Could I Make Money From Breeding?

[altselgreen]

Hi Guys,

Could I make money from breeding fish? I buy a few adults, breed them and sell the babies after they grow up. Do you think this could be good fro making a bit more extra cash? And, what fish would be easy to breed that would get me decent money?

Thanks in advance

 

[PRW1988]

Yes and no...

Unfortuantyl many stores already have suppliers, there are some out there that do "buy" babies and adults back, however they usually give you a store credit opposed to cash. If you've got the space, the time and some money I'd recommend buying some extra tanks and try your hand at breeding some African cichlids, yellow labs are fairly easy (mine bred monthly until the male died of unknown causes), you can usually find a store that'll pay you to constently supply them a variety of these.

Another thing easy to breed (but takes alot of time) is betta fish, if you're able to breed things like half moons, spilt tails, crowntails or even VT's then you may be able to sell them, however you'll have to raise them a bit. But like I said
it depends on the store.

 

[altselgreen]

Yes and no...

Unfortuantyl many stores already have suppliers, there are some out there that do "buy" babies and adults back, however they usually give you a store credit opposed to cash. If you've got the space, the time and some money I'd recommend buying some extra tanks and try your hand at breeding some African cichlids, yellow labs are fairly easy (mine bred monthly until the male died of unknown causes), you can usually find a store that'll pay you to constently supply them a variety of these.

Another thing easy to breed (but takes alot of time) is betta fish, if you're able to breed things like half moons, spilt tails, crowntails or even VT's then you may be able to sell them, however you'll have to raise them a bit. But like I said
it depends on the store.

Thanks for your reply. I had a thought that some stores may only give credit. I could persuade my dad to let me use the garage for some tanks. My store near me wont give me cash I don't think. But if you say african cichlids could be sold to some stores, I might have a crack at them.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

In general unless you go all out and breed on a larger scale or breed rare/difficult to get fish you probably wont make your money back on them. That being said there are a lot of fish that are still very interesting to breed so its still worth investigating if your interested in that side of things.

anything you will make any real money on though is not going to be easy.

 

[PRW1988]

you probably wont make your money back on them.

Not exactly true for african cichlids, you can come across some of the more common ones (such as the yellow labs, rusty cichlids, Kenyis and zebras) for cheap. I know that big als (not sure if you have one near you) pays about $1.50 per baby but only store credit and the babies must be atleast 1.5"+, that's where I was selling all my Yellow labs to.

Whatever you decide to breed let us know, hopfully one of us will have had some experience and will be able to point you in the right direction. But just remember, before you go breeding mass amounts of fish, ask around at the stores and see if they'd be interested. For instance, the store that you said near you won't pay cash for them, well go in, tell the guy you're planning on breeding -insert species here- and ask if he'd be interested in you supplying some of them to him. You'll need tanks, air pumps, food etc. so check if you can make arrangements after your first couple batches and try to trade for the equipment. If the guy says that he'll give you a store credit, but no equipment, tell him that makes no sence as you'd be spending the money in the store regardless on the same stuff

Breeding is a long and tough process, but if you're really commited, and have the extra time it can pay off in the long run.

Good luck in the future, and PM me if you need any help. I may not know everything about anything, but what I know does get me by Have fun and happy breeding.

 

[devon_charm]

Sadly unless you do it on a really big scale you can't make lots of money on bettas, i know, but its a nice hobby and what little you do make goes on maintaining the other bettas you have. I would never say they was really easy either but if you are interested check out the betta FAQ section

 

[altselgreen]

you probably wont make your money back on them.

Not exactly true for african cichlids, you can come across some of the more common ones (such as the yellow labs, rusty cichlids, Kenyis and zebras) for cheap. I know that big als (not sure if you have one near you) pays about $1.50 per baby but only store credit and the babies must be atleast 1.5"+, that's where I was selling all my Yellow labs to.

Whatever you decide to breed let us know, hopfully one of us will have had some experience and will be able to point you in the right direction. But just remember, before you go breeding mass amounts of fish, ask around at the stores and see if they'd be interested. For instance, the store that you said near you won't pay cash for them, well go in, tell the guy you're planning on breeding -insert species here- and ask if he'd be interested in you supplying some of them to him. You'll need tanks, air pumps, food etc. so check if you can make arrangements after your first couple batches and try to trade for the equipment. If the guy says that he'll give you a store credit, but no equipment, tell him that makes no sence as you'd be spending the money in the store regardless on the same stuff

Breeding is a long and tough process, but if you're really commited, and have the extra time it can pay off in the long run.

Good luck in the future, and PM me if you need any help. I may not know everything about anything, but what I know does get me by Have fun and happy breeding.

PRW you've given me a lot of advice, and for that I thank you. I'll need to discuss this with my dad and my fish store, as you said. I'll need to decide which fish to breed first, definitely african cichlids, what tank size do you think I'll need for either a pair of yellow labs, a pair of rustys or a pair of red zebras? The water pH in west sussex is perfect for them (about 7.5-7.6) I've never kept african cichlids before so I may need to research a lot. Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[Ian H]

find out whats in demand in your area

by me i got one shop selling BABY bristle nose plecs for £10, so im sure i could easily sell them for £5 each from my house, its just getting peoples attention

 

[Loopee]

Yes, but you need to breed fish that are hard to come by.

No, I breed cheap fish like platys and guppys and I have only had 5 people buy them.

So thats why its a YES, and NO.
(no rude replys please )

 

[shang hi]

this was somehting i was wondering about as i want to get a pair of kribs and hopefuly they would breed.
if i do get them to breed and i can't sell them ill be posting on here saying, "free kribs!"
oh i hope they will breed, all i've ever been able to breed are platys and now thats stoped, i think the male is broken

 

[poopsydrew]

Yes, but you need to breed fish that are hard to come by.

No, I breed cheap fish like platys and guppys and I have only had 5 people buy them.

So thats why its a YES, and NO.
(no rude replys please )

Not true, the best selling fish are beginner fish like angels and guppies.

Look on aquabid the best selling fish will be mostly beginner fish like domesticated livebearers angels and as mentioned bettas. Not to mention plants and shrimp, Plants sell like crazy and I need to get rid of them as they overfill my tank, people pay a decent amount for nice quality plants.


I disagree with people saying you cant make a profit, you might not be able to quit your day job, but I sell my fish on aquabid and my website and I make plenty to cover my costs and have some extra spending money, so yes it can be done.

Of course it does require the tank space and cost of food, dechlor, etc, but if you budget its very easy to make a little profit. Almost all of the cost is in the startup, ie geting the tanks and lights heaters etc.

The only expenses I pay are for pond dechlor, food, and the electric bill, which isnt any noticeably higher even with around 19 tanks.

Dont let people stop you, this is something I wanted to do when I started and I am now doing it sucessfully, it is possible just make it happen There is always room for one more fish breeder in this world.

Drew

 

[PRW1988]

PRW you've given me a lot of advice, and for that I thank you. I'll need to discuss this with my dad and my fish store, as you said. I'll need to decide which fish to breed first, definitely african cichlids, what tank size do you think I'll need for either a pair of yellow labs, a pair of rustys or a pair of red zebras? The water pH in west sussex is perfect for them (about 7.5-7.6) I've never kept african cichlids before so I may need to research a lot. Any help would be really appreciated.

Well, generally a 29gallon aquairum should do for a breeding pair, however I'd recommend atleast a 40gallon (36" long), I'd also recommend getting more than 1 female, as with all breeding the ratio should be 3:1, 3 females per male. Aswell, with any african cichlid tank you need to have a fair bit of rock work for them, I wouldn't recommend breeding more than one species per tank at a time as the agression may get out of control, but with enough rock work you should be alright, one thing you could do would be to build a wall down the centre of the tank, speperating the Yellow labs from say the zebra cichlids.

Afican cichlids are mouthbroaders, meaning they take care of the young in their mouths, once you notice one of the females "carrying" (carrying is a term used to describe the females mouth full of young or eggs) transfer her into a 10gallon tank, be very slow and careful when you're trying to net her as she may "spit" the eggs out due to stress. I'm not 100% sure how long it takes the eggs to hatch, I'd say generally around 3-5days. After that she still cares for the young so you need not worry about them being eaten. Aswell, they are EXTREMLY terriortial fish (all african cichlids) so ensure that your tank has lots of hiding spots. I know that breeding africans may sound asthough it's extremly difficult, but it's not really. You just need to find older fish at the stores so that you can tell their sexes. For instance on Yellow labs, the males tend to have black on all the tips of their fins, and the front 2 fins are almost 100% black, the females have little or no black and are usually plumper.

As I said before, if you need any help just let me know Keep us updated.

 

[slakey]

how about Discus? of different colours and variations, could come out with some nice ones, that may add to value

 

[dane261]

i supply most shops around my area with bn plecs seem to pay for it self and new breeding projects




cheers dane

 

[altselgreen]

PRW you've given me a lot of advice, and for that I thank you. I'll need to discuss this with my dad and my fish store, as you said. I'll need to decide which fish to breed first, definitely african cichlids, what tank size do you think I'll need for either a pair of yellow labs, a pair of rustys or a pair of red zebras? The water pH in west sussex is perfect for them (about 7.5-7.6) I've never kept african cichlids before so I may need to research a lot. Any help would be really appreciated.

Well, generally a 29gallon aquairum should do for a breeding pair, however I'd recommend atleast a 40gallon (36" long), I'd also recommend getting more than 1 female, as with all breeding the ratio should be 3:1, 3 females per male. Aswell, with any african cichlid tank you need to have a fair bit of rock work for them, I wouldn't recommend breeding more than one species per tank at a time as the agression may get out of control, but with enough rock work you should be alright, one thing you could do would be to build a wall down the centre of the tank, speperating the Yellow labs from say the zebra cichlids.

Afican cichlids are mouthbroaders, meaning they take care of the young in their mouths, once you notice one of the females "carrying" (carrying is a term used to describe the females mouth full of young or eggs) transfer her into a 10gallon tank, be very slow and careful when you're trying to net her as she may "spit" the eggs out due to stress. I'm not 100% sure how long it takes the eggs to hatch, I'd say generally around 3-5days. After that she still cares for the young so you need not worry about them being eaten. Aswell, they are EXTREMLY terriortial fish (all african cichlids) so ensure that your tank has lots of hiding spots. I know that breeding africans may sound asthough it's extremly difficult, but it's not really. You just need to find older fish at the stores so that you can tell their sexes. For instance on Yellow labs, the males tend to have black on all the tips of their fins, and the front 2 fins are almost 100% black, the females have little or no black and are usually plumper.

As I said before, if you need any help just let me know Keep us updated.

I've got my eye on a 30 US gallon tank. So, if I need that ratio, then how many fish could I fit in a 40" tank? 1 male and 3 female? I was only planning with one species, if I have more than one, it would get out of control. I have a spare 15 gallon tank not yet set up, so I guess that could work as a breeding tank? How territorial are they within their own species e.g how aggressive are yellow labs towards other yellow labs? And I read that to breed african cichlids all I need to do is get the water quality e.g pH, gH and temperature right, correct? Could you possibly tell me what that is or provide me a webpage for me to look at?

Thanks once again