Breeding to fund the hobby?

[PearlTigress]

Whew, those peacock cichlids are so stunning! But they're also very expensive. I have a 75g available and ultimately I'd love to see at least a dozen big beautiful African cichlids in there. So tell me if this is is crazy or not: start with a breeding group of little guys, say 1.5", of something like the peacock ob or dragon blood/firefish. Grow them out in that 75, breed them, grow those out a bit, sell everything except my favorite male, then stock all the other ones I want. If the young adults can't be with the fry, maybe sell them as soon as they produce fry, and I'll keep one of the babies for myself.

I'm going to assume it's not realistic but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case. I don't know how y'all afford to stock these tanks.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

@Colin_T, @Byron?

 

[Retired Viking]

Years ago one of my daughters brought home 8 African Cichlids as rescues, I placed them in my 55 gallon tank. Not long after I had to remove the other fish due to the cichlids aggressive nature. I added fry grass and lots of decor and plastic plants. In about a year I ended up with a tank full of young cichlids. I gave as many away as I could and striped the tank down of decor and took the fry grass out. I ended up giving the LFS over 30. There was at least 50 young adults. That was before e-bay so you may do alright. The LFS would only give me fish food.

 

[PearlTigress]

Sounds like they didn't give you too much trouble then! That's good!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Sounds like they didn't give you too much trouble then! That's good!

I would get someone to buy before you breed. Nothing like a contract - just ask if they would be interested. I also suggest doing extensive research. (As you should before keeping/breeding any animal)

 

[PearlTigress]

Definitely on the research! This wouldn't happen until maybe late August at the absolute earliest just based on other circumstances, so I'm just spitballing ideas.

 

[Guppy10]

Don't even think about making money out of breeding fish.
It's wrong, very wrong, unless your a proper breeder.

 

[PearlTigress]

Guppy10 thanks for sharing your perspective, I respect that.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Aquarium co-op playlist here:

Cory talks about hobbyists breeding for profit, and he has one of the most successful fish stores in the US I believe. I haven't seen them all since I'm not planning to breed to sell, but he goes over the pros and cons really well, and how to manage it successfully. Chances are, you're not going to be able to completely cover the costs of your hobby doing it. Breeding comes with extra costs after all. But you might be able to offset your costs a little. Lots of people have a side line propagating plants or fish.

 

[Retired Viking]

I like my fish to have fry, in the past my tanks were over run with cichlid, black molly, plain guppy and red eyed tetra fry when they over did it. Currently I have fancy guppy fry and platy fry. Never though about making it a business. Hope to have some ember fry. I just enjoy watching them grow up. It is a pain though when things get out of hand and you end up with a tank full of fish.

 

[JuiceBox52]

it would be a cool thing to do, but dont expect to make much profit

 

[CassCats]

Know your market, and expect you may not make a profit.

I'm swimming in babies and can say it's quite a lot of work.

 

[Colin_T]

Buy 8 female and 2 male peacocks that are the same type and colour form. Keep them in the big tank and let them breed. When the babies are 1-2 inches long, sell the babies and let the adults continue breeding.

Don't have any other fish in the tank except maybe some Synodontis catfish that will possibly breed in the tank.

You could also keep some big livebearers (mollies or swordtails) but treat them for gill flukes and intestinal worms before adding them to the tank.

You could keep a single species of rainbowfish in the tank with them and have a clump of Java Moss in the tank. Each week you remove the Java Moss and put it in hatching/ rearing tank, and grow up the baby rainbows separately.

Having a combination of these fish would give you a variety of young to sell and provide you with more income.

 

[PearlTigress]

Buy 8 female and 2 male peacocks that are the same type and colour form. Keep them in the big tank and let them breed. When the babies are 1-2 inches long, sell the babies and let the adults continue breeding.

Don't have any other fish in the tank except maybe some Synodontis catfish that will possibly breed in the tank.

You could also keep some big livebearers (mollies or swordtails) but treat them for gill flukes and intestinal worms before adding them to the tank.

You could keep a single species of rainbowfish in the tank with them and have a clump of Java Moss in the tank. Each week you remove the Java Moss and put it in hatching/ rearing tank, and grow up the baby rainbows separately.

Having a combination of these fish would give you a variety of young to sell and provide you with more income.

Aside from the breeding aspect, you think something like boemani rainbows would be okay with peacocks? I was thinking the cichlids would tear them up.

I was originally thinking Rainbowfish, swordtails, and a few others. Sure would be fun to try out those plus some peacocks (maybe only when they're smaller?) and then give away everything but the cichlids and build a cichlid tank.

I found out that I can get cichlids from LFS cheaper than online, big enough to see makes bringing color already, so I'm not so worried about the financial aspect.

 

[Salty&Onion]

I was originally thinking Rainbowfish, swordtails, and a few others. Sure would be fun to try out those plus some peacocks (maybe only when they're smaller?) and then give away everything but the cichlids and build a cichlid tank.

Rainbowfish need hard water depending on species you choose, and swordtails are hardwater fish.