Fish room, breed for profit and licencing.

[nathanaldo07]

I posted a thread a couple of days ago titles; 'Shipping live aquatics in the UK. How can I do this? Can I do this?' and in that thread I said I wanted to breed for fun on a small scale. However, after looking at figures I have been wondering if I could implement this 'breed for profit' business model into my business, based on eBay. I am unsure as to how much profit is to be made, but this still isn't my priority as my main focus would be on breeding. I would want to only focus on breeding shrimp and snails. I have made this thread today, again to ask for your advice on how I can actually do this properly. I would want to be able to ensure I will not be hit with a fine for not having a license, but also so I can create a setup which can produce high quality, high grade, healthy Aquatic Invertebrates.

My first question is, again, regarding licencing and the 'Pet Shop Licence' specifically. This is because I would be producing and selling enough shrimp/snails to where it would no longer be considered as selling the offspring of a pet. However, I am unsure as to whether I would actually need this licence as The Pet Animals Act 1951 (Revised 2018) states that '“animal” includes any description of vertebrate;', which I'm assuming means that only vertebrate animals require us to have a licence. And given that Shrimp and snails are Invertebrates, I would not need a licence to sell them?

My second question is in regard to the set-up. Where is the cheapest place to get fish tanks, around 45 litres (10 gallons) in size? I have seen many things about the 'dollar per gallon sale' which Americans are lucky enough to get. I was wondering if there are any sales like this that go on in the UK, as a sale like this would mean I'd be spending ~£10 per tank as opposed to ~£50 per tank (which is the cheapest I have seen.)
I was think as far as to try get them from manufacturers and buy them through the business like I was going to sell them myself, just to cut out the middle man.

My third question is also related to the legal side of things, would I be able to have this set up in a shed in the garden without any problems? This shed would be of a size to where it does not require me to get planning permission.

 

[nathanaldo07]

Okay so the plan...

Start off with one rack (1800mm high x 1200mm long x 450mm deep) with 3 shelves with an even spacing between each one (maximum weight per shelf is 300kg). each shelf would have 3 45l tanks, so a total of 9 tanks. All of this would preferably be inside of an insulated, heated shed in the garden big enough to accommodate multiple tanks.

Each tank would have a Hamburg matten filter in the shape of a regular sponge filter (the image below) powered by a shared air pump (shared between the tanks on that shelf.) each tank will be lit by a 10W 800 lumen led floodlight.

Each tank which needs a higher temperature will have a heater but I would aim to just heat the room to save on cost.

I would also want to have all of the tanks connected to a drain for ease when it comes to water changes.

What I would like to breed...

In terms of shrimp, I would want to breed:

• Neocaridina davidi
  • Red cherry shrimp
  • Orange sakura shrimp
  • Yellow sakura shrimp
  • Green jade shrimp
  • Blue velvet shrimp
  • Black rose shrimp

In terms of snails, I would want to breed:

• Bladder snails
• Ramshorn snails
  • Pink variation
  • Blue variation
• Assassin snails
• Malaysian trumpet snails
• Apple snails (Gold variation)
• Rabbit/ elephant snails

I am fully aware that some of these are harder to breed than others, however, these are the best ones I've found in terms of ease of breeding and sales on ebay.

I am also aware that all these species will not be able to fit into just 9 tanks and breed successfully, I would want to do species and variation only tanks (e.g. pink ramshons in one tank and blue ramshorns in another.)

If anybody has any recommendations/ changes they would make to this set up then I would really appreciate hearing them.

 

[Colin_T]

• Bladder snails
• Ramshorn snails
  • Pink variation
  • Blue variation
• Assassin snails
• Malaysian trumpet snails
• Apple snails (Gold variation)
• Rabbit/ elephant snails

Bladder snails are pond snails and are not worth any money.
Ramshorn snails might be worth something but not a lot.
Malaysian livebearing snails are not worth any money and become an uncontrollable pest.
Not sure Mystery/ apple snails are allowed in the UK.

-------------------
As a backyard breeder you don't need a pet shop license and you don't have to report anything to the tax man unless you start making thousands of dollars every week. Even then I wouldn't tell the tax office or anyone. Chances are you will barely make enough to cover costs.

-------------------
An insulated shed in the garden is fine but be careful getting power to the shed. Have an electrician do it or make sure the power supply is safe and not going to be damaged by someone mowing the lawn or working in the garden.

Sheds should have 4-6 inches of insulation on the walls and roof. If you live in a cold climate you can insulate the floor too. In Australia we can get rubber matts from hardware or outdoor stores that are made from used car tyres, and these are available in 1/2 and 1 inch thick and make a huge difference to the room temperature. Some people will put a foam sheet down under the concrete slab. The rubber matts are generally cheaper than a foam block under the slab.

You can put double glazed skylights in a shed to give you more light and allow you to grow plants in the tanks. Plants can also be sold.

-------------------
No drains in tanks. they are a pain in the butt and don't work well. Just use a normal gravel cleaner and long length of hose to drain the water out onto the lawn.

 

[nathanaldo07]

Thanks for your input, and i will definitely have fun looking into shed insulation and pricing it up.

I have sold quite a few bladder snails over the year at £1.04 profit per 10 snails. I know this doesn't sound like much but it can definitely add up.
I'm not sure about Australia but around 200 sales have been made on ebay just this month selling these bladder snails, which I am definitely not going to complain about. And the same goes for Malaysian trumpet snails, 400 of them have sold just this month. People often buy them as feeders for their fish as they don't want to breed them themselves. Also i think people are slowly starting to realise that pest snails are actually very beneficial to tanks, especially planted tanks.

the same goes for ramshorns, £1.60 to £2.40 profit per sale of 10-5 snails. more than 1000 ramshorn snail sales have been made this month.

Also apple/ mystery snails have just been unbanned from the UK as of march, most aquatic shops sell them now. profit for them is looking like a little over £4.00 for just 2 snails (but more time is taken to grow these snails up)

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

Thanks for your input, and i will definitely have fun looking into shed insulation and pricing it up.

I have sold quite a few bladder snails over the year at £1.04 profit per 10 snails. I know this doesn't sound like much but it can definitely add up.
I'm not sure about Australia but around 200 sales have been made on ebay just this month selling these bladder snails, which I am definitely not going to complain about. And the same goes for Malaysian trumpet snails, 400 of them have sold just this month. People often buy them as feeders for their fish as they don't want to breed them themselves. Also i think people are slowly starting to realise that pest snails are actually very beneficial to tanks, especially planted tanks.

the same goes for ramshorns, £1.60 to £2.40 profit per sale of 10-5 snails. more than 1000 ramshorn snail sales have been made this month.

Also apple/ mystery snails have just been unbanned from the UK as of march, most aquatic shops sell them now. profit for them is looking like a little over £4.00 for just 2 snails (but more time is taken to grow these snails up)

So at what level or amount of breeding until you are required a licence in the UK?