A Few Questions To Breeders

[jim566]

1) how/where/who do you dispose of your fry?
2) what sort of price do they fetch? (brown ancistrus with sizes ranging from fry up to 1.5" 6 months old)

please bear in mind that i have not visited a true lfs(only pets@home) for approx 2 1/2-3 years so i dont have any ties there

 

[toppman]

i suppose if nobody on here wants them then just go into your lfs and say you have some for sale would they be interested.
its more than likely they will because they are getting them directly from you, its quicker for them, they may pay more for the fish but its guarenteed to come with some standard of health and they may even promote the fact that its locally bred which will interest more people into buying.

 

[fishman 1]

Hi jim566

I find it is usually best to ring the shop or shops you are hoping to take them to first to see if they take in home bred fish.

I find a lot of decent shops will take them and usually give you a credit note or fish food.

The ancistrus/bristle noses i have traded with shops at slightly under 1" including their tail usually equate to 50p-£1 of credit. If you're lucky they may give you it in cash. Another way I sell them is at fish auctions and the occasional table top sale at fish shows.

Just as toppman says you need to promote the fact that you have bred them locally and they are of a decent size and healthy.
Dont do anything daft like tell em that you are over run with babies and you are desperate to get rid of some. Otherwise they will take them off your hands for free to do you the favour.

Had you been selling something more unusual then i would of suggested Ebay and sending them out through the post.

You could put an add on www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk

 

[jim566]

I tried my lfs and felt it was a poor return for the prices i know they will be sold at, and really wouldnt know how to market them myself (eg postage i wouldn't consider an option so only leaving myself a small market). The problem i have is the number i can garuntee to survive not through water quality or any thing i can control just that my clown loaches have taken a fancy to live food, altho this is now an improving situation as i know what they want and like.

Also when i said i hadn't visited my lfs i mean that i hav'nt bought any fish in the last 2 1/2-3 years as all my fish are now atleast 6 years in my company and thriving well.

 

[SuperColey1]

You have to remember that although a bristlenose should sell for £5 in an LFS (£25 in P@H Lincoln. LMAO) that a lot of fish do not sell quickly and quite often you can go to a fish shop 1 month after your last visit and see the same fish as your previous visit.

Therefore when they offer you 50p/£1.00 they are weighing up the selling price against the length of time they will have to feed them and provide homes for them. Also it's not just a case of your fish being healthy and bred locally!! Will the LFS be able to keep them alive for 1 month.

They don't have too much of a problem with Neons, Danios, Livebearers because they are selling them for £1-£2 each or less and they are sold before they have to fed too much and the risk of some dieing is much less too. A bristlenose isn't gonna catch the eye of a beginner when they can get 10 cheap fish or 1 bristlenose for the same price. The beginners or just bad fishkeepers are the ones that buy the most fish because they have more fish die on them, whereas someone who has researched, learned from their mistakes and generally keeps a nice clean balanced tank doesn't buy too many because they are 'full up' due to nothing dying.

I would sell them in the buy/sell/swap section on here or if you can sort out the postage part and heatpacks, styro boxes etc, sell them on ebay.

I'm always seeing 'where can I buy a BN' because places like P@H (apart from this very rare £25 one in my local store) don't have bristlies, infact they very rarely have anything except commons, albino commons, and gibbys.

andy

 

[fishman 1]

Shops will always have a mark up.
You usually get a quater of what they plan to sell them for.
You cannot expect then to buy them from you for £3 and sell at £4, They are trying to make a living from it.
The points SuperColey1 is making are right. You have to add the shops overheads and the staffs wages into the price too.

 

[jim566]

Thankyou both for the economics of business lesson which i did already have good understanding off but only being offered 40p for fish that are 1.5" , when i know i paid nearly 20 times that for the same size i guess i felt a little insulted.

Thanks for the advice tho

 

[dylema]

TBH at 1.5" I can imagine a fair number of them might die when they are bought by the LFS, just from the stress of moving such small fish. So the shop has to factor a big loss there then their mark up on top. I last time I asked at my LFS they would pay me AU$1.60 at 3cm and they sell them for about $6 at that size. On the other hand if I sell them at 6cm I can get $5-10 depending on how their supply is going and they sell them for $18 at that size. At 6cm the survival rate is much better so the risk is much less.

Out of curiosity how much is your LFS selling the little ones for?

My Two cents

Dylan

 

[dane261]

i get a quid each for mine and he sells them for 2.99 -3.50 and always get cash although my mate owns the shop
i have taking them to other shops they try ripping you off just walk out the shop they will follow as they are really good sellers just avoid the temtation of the first price they give you

cheers dane

 

[littleme1969]

i get a quid each for mine and he sells them for 2.99 -3.50 and always get cash although my mate owns the shop
i have taking them to other shops they try ripping you off just walk out the shop they will follow as they are really good sellers just avoid the temtation of the first price they give you

cheers dane

Good advise there Dane
I refuse to sell to my local shops , despite being offered a reasonable amount for my babbies. I dont like the idea of the being moved twice as it will no doubt sentence to many of my little darlings to death . I sell direct to the customer via e.bay. Online advertising through the above mentioned place and a bit on here too. I manage to home everything I breed that way, and as I can breed about anything upto 1000 babbies a year thats pretty good going
If you have no choice then the LFS is your only option if you dont have the room to keep them, at least this way they have a chance at a happy life

 

[jim566]

well after further consideration i've decided to keep them all and grow them on some more, even with the increased workload this has produced hopefully the end result should be better for the fish and me