Hello everyone im not sure where to put this post but I am planning on starting a fish store based out of my house. I have been debating on how to go about ordering fish. I have been thinking about trying to import fish particularly looking into wild caught cichlids and plecos. Not sure if I should go this route by trying to do this myself or should I just use some of the trans shippers. I have been trying to avoid some of the wholesalers obviously due to higher pricing, but I am going to cater to higher end fish which is my reason for looking into importing or trans shipping. I am planning to continue breeding just a larger scale then I am now keeping some of the wild caught fish I order for breeding. Does anyone have some transshippers or importers,or even some good wholesalers maybe, that they recommend or have dealt with and had good success. Also any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks
Starting my fish business
- Thread starter cupfishhead
- Start date
Do you have another job or will this be it. High end fish fetch big bucks but are a harder sell. Better to carry more bread and butter cheaper fish to keep you afloat and also try and sell dry product like food filters and what not. Wish you all the best as we are trying the same thing it is a long haul.
GL man! You probably already know this but expect A LOT of loss if you do end up importing fish. My buddy does this and he says it's definitely not easy. Expect to spend pretty much all your time maintaining the tanks and driving everywhere to deliver.
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Yes I have a regular job and my wife and a friend are doing this on the side. I am also going to be carrying bread and butter stuff as this is what has got most of us into this in the first place...right?? lol I breed a few types of angels, bristlenose, and livebearers. I am also repacking foods for resale and going to carry a small line of filters heaters etc. Thanks Good luck with your biz also
Yea I am just not sure how much loss to expect. A club member does maintenance and has ordered off transship lists and had good success but obviously cost is a bit more just not sure how much to expect on and is it worth the hassle of importing? Just trying to find good results people have had with their wholesalers/trans shipper/importer.
Check into local clubs, forums and things like this. In my area (Tacoma/Seattle) we have a ton of local breeders who have high quality F1 fry and they breed so much they have difficulty selling off the fry. Good opportunity to get high quality fish at a discount. Might look for things like that in your area to see what people are wanting/needing.
Losses will vary. He's gotten shipments before where everything arrived dead. It sucks but these things happen
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How about tank maintenance? The LFS where I live does tank maintenance for tanks in restaurants/bars/doctors' offices. Sell a doctor or dentist a tank for thier office, then charge em every month to go in and clean it, replace fish, feed 'em, etc. Hire some young kids to do it for you after you train em up for a few weeks... And when people bring in big giant fish that won't fit in the store's tanks, they sell em to the bars and restaurants to put in their tanks. I bet they pocket $100 just for "reluctantly" taking in an 18 inch common pleco at the store, then driving it across town and selling it to a bar to put in their tank... 
If only I had a potent u world have sent some Trinidad Plecos your way
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