Joe Lichtenbert

Joe advanced from fresh to marine aquariums in the late ‘70's. By the mid ‘80's, he had raised his first 13 clown fish. This inspired him to commercialize! One of the first things he realized was, that with a heavy animal load, he had to keep nitrates under control or the cost of salt was going to kill him. Just about that time, the first “Minireef” from Holland was imported. It's significance was that it had an incorporated “chemical denitrator”. After proving that this nitrate reduction method was effective, he began in earnest to develop pairs and protocols.

He started raising significant numbers of clowns in 1989 and then went down to the basement and built separate brood stock, larval rearing, and grow out systems. Reef Propagations, Inc. (RPI) was established in 1989 and had its first sale in 1990. In 1993, the operation became profitable. All expenses and capital had been paid back. It is believed that RPI is the first commercial operation dedicated to the propagation of tropical marine fish to ever be financially successful. Since its beginning, RPI has raised and sold 13 species totaling almost 200,000 fish.

Joe and the Crew

ABSTRACT:

" Now Is The Time And Now Is The Opportunity ”

Even though the technology to propagate tropical marines was developed some 30 years ago, it is still not wide spread. The opportunity to make some serious money is very possible. You'll not likely get filthy rich doing so but if you are passionate, committed and a little bit nuts, you can make some of this serious money. Even if you only want to have a little fun, you can raise a few fish and the cost will be less than those metal halides!

There are only a handful of commercial operations dedicated to this endeavor. There are far fewer profitable ones. Many large corporations have tried and failed. A small “mom & pop” operation has a better chance. After all, it has much less overhead and the labor of love is cheap.

The biggest challenge facing most small businesses is to find and keep customers. In this business, customers will come knocking on your door. All you have to do is come up with enough product and be a reliable supplier. You can carve out your own little niche market.

You do not have to be a genius to be successful. Without a single class in biology or any other formal related education, you can do it. You can even be color blind (as I am)!

The goal of this presentation is to take you through the entire sequence of breeding and then through some of the pitfalls of commercialization. There's an old saying: “Learn by the mistakes of others because life is too short to make them all yourself.” Based on this, there is a great deal of information to pass on!