of a tank for $75 and never got another call from the couple.

[saltfishguy18]

I use to charge a dollar per gallon. If the customer would continue to use me as a service, ie monthly, weekly, then I would give them a better rate. I have only two customers left, that's all I want, and both I go twice a month. One guy has a 252 gallon reef tank and I charge him $280 a month for the maintenance. My other customer is an orthodontist and he has a 60 gallon fish only tank. I charge him $110 for two visits a month.

[ponda]

50 a visit for my 29 biocube was quoted

[julie180]

I was quoted 70.00 per hour plus drive time.

[hkarmy25]

$75/hr is typical around here...

[DopeCantWin]

Wow that's surprisingly a lot. I figured it would be $20 an hour at the most, depending on the area, but still. At 75 an hour this person is making 150-160k a year if they can find enough gigs.

[justa210]

My LFS has 80+ accounts and charges $75 a trip.

[faithenfire]

ugh i was thinking about calling someone, just to get a good serious clean but idk.

i think it's nice to do, i would like to do that with the house in general, maybe quarterly

do you supply your own water? or do they bring it?

[that Fish Guy]

Originally Posted by ponda

50 a visit for my 29 biocube was quoted

Wow. 50.00

Someone told me they charge 125.00 for a 29 Bio-Cube.

But that was for 2 Visits a Month.

How many visits do you get for 50.00?

[that Fish Guy]

That is another thing.

Do the quotes you get mean per visit or do they mean for the Month?

How many visits a month do you usually get with the Maintenance People?

[DopeCantWin]

There are so many variables in play here, absolutely any estimate is almost useless. It could entail water changes, whether the water is brought with the person or you have to make it. How many hours they'll spend at your house. How far away are they. What kind of tank do you have, SPS or just Softies. Any description saying something like "75/hr" means nothing.

[jcdeng]

At these prices do they guarantee anything? ie what if a fish dies or coral colony bleaches while under their care (meaning you didn't do anything to the tank)

[orientalexpress]

Damn,i Would work for Frags.

[MarlinHooker]

Kinda like being a fishing charter boat captain ... sounds like a great way to make a lot of money ... take people fishing & charge them $350-$500/day ... ask me how I know you'll never get rich doing this ...

I know the owner of a LFS who has been in business over 26 yrs. He currently has 30+ monthly clients and charges them $100/hr. This includes water but not things likes treatments, etc. He says it's a thankless job but the $3,000-$5,000/month cashflow is nice ...

[ken6217]

Originally Posted by jcdeng

At these prices do they guarantee anything? ie what if a fish dies or coral colony bleaches while under their care (meaning you didn't do anything to the tank)

This is why I would never take on this job. You will be blamed for everything under the sun after you walk out the door regardless if you caused it or not.
Ken

[Vinny Kreyling]

Like any other business there are costs, insurance ,travel, supplies, overhead,
salaries if you are large enough.
Not as glamorous as you might think.
Been there as an employee.

[mayjong]

wow, IF i did it, i would under charge

IF i did it, i would only take cash

customer WOULD be responsible for all supply costs

on a 150g-
i WOULD charge $200 a month for weekly service of 1 hour.
anything over that (like changing lights, adding fish, buying supplies) i WOULD charge .33 cents a mile, and $20 an hour.

IF i did it, i wouldn't offer any warranty of service, livestock or water damage.

i love reefing, to me it WOULD BE like having extra tanks for free.

for a 200G i WOULD charge $300 a month for the same service.

i MIGHT also like to do it, because IF i did, i could use the other tanks for growout systems and then i MIGHT be able to sell some of it....

just saying.

[NYCBOB]

taking care of someone else tanks will take away from the one's joy of the hobby imo.

[MarlinHooker]

You bet, it becomes old in a hurry. The lead aquarist at the Zoo I volunteer at took down her tank once she got the job ....didn't want to have to come home to taking care of a tank after spending 8 hrs worrying about the Zoo's aquarium

[mayjong]

Originally Posted by NYCBOB

taking care of someone else tanks will take away from the one's joy of the hobby imo.

if you decide about/ buy all the livestock, coral and equipment, is it really taking care of someone elses tank?
i love it, i can buy a bunch of cool critters and not have to pay!

(at least I WOULD love it, IF i did it...)