Welcome to Gaia! ::

It really does depend on how often you're on Gaia...

For myself, when I first started I was on ALL the time... posting on the forums in order to get noticed... I did that for a few months, by then I got hundreds of invites, made my own thread, I don't have a glowing thread but made two for my husbands and my mule (they seem to be goin well, about 10k a day, not bad since I'm not online that much anymore)... but this tank... it still makes about 20k when I'm not trying... when I do, I made at least 30k...

If you want to get you money back you need to put a lot of time into it...

If you're not willing to put the time in, then I suggest playing a bunch of contests and win your fish for free...

First off, you'll only get a profit from your tank if you are on Gaia often. Don't bother putting expensive fishes if you're not going to post regularly on Gaia.

Second, get a lot of invites. The more invites you have... the more exposure your tank is going to have in the forums. When you have enough exposure, people will grab your tanks when they have the chance.

Third, make a glowing thread. During times when you're not online, have people bump your glowing thread so that others may grab your tank when you're not there to mention that you're glowing.

Finally, only make an expensive aquarium if you intend on replacing these fishes. Some fishes have particular lifespans. Even though some may drop a lot of coins or glow in large groups, they may also live for only 2 months (zOMG Monsters) or 4 months (Dolphins).

If you do all of this, you'll make some good amount of gold even when you're not online. I make around 50K a day because of my invites and my glowing thread. 3nodding