Looking Into Breeding Fish

[HobbySeeker]

Hi everybody,
 
I'm completely new to breeding and have virtually no knowledge of fish, much less aquatic life.
 
I want to breed tropical fish! Partly for its monetary benefits, mostly because it sounds like a ton of fun. A friend of mine told me that he did it years ago, and when I speak to him next I will inquire about his personal exploits as well as posting here. That's basically where I got the idea.
 
What are the requirements (money, time, space, resources, etc.)? What should I know first and how do I start?
 
Thanks!!!!

 

[Gruntle]

I'd say the first step is make sure you have a market to sell to. If you're breeding common fish then there may already be a steady supply for buyers.
 
Not sure about USA but most LFS in Australia do not buy from enthusiasts, they have a supply chain already.

 

[nortonmad213]

if you want an easy fish to start with, i'd go for guppies
start with 3 and you'll have hundreds in no time

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Making money in real terms from fish breeding is pretty optimistic, when you break down all the costs to get fry to a sell-able size, including...
Equipment (tank {grow on tanks will be needed}, filters, heaters)
Electricity (lights, heater, filters, powerheads)
Food
Water
Medication
 
... Before we even talk about breeding desirable fish, for either local fish stores or other fishkeepers directly.

 

[the_lock_man]

Ya know, if it was that easy, we'd all be doing it.
 
SOmething like a guppy, or another common livebearer is very easy to breed. It is very difficult to move the fry on, particularly for money. LFSs have their trusted suppliers, where they buy the fish very cheaply. WHy, then, would they buy from some unknown guy, who may inadvertently introduce disease into their tanks?
 
So then you need to look at something rarer, that shops and hobbyists would want to buy. But then these species are far far harder to breed, they need specialist set-ups - which means a much larger investment in time and equipment, and with much less likelihood of successful breeding.
 
You say you know nothing about aquatic life. Best learn before you start trying to breed.

 

[star4]

Breeding fish is fun, but that is all it is. Trying to breed fish to make some cash on a small scale is almost impossible, as N0body states the costs far out way what you will get for your fish. Commercial breeding is done on such a huge scale you can never compete with selling fry at the prices they do. Easy to breed fish, such as livebearers are very difficult to shift fry, some cichlids too like convicts are so easy to breed you can end giving them away.
 
Even when you do breed and unusual or rare fish, the market then for that fish is so small, then you are into the relms of packaging fish up and couriering them around the country, which is more cost or you end up practically giving them to a shop.
 
Keeping fish is great fun, there is so much to learn and something new turns up regularly. You would be surprised how much you need to learn about keeping fish before trying breeding.

 

[guppyguy1234]

ok first is what fish do u wanna breed 
 

Hi everybody,
 
I'm completely new to breeding and have virtually no knowledge of fish, much less aquatic life.
 
I want to breed tropical fish! Partly for its monetary benefits, mostly because it sounds like a ton of fun. A friend of mine told me that he did it years ago, and when I speak to him next I will inquire about his personal exploits as well as posting here. That's basically where I got the idea.
 
What are the requirements (money, time, space, resources, etc.)? What should I know first and how do I start?
 
Thanks!!!!

 

[looking-glass]

i think you would struggle to make a profit from it but you should still give it a go nonetheless
 
It might be best to find out what type of water you have locally so you can look into what fish would thrive in those particular parameters  

 

[PrincessKiara]

I used to breed up tons of guppies and either give them to my LFS's owner (he was a really nice guy and also always giving me stuff) or trading some dozens of fry for a plant or something. But yeah, aside from that, I never made any profit whatsoever from it the only way I could see myself making a profit from that here would be if my angels decided to lay eggs and I could keep the fry alive long enough to sell, my breeders are silver pearlscales (quite rare here at times) and I could sell the babies for up to $75 pesos apiece...

 

[HobbySeeker]

Thanks, everyone, for your input. Mainly I want to breed fish just for fun, not its monetary benefits. It's mainly a long-term goal, because I have a lot to learn. Then there's the matter of getting the tank, and so forth.
 
A little more background: I've decided I don't want to follow the typical pattern of life -- going to school, getting a job, raising a family. I want to actually do something fun with my life!!! That's why I'm starting a book club at school (that will have a budget), and am going to learn Hungarian cooking, want to give Spanish lessons. My friend told me that he used to raise fish, so I thought I would give it a go. All of this probably sounds lame, but breeding fish just sounds like so much fun!
 
I don't want to spend tons of money, and I want to start off with something simple (probably guppies). So the first step is to get the tank and stuff, learn about breeding fish? How do I go about acquiring all of this? How much money are we talking here?
 
Thanks again. You guys are awesome. If I really do take this up as a hobby, you can expect for me to stick around (unluckily for you).

 

[looking-glass]

the first step is definitely a tank then you will need a filter and a heater,- the most important thing is getting it set up correctly so you can safely add fish - the best way of doing this is the fish less cycle which you will hear lots about on this forum there is a sticky thread all about it that will give you some good starting knowledge
 
 
btw i do like your outlook on life - very positive

 

[TwoTankAmin]

As somebody who does spawn fish for a form of "profit" on a hobby level, I can tell you is is not so simple.  While what I do is more sophisticated than what you describe, what it took to get me to this point was more than just wanting to do it. Before one can get involved with spawning fish for fun and/or profit, one needs to know how to keep fish alive and healthy. Its like learning to crawl before you walk and to walk before you run. Desire alone is not enough.
 
There is also another consideration. The fish that sell for the most money are the ones that are the hardest to get to spawn and which provide a small number of offspring. here some examples of the more common fish;
 
Lievebearers like guppy, swordtail platy etc will spawn monthly and give one 25-50 fry.
Angelfish can lay 500+ eggs at a go and go every two weeks when in the mood.
Egg scatterers like tetras, rasboras etc. can produce a ton of eggs and if one does it correctly, most will hatch.
 
So with many fish you need dedicated spawning and fry rearing tanks. Many fish get nasty when pawning and act to protect their eggs and babies from being eaten by other fish. So the parent may become a danger to other tank inhabitants in a community setting.
 
My advice to you is if you really want to try spawning fish that the first step is to learn how to care for fish successfully first and once you are on a firm footing there you can then move on to the next step.

 

[PrincessKiara]

Oh wow, Hungarian cooking...I'm learning the Romanian culture, also a Slavic culture from what I understand...  I also am quite dissatisfied with my ordinary, everyday life and want to get out and do things! My list of things to do before I die:
-FINALLY (successfully) set up both a big SW and FW planted tank
-Breed Discus and Angelfish
-Learn all about Romania and go to study computer programming in Bucharest
-Design and make an MMORPG with my friends
-Make a fully animated movie of my own
-Go skydiving
-Explore a tropical rainforest
-Learn to play the violin, keyboard and guitar
-Read 10,000 interesting books
-Write a novel
-Learn 3D modeling
-Ride in a steeplechase race as a professional horse jockey
-Learn Romanian, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and possibly German, French and Japanese
-Tame a wild horse
-Fall in love with (and possibly marry) a foreigner (preferably Romanian, the guys are soooooo cute there LOL)
 
...Aaaaaand I could go on and on. It's so cool to finally meet someone with the same life view as me!

 

[looking-glass]

Oh wow, Hungarian cooking...I'm learning the Romanian culture, also a Slavic culture from what I understand...  I also am quite dissatisfied with my ordinary, everyday life and want to get out and do things! My list of things to do before I die:
-FINALLY (successfully) set up both a big SW and FW planted tank
-Breed Discus and Angelfish
-Learn all about Romania and go to study computer programming in Bucharest
-Design and make an MMORPG with my friends
-Make a fully animated movie of my own
-Go skydiving
-Explore a tropical rainforest
-Learn to play the violin, keyboard and guitar
-Read 10,000 interesting books
-Write a novel
-Learn 3D modeling
-Ride in a steeplechase race as a professional horse jockey
-Learn Romanian, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and possibly German, French and Japanese
-Tame a wild horse
-Fall in love with (and possibly marry) a foreigner (preferably Romanian, the guys are soooooo cute there LOL)
 
...Aaaaaand I could go on and on.

It's so cool to finally meet someone with the same life view as me!

definitely make your own luck thats what i say

 

[HobbySeeker]

Wow! That's awesome! I'm really impressed. As a piano enthusiast (and a future post-secondary English teacher, hopefully), I want to give jump-start lessons, and possibly learn Norwegian, and even less possibly, give Norwegian lessons.

 
Anyhow, this is more or less a long-term goal. School is expensive, so whenever I have a reliable and more stable source of income I'll invest in this stuff. Do pet stores accept tropical fish? LFSs seem out of the question. About how much money is all of this? In the meantime, I have a lot of reading to do.
 
Thanks again, everybody. You've been really helpful.
 
Edit: I almost forgot, I want to learn American Sign Language, too. The Spanish classes at my school are less than adequate, so I'm learning it on my own (since I can't find any local clubs, I'm going to start one of those too). Look out world, here Matt comes!