What should i charge for tank maintance?

ok so i am looking to make some extra cash, so i have posted a ad on craigslist. i posted it a day or so ago and have some interested already. i can do both fresh and salt. what would be a good/fair price to charge? like a $/gal. any input would help. i dont want to rip them off or sell myself short.

 

You'd want to charge hourly, not by the gallon. You'd have to give someone an estimate as to how many hours a week or month you'd have to be there to look after the tank, and then give them an hourly rate to pay you by... mind you, you'd have to charge extra for supplements, etc.

 

I dont know where you are, but around here(Miami) its normal to charge $85 per hr. Phayes is right about charging by the hr. Luna

 

doesnt matter if its fresh or salt?

 

No, not at all. Ask around to get a rough idea of what is the going rate around where you live. Luna

 

yea forshure give a look see to what others (companys) are charging....

but dont go as high as their prices, because the people who are looking for small time single persons like you proably dont want to pay as much as they would for a bigger company, even if your work is better you dont have a company name behind you, so you can charge close to what they are paying but not the same/more...

also you will make more money than the bigger companys because you are self employed and dont have to give a cut to the big man.

and lots of people would rather deal with smaller business people like yourself because they feel like large companys can rip them off and are sometimes intimidating....

where as somone like you, you do it for a little extra cash and provide a good service and can be more knowledgeable because you like what you do and have a passion for it!

also i would reccomend making up a couple hundred business cards.... so if the people like your work they can pass them off to their friends... and before you know it youll have alot of business in no time!

good luck with it man!

 

I have no clue so I won't comment on that and mislead you.

But I think the idea rocks. PLEASE keep us posted on how this works out.

 

You may also want to be prepared to discuss your credentials with customers. Even if you charge less, it is still a lot of money per hr. If I were looking for someone to do maintenance on my tank, I would want to know that they are fully capable and competent. Unless they are friends/family, they will be expecting results. Just something to keep in mind.

 

In Dallas ... I asked one of the LFSs the other day. They want $100 per hour. There's a guy on Craigslist charges $50 per hour.

 

IMO, if you can understand the credentials you probably want to take care of it yourself. The folks that I think would use this service are probably clueless and haven't heard of 3reef.